Orphei Drängar

Photography depicting the eldest quartet, consisting of Jonas Widén (tenor), Erik Gustaf Schram, Carl Rupert Nyblom, Oscar Arpi and Johan Gottfrid Wibelius

Orphei Drängar (or Sångsällskapet Orphei Drängar, often just OD, translates to Sons of Orpheus) is a Swedish male choir and singing society founded in 1853, based in Uppsala and one of the two notable singing societies traditionally affiliated with the university there (the other one being the two decades older Allmänna Sången, "The Common Song"). Sångsällskapet means "The singing society", Orphei means "of Orpheus" in Latin, while the Swedish word drängar is the plural of dräng, "farmhand".

History

The society was founded on 30 October 1853 as the city of Uppsala was suffering from an outbreak of cholera, when a dozen student singers gathered at the Hotel d'Upland in Uppsala to sing songs by Carl Michael Bellman. The idea to found a new singing society came at the singing of Bellman's Fredman's Epistle No. 14, Hör I Orphei Drängar ("Hear Ye, O Servants of Orpheus!"), from which the new society took its name.^[1]

Ambition rose as the composer Jacob Axel Josephson, since 1849 director musices of the university, was recruited as director of the choir in 1854. The first public performance under the choirs own name was in 1864. During the latter half of the 19th century, the choir went on tours abroad to Paris (1867, 1878, 1900), Berlin (1898) and other places.

Current

The Choir consists of about 80 active singers. Admittance test is normally performed in the beginning of September each year.
Yearly recurring concerts are the spring concerts in April and the Caprice concerts the first weekend in December.

List of conductors

• 1853 - 1854, Oscar Arpi
• 1854 - 1880, Jacob Axel Josephson
• 1880 - 1909, Ivar Eggert Hedenblad
• 1909 - 1910, Wilhelm Lundgren
• 1910 - 1947, Hugo Alfvén
• 1947 - 1951, Carl Godin
• 1951 - 1985, Eric Ericson
• 1985 - 1991, Eric Ericson and Robert Sund (shared conductorship)
• 1991 - 2008, Robert Sund
• 2008 - Present, Cecilia Rydinger Alin

Discography

• 1991 – Christmas Music
• 1992 – Oedipus Rex
• 1993 – OD sings Alfvén
• 1996 – The Singing Apes
• 1997 – Våren är kommen
• 1999 – Capricer med OD, part 1 (1964–1969)
• 2000 – Schubert: Male Choruses
• 2001 – Capricer med OD, part 2 (1970–1975)
• 2002 – Capricer med OD, part 3 (1976–1981)
• 2003 – Diamonds
• 2003 – Capricer med OD, part 4 (1982–1986)
• 2004 – Capricer med OD, part 5 (1987–1990)
• 2005 – OD Antiqua
• 2006 – Sounds of Sund
• 2007 – Capricer med OD, part 6 (1991–1995)
• 2009 – Capricer med OD, part 7 (1996–1999)
• 2009 – Capricer med OD, part 8 (2000–2002)
• 2009 – Christmas Songs
• 2011 – Capricer med OD, part 9 (2003 - 2005)
• 2012 – Orphei Drängar
• 2012 – Curse Upon Iron
• 2013 – De Profundis
• 2013 – Capricer med OD, part 10 (2006 - 2008)
• 2016 – The Greatest Videogame Music III – Choral Edition, together with Myrra Malmberg, produced by X5 Music Group

References

1. "Från tidsfördriv till modern manskör" (in Swedish). Orphei Drängar. Retrieved 17 March 2016.

External links

• Orphei Drängar, official website