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{{Short description|Swedish poet, songwriter and composer (1740–1795)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Carl Michael Bellman
| image            = Carl Michael Bellman, portrayed by Per Krafft 1779.jpg
| image_size       = 
| caption          = Bellman playing the [[cittern]],<br />in a portrait by [[Per Krafft the Elder|Per Krafft]], 1779
| birth_date       = 4 February 1740
| birth_place      = [[Stockholm]], Sweden
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=y|1795|02|11|1740|02|04}}
| death_place      = Stockholm, Sweden
| spouse           = {{Marriage|Lovisa Grönlund|1777}}
| field            = Poetry, song
| works            = [[Fredmans epistlar|Fredman's epistles]]<br /> [[Fredmans sånger|Fredman's songs]]
| patrons          = King [[Gustav III]]
| signature        = Carl Michael Bellmans namnteckning.svg
| birth_name       = Carl Michael Bellman
| children         = Gustav, Elis, Carl, Adolf
| resting_place    = [[Klara Church]]
}}

'''Carl Michael Bellman''' ({{IPA|sv|ˈkɑːɭ ˈmîːkaɛl ˈbɛ̌lːman|-|sv-Carl Mikael Bellman.ogg}}; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795)<ref name="BellmanSoc"/> was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the [[Swedish ballad tradition|Swedish song tradition]] and remains a powerful influence in [[Music of Sweden|Swedish music]], as well as in [[Scandinavian literature]], to this day. He has been compared to [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], and [[William Hogarth|Hogarth]], but his gift, using elegantly [[rococo]] classical references in comic contrast to sordid drinking and prostitution—at once regretted and celebrated in song—is unique.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=11}}

Bellman is best known for two collections of poems set to music, ''[[Fredmans epistlar|Fredman's epistles]]'' (''Fredmans epistlar'') and ''[[Fredmans sånger|Fredman's songs]]'' (''Fredmans sånger''). Each consists of about 70 songs. The general theme is drinking, but the songs "most ingeniously"{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=63}} combine words and music to express feelings and moods ranging from humorous to [[elegiac]], romantic to [[satire|satirical]].

Bellman's patrons included King [[Gustav III]] of Sweden, who called him a master improviser. Bellman's songs continue to be performed and recorded by musicians from Scandinavia and in other languages, including English, French, German, Italian, and Russian. Several of his songs including ''[[Gubben Noak]]'' and ''[[Fjäriln vingad]]'' are known by heart by many Swedes.<ref name="Berglund">{{cite web |last1=Berglund |first1=Anders |title=100 sånger – som (nästan) alla kan utantill! (100 songs – that (nearly) everyone knows by heart) |url=http://www.musikattminnas.se/PDF/Utantill-haeftet.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.musikattminnas.se/PDF/Utantill-haeftet.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |publisher=Musik att minnas |language=sv |access-date=10 March 2016}}</ref> His legacy further includes a museum in Stockholm and a society that fosters interest in him and his work.

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===
[[File:Daurerska huset 1861.jpg|thumb|left|Bellman's birthplace, the Stora Daurerska house in [[Södermalm]], Stockholm. [[Carl Svante Hallbeck]], 1861]]
Carl Michael Bellman was born on 4 February 1740 in the Stora Daurerska house, which was one of the finest in the [[Södermalm]] district of [[Stockholm]]. The house was the property of his maternal grandmother, Catharina von Santen, who had brought up his father, orphaned as a small child. Carl Michael's parents were Johan Arndt Bellman, a civil servant, and Catharina Hermonia, daughter of the priest of the local [[Maria Magdalena Church|Maria parish]]. Her family was wholly Swedish, whereas Johan's family had German origins: they had come from [[Bremen]] in about 1660.<ref name=BellmanSoc /> When Carl Michael was four the family moved to a smaller, single storey dwelling called the Lilla Daurerska house. He briefly went to a local school, but was educated mainly by private tutors. He was the eldest of 15 children who lived long enough for their births to be registered<!--; six more children died young, according to CMB's autobiography-->. His parents had intended him to become a priest, but he fell ill with a fever, and on recovering found he could express any thought in rhyming verse. His parents appointed a tutor called Ennes who Bellman called "a genius". Bellman was taught French, German, Italian, English, and Latin. He read [[Horace]] and [[Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux|Boileau]]; Ennes taught him to write poetry and to translate French and German hymns. He was familiar with stories from the Bible including the [[Apocrypha]], many of which found their way into the songs he composed in later life. However, expenses including the Swedish tradition of hospitality left the family with no money to start him off in life with a journey to the south of Europe, such as to Spain to visit his uncle, Jacob Martin Bellman, who was the Swedish Consul in [[Cádiz]]. Carl Michael translated a French book by Du Four and dedicated it to his uncle, but the hint was ignored. Deep in debt, at the end of 1757 the family sent Carl Michael to Sweden's central bank [[Sveriges Riksbank|Riksbanken]] as an unpaid trainee. He had no aptitude for numbers, instead discovering the taverns and brothels which were to figure so largely in his songs.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=43–46}}

[[File:233-Bellman-Svenska teatern 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Bellman by [[Elias Martin]], 18th century]]
As the banking career was not working out – and as trainees were (after a period with a relaxed regime) again required to sit an exam, for which Bellman was ill-equipped – he took a break in 1758, going to [[Uppsala University]], where [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] was professor of botany. The idea of attending lectures was no more congenial than banking, and he stayed only one term; one of his songs (FS 28) records that "He contemplated [[Uppsala]]—the beer stung his mouth—love distracted his wits..." However, he met young men (such as [[Carl Bonde (1741–1791)|Carl Bonde]]) from wealthy and noble families, went drinking with them, and started to entertain them with his songs.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=47–51}} Bellman returned to the bank job, and seems quickly to have fallen into financial difficulty: "a jungle of debts, sureties and bondsmen began to proliferate around him."{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=53}} The character of bailiff Blomberg appears in his songs (e.g. FS 14), constantly trying to track down debtors and seize all their property. The law allowed the bankrupt only one way to escape from debtors' prison: to leave Sweden. In 1763, Bellman ran away to Norway. From the safety of [[Halden]] (then called Fredrikshald) he writes to the Council applying first for a passport, and then for a safe-conduct, both of which were granted. Meanwhile, his father had first mortgaged the Lilla Daurerska house, and then sold it: the family's finances were no better than his own. Even worse, by April 1764 the Bank had become tired of the riotous behaviour of its young men: its investigations showed that Bellman had been the ringleader, leading them (the Bank wrote) into "gambling, masquerades, picnics and suchlike". Bellman resigned, his safe banking career at an end.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=55–56}}

=== Poetry and song ===
{{further information|Fredman's songs|Fredman's epistles|Bacchi Tempel}}
[[File:Bellmanhuset.jpg|thumb|left|The Stockholm house where Bellman lived from 1770 to 1774]]

In 1765, Bellman's parents died; deeply moved, he wrote a religious poem. Then his fortunes improved: someone found him a job, first in the Office of Manufactures, then in the Customs, and he was able once again to live happily in Stockholm, observing the people of the city, with at least a modest salary.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=58-59}} In 1768, his life's work as we now know it got under way:

{{blockquote|Bellman had begun to compose an entirely new sort of song. A genre which 'had no model and can have no successors' ([[Johan Henric Kellgren|Kellgren]]), these songs were to grow swiftly in number until they made up the great work on which Bellman's reputation as a poet chiefly rests.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=60}}}}

[[File:Fredmans Epistel 23 music start.jpg|thumb|300px|The start of [[Fredmans epistlar|Fredman's Epistle]] No. 23, "[[Ack du min moder|Alas, thou my mother]]". To a graceful [[minuet]] tune, Fredman, lying drunk in the gutter outside the Crawl-in tavern, "a summer night in the year 1768", blames his mother for his conception; but a morning visit to the tavern revives his spirits.]]

Bellman mostly played the [[cittern]],{{efn|The instrument was inherited from his grandfather, Johan Arndt Bellman (1663–1709), a professor and later chancellor of Uppsala University, who supposedly bought it in Rome.<ref name=BellmanSoc /> It has survived, and has been exhibited at the National Museum in Stockholm.}} becoming the most famous player of this instrument in Sweden. His portrait by [[Per Krafft the Elder|Per Krafft]] shows him playing an oval instrument with twelve strings, arranged as six pairs.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/5776/4/Poulopoulos%202011.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/5776/4/Poulopoulos%202011.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live | title=The Guittar in the British Isles, 1750–1810 (PhD Thesis) | publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] | author=Poulopoulos, Panagiotis | year=2011 | pages=199}}</ref> His first songs were "parody songs", a common form of entertainment at the time.<ref name=BellmanSoc />

Between 1769 and 1773, Bellman wrote 65 of 82 of his Epistles, as well as many poems. He attempted to publish the poems in 1772, but was unable to obtain the permission of the king, [[Gustav III]], as a political coup intervened. He finally managed to obtain the permission in 1774, but soon discovered that the cost of printing, especially as he was determined to publish the sheet music alongside the text, was prohibitive given his ruinous finances, and he was forced to put off his plans.<ref name=Kleveland7>{{harvnb|Kleveland|Ehrén|1984|p=7}}</ref> In 1776, the king gave him a [[sinecure]] job as secretary to the national lottery; this supported him for the rest of his life.<ref name=SNL>{{cite web |title=Carl Michael Bellman |url=https://snl.no/Carl_Michael_Bellman |publisher=[[Store norske leksikon|Store Norske Leksikon]] |language=no |access-date=26 January 2015}}</ref>

On 19 December 1777, at the age of 37, he married the 22-year-old Lovisa Grönlund in [[Klara Church]]. They had four children, Gustav, Elis, Karl, and Adolf; Elis died young.<ref name="BellmanSoc">{{cite web |url=http://www.bellman.org/index.php/om-bellman-och-hans-verk/biografi | title=Carl Michael Bellmans liv och verk. En minibiografi (The Life and Works of Carl Michael Bellman. A Short Biography) |language=sv |publisher=The Bellman Society |access-date=25 April 2015}}</ref>
Throughout his life, but especially during the 1770s, Bellman also wrote religious poetry, seeing no conflict with his bacchanalian works; he published collections of his religious poems in 1781 and 1787.<ref name=BellmanSoc /> He wrote some ten plays (none with particularly strong plots) as [[divertimento]]s, some of them later serving as entertainments at the royal court. The plays fill Volume 6 of his collected works.<ref name=BellmanSoc /> In 1783, Bellman brought out ''The Temple of Bacchus'' (''[[Bacchi Tempel]]''), perhaps hoping to establish his reputation as a poet, rather than the merry entertainer that he was in fact known as at the time; but he always stood out in people's minds as unique, a different kind of writer and performer.<ref name=BellmanSoc />

[[File:Mollberg playing Bowls.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Wash drawing by [[Pehr Hilleström]] in a 1792 letter showing Bellman in [[Nationella dräkten|Swedish dress]] with Mollberg playing bowls.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=facing page 72}}]]

Bellman's main works are the 82 ''[[Fredmans epistlar|Fredman's epistles]]'' (''Fredmans epistlar'', 1790) and the 65 ''[[Fredmans sånger|Fredman's songs]]'' (''Fredmans sånger'', 1791). Their themes include the pleasures of [[Alcohol intoxication|drunkenness]] and [[Human sexual activity|sex]]. Against this backdrop, Bellman deals with themes of love, death, and the transitoriness of life. The settings of his songs reflect life in 18th-century [[Stockholm]], but often refer to [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology|Roman]] mythological characters such as the goddess of love, [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] (or her Swedish equivalent, [[Freyja|Fröja]]), [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] and his retinue of water-nymphs, the love-god [[Cupid]], the ferryman [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]] and [[Dionysus|Bacchus]], the god of wine and pleasure. Many of ''Fredman's Epistles'' are peopled by a cast which includes the clockmaker [[Jean Fredman]], the prostitute or "nymph" [[Ulla Winblad]], the alcoholic ex-soldier Movitz, and Father Berg, a virtuoso on several instruments. Some of these were based on living models, others probably not. Ulla Winblad was widely believed to have been closely based on [[Maria Kristina Kiellström]], though the real woman, a silk worker once arrested for alleged prostitution, was not the ideal romantic figure of Bellman's songs.<ref>{{harvnb|Kleveland|Ehrén|1984|p=9}}</ref>{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=84–89}}{{sfn|Lönnroth|2005|pp=187–216, 297–333}} ''Fredman's songs'' also include [[Old Testament]] figures such as [[Noah]] and [[Book of Judith|Judith]].<ref name=BellmanSoc /><ref name=SNL />

[[File:François Boucher, Venus triumf (1740) - 03.jpg|thumb|300px|[[François Boucher]]'s 1740 painting ''Triumph of Venus'' is the model for Epistle 25, "[[Blåsen nu alla|All blow now!]]", where Bellman humorously contrasts [[rococo]] classical allusions with bawdy remarks.]]

Bellman achieved his effects of [[rococo]] elegance and humour through precisely organised incongruity. For example, Epistle 25, "[[Blåsen nu alla]]!" (All blow now!), begins with Venus crossing the water, as in [[François Boucher]]'s''Triumph of Venus'', but when she disembarks, Bellman transforms her into a lustful ''Ulla Winblad''. Similarly, the ornate and civilized [[minuet]] melody of "[[Ack du min Moder]]" (Alas, thou my mother) contrasts with the text: Fredman is lying with a hangover in the gutter outside a tavern, complaining bitterly about life.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=61}}{{sfn|Hägg|1996|pp=156–157}} Ulla Winblad ("vineleaf") recurs through the Epistles; Britten Austin comments that

{{blockquote|''Ulla'' is at once a nymph of the taverns and a goddess of a rococo universe of graceful and hot imaginings.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=82}}}}

[[File:Fredman's Song 21 Så lunka vi så småningom.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Start of [[Fredmans sånger|Fredman's Song]] 21, "[[Så lunka vi så småningom]]" (So we gradually amble). March, [[Duple time|{{music|time|2|4}} time]], 1791. The song refers to "[[Bacchus]]'s tumult"; the gravediggers discuss whether the grave is too deep, taking swigs from a bottle of [[brännvin]].]]

The songs are "most ingeniously"{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=63}} set to music, the melodies accentuated by the bold construction of music, word pictures and choice of words, while the music brings out a hidden dimension not seen if the words are simply read as verse.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=63}} The poems themselves, far from being the brilliant improvisations that they appear, are striking in their "formal virtuosity". They may be drinking songs in name, but in structure they are tightly woven into a precise metre, situating the "frenzied bacchanalia within a strict and decorous rococo frame."{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=62}} The musicologist [[James Massengale]] writes that the technique of reusing tunes in musical [[parody]] had already been overused and had fallen into disrepute by Bellman's time, just as his subject matter was initially looked down on. Despite this, Massengale argues{{sfn|Massengale|1979|p=10}}

{{blockquote|Bellman chose to perfect his musical-poetic vehicle. He refers to the result ... not as 'parody' but as 'den muçiska Poesien', [musical poetry] ...<br><br>Bellman's exceptional case, then, is that of a poetic genius who worked with an art form which in the hands of others was usually insignificant.{{sfn|Massengale|1979|p=10}}}}

Massengale observes that Bellman was "fully aware of the complexity of the musical-poetic problem; his poems were not simply talented improvisations." and points out that Bellman was "also interested in concealing this complexity", with the discrepancies between the music and the poetry "''apparently'' resolved".{{sfn|Massengale|1979|p=10}}

Bellman was a gifted entertainer and mimic. He was able to

{{blockquote|go into a room apart and behind a half-open door mimic twenty or thirty people at the same time, a crowd pushing its way on to one of the [[Djurgården]] ferries, perhaps, or the uproarious atmosphere of a seaman's tavern. The illusion was so startling, his listeners could have sworn a mob of 'shoe-polishers, customs spies, seamen ... coalmen, washerwomen ... herring packers, tailors and bird-catchers' had burst into the next room.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=42}}}}

In 1790, the [[Swedish Academy]] awarded Bellman its annual Lundblad prize of 50 [[Swedish riksdaler|Riksdaler]] for the most interesting piece of literature of the year. Although ''Fredman's Epistles'' was neither exactly literature as understood by the academy, nor meeting the standards of elegant taste, the poet and critic [[Johan Henric Kellgren]] and the King ensured that Bellman won the prize.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=163}}

=== Later life ===
[[File:Bellmanskällan 2012bb.jpg|thumb|upright|Bronze memorial medallion of Bellman by Sergel]]

After the [[Gustav III of Sweden#Assassination|assassination of the King]] at the [[Royal Swedish Opera#The Gustavian Opera|Stockholm opera]] in 1792, support for the liberal arts was withdrawn. Bellman, already in poor health from alcoholism, went into decline, drinking increasingly heavily. His drinking very likely contributed to his [[gout]], which troubled him badly in 1790. He also caught [[tuberculosis]]: the disease had already killed his mother, and by the winter of 1792, he was seriously ill.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=164–166}}

As well as being ill, he was imprisoned—after struggling with debts and haunted by the threat of ruin and imprisonment all his life—"for a wretched[ly small] debt of 150 [[Swedish riksdaler|Rdr]]". The rumour was that a former Customs colleague, E. G. Nobelius, had had his advances to Louise Bellman rejected, and in revenge had sued Bellman for the debt, knowing he was penniless: he owed a total of almost 4,000 Riksdaler.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=168–170}} On 11 February 1795, he died in his sleep in his house in Gamla Kungsholmsbrogatan. He was buried in Klara churchyard with no gravestone, its location now unknown. The Swedish Academy belatedly placed a memorial in the churchyard in 1851, complete with a bronze medallion by [[Johan Tobias Sergel]].{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|pp=172–173}}

== Reception ==
[[File:Bellman statue Hasselbacken 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Bellman by [[:sv:Alfred Nyström|Alfred Nyström]], 1872, in Stockholm's [[Djurgården]]]]

King [[Gustav III]] called Bellman "''Il signor improvisatore''" (The master improviser).<ref name=Kleveland6 />

Bellman has been compared with poets and musicians as diverse as [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]{{sfn|Hägg|1996|p=149}} and [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]].{{sfn|Hassler|1989|p=6}} [[Åse Kleveland]] notes that he has been called "Swedish poetry's [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], and [[William Hogarth|Hogarth]]", observing that

{{blockquote|The comparison with Hogarth was no accident. Like the English portrait painter, Bellman drew detailed pictures of his time in his songs, not so much of life at court as of ordinary people's everyday.<ref name=Kleveland6>{{harvnb|Kleveland|Ehrén|1984|p=6}}</ref>}}

[[Paul Britten Austin]] says instead simply that:{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=11}}

{{blockquote|Bellman is unique among great poets, I think, in that virtually his entire opus is conceived to music. Other poets, of course, notably our Elizabethans, have written songs. But song was only one branch of their art. They did not leave behind, as Bellman did, a great musical-literary work nor paint in words and music a canvas of their age. Nor are their songs dramatic.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967|p=11}}}}

== Legacy ==

=== Performance and recordings ===

{{further|Bacchi Tempel}}

[[File:Bellmans porträtt, efter teckning av Sergel, Nordisk familjebok.png|thumb|upright|left|Portrait of Bellman, drawn by the sculptor [[Johan Tobias Sergel]], 1792]]

Bellman's informal ''Bacchi Orden'' (Order of Bacchus) was replaced in the 1770s by the more structured Bacchanalian society ''[[Par Bricole]]'', which still exists in the 21st century. It enabled Bellman to publish his book ''[[Bacchi Tempel]]'' in 1783.{{sfn|Lönnroth|2005|pp=147, 242–243, 367}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bellman |first1=Carl Michael |last2=Martin |first2=Elias (illus.) |last3=Martin |first3=Johan Fredrik |author-link1=Carl Michael Bellman |author-link2=Elias Martin |title=Bacchi tempel öpnadt vid en hieltes död |date=1783 |location=Stockholm |oclc=557694799 |language=sv}}</ref> When the tradition of solo performance of his songs died out, ''Par Bricole'' continued to perform his songs as choral pieces.{{sfn|Lönnroth|2005|pp=147, 242–243, 367}}

Bellman's poetry continued to be read and sung throughout the 19th century, contrary to the widespread belief among researchers that he was largely forgotten during this period. His songs were sung especially by the urban bourgeoisie and in fraternities, but also in aristocratic circles and ordinary people in the countryside.<ref name=SD/><ref name=BellmanLevde/> The [[:sv:Orphei Drängar|''Orphei Drängar'' Vocal Society]], named after a phrase in Epistle 14, was founded in Uppsala in 1853; the song became their trademark.<ref>{{cite web|title=From a pastime to a modern male-voice choir|url=http://www.od.se/en/history|publisher=Orphei Drängar Vocal Society|access-date=4 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204140955/http://www.od.se/en/history|archive-date=4 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''Epistles'' and ''Songs'' were published in [[chapbook]]s, sung at festivals and performed in a variety of concerts and entertainments. Figures such as Fredman, Ulla Winblad and Movitz, as well as Bellman himself were painted on tavern walls and [[Souvenir|memorabilia]] such as plates, beer [[tankard]]s and [[Hip flask|hipflasks]]. Curiously, Bellman was celebrated at least as enthusiastically in polite and abstemious circles, though with [[Expurgation|bowdlerized]] versions of the songs.<ref name=SD>{{cite news |last1=Stenström |first1=Johan |title=Bellman levde på 1800-talet |trans-title=Bellman was alive in the 19th century |url=http://www.svd.se/kultur/litteratur/1800-talet-en-sorgfri-tid-for-bellman_4135579.svd |newspaper=[[Svenska Dagbladet]] |access-date=1 February 2015 |date=25 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=BellmanLevde>{{cite book |last1=Stenström |first1=Johan |title=Bellman levde på 1800-talet |trans-title=Bellman was alive in the 19th century |date=2009 |publisher=Atlantis |isbn=978-91-7353-342-3 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/11447283 |language=sv}}</ref>

Major interpreters of Bellman's songs include [[Sven-Bertil Taube]], who helped to start the 1960s Bellman renaissance; [[Fred Åkerström]], who brought a fresh earthiness to Bellman interpretation; and the Dutch-born [[Cornelis Vreeswijk]], who fitted Bellman to the style of American [[blues]].{{sfn|Hägg|1996|p=162}}{{sfn|Lönnroth|2005|pp=367–368}} Other recordings have been made by [[Evert Taube]], and as rock music by [[Joakim Thåström]], [[Candlemass (band)|Candlemass]] or [[Marduk (band)|Marduk]]. They are also performed as [[Choir|choral music]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795) |url=http://www.classicalarchives.com/composer/2162.html |publisher=Classical Archives |access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> and as [[drinking song]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tititudorancea.com/z/drinking_song.htm |title=Drinking Songs |website=The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin |access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Musica Sveciae">{{cite web |last1=Various Artists |title=Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795): Sånger och Epistlar / Songs and Epistles |url=http://www.musikaliskaakademien.se/verksamhet/musicasveciae/musiken/sanger/sanger/bellmansangerochepistlar.272.html |publisher=Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien |access-date=31 May 2019 |quote=2 CDs, 42 songs, 16 artists: [[Olle Adolphson]], Leif Bergman, Anders Börje, [[William Clauson]], Jerker Engblom, [[Tommy Körberg]], [[Mikael Samuelson]], Aksel Schiøtz, Sven Scholander, Folke Sällström, [[Evert Taube]], [[Sven-Bertil Taube]], [[Cornelis Vreeswijk]], [[Lena Willemark]], [[Fred Åkerström]], Pelle Ödman.}}</ref> [[Martin Bagge]] has recreated Bellman's dramatic style complete with period costume.{{sfn|Lönnroth|2005|p=369}} In 2020, [[Uppsala]] stadsteater and [[Västmanland]]s Teater created ''Bellman 2.0'', a costumed theatre concert, directed by Nikolaj Cederholm with ''Fredman's Epistles'' and ''Fredman's Songs'' arranged by Kåre Bjerkø for guitar, electric guitar, double bass, cello, tuba, clarinet, drumkit and percussion, keyboards, accordion, and five voices.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bellman 2.0, premiär i Uppsala hösten 2020 |url=https://via.tt.se/pressmeddelande/bellman-20-premiar-i-uppsala-hosten-2020?publisherId=3235608&releaseId=3270942 |website=Via TT |access-date=9 December 2021 |date=25 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="Västmanlands Teater 2020">{{cite web |title=GB Studioinspelning – Bellman 2.0 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgqEvSffl6o |publisher=Västmanlands Teater |access-date=9 December 2021 |date=6 April 2020}}</ref>

=== Translations ===

[[File:Järntorget 85 070330.JPG|thumb|upright|The Crawl-in Tavern (Krogen Kryp-In) of [[Ack du min moder|Epistle 23]]. Järntorget 85 in Stockholm's [[Gamla stan|Old Town]]]]

Bellman has been translated into at least 20 languages,<ref name=Langrind>{{cite web |last1=Langrind |first1=Freddie |title=Bellman på Norsk |url=http://www.viser.no/artikler/Bellman/BellmanNorsk.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.viser.no/artikler/Bellman/BellmanNorsk.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |publisher=Viser.no |access-date=13 March 2016 |language=no |date=2008}}</ref> including English, most notably by [[Paul Britten Austin]], and German, including by [[Hannes Wader]]. German Communist leader [[Karl Liebknecht]] liked Bellman's songs and translated some into German.<ref name="BursteinKeijzer2011">{{cite book |last1=Burstein |first1=Dan |last2=Keijzer |first2=Arne de |title=Secrets of the Tattooed Girl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pleT7UKnMvYC&pg=PT123 |year=2011 |publisher=Orion |isbn=978-0-297-86497-4 |page=123}}</ref> [[Hans Christian Andersen]] was one of the first to translate Bellman into Danish. Bellman's songs have been translated and recorded in [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] (by [[Bubbi Morthens|Bubbi]]), Italian, French, [[Finnish language|Finnish]] (for instance by [[Vesa-Matti Loiri]]), Russian, [[Chuvash language|Chuvash]] and [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]. English interpretations have been recorded by [[William Clauson]], [[Martin Best]],<ref>[http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/emi35515.htm] [http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/emi35255.htm] [http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/nim5174.htm] medieval.org</ref> Freddie Langrind made some [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] translations in 2008.<ref name=Langrind/> Sven-Bertil Taube, Roger Hinchliffe and Martin Bagge. Schoolchildren two hundred years on still learn some of his songs, and several including ''[[Gubben Noak]]'' and ''[[Fjäriln vingad]]'' are known by heart by many Swedes.<ref name="Berglund"/>

Books in English with translations of Bellman's work have been written by [[Charles Wharton Stork]] in 1917,{{sfn|Stork|1917}} [[Hendrik Willem van Loon]] in 1939,{{sfn|Van Loon|Castagnetta|1939}} [[Paul Britten Austin]],{{sfn|Britten Austin|1998}}{{sfn|Britten Austin|1999}} and the historian [[Michael Roberts (historian)|Michael Roberts]].{{sfn|Roberts|1984}} In English, the most thorough treatment of Bellman's life is also by Britten Austin.{{sfn|Britten Austin|1967}} Van Loon's ''The Last of the Troubadours: The Life and Music of Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795)'' was inspired by a visit to Sweden, and tried to introduce the unknown Bellman to an American audience, but critics felt his version of twenty of the songs was "stiff and often ungraceful", not doing justice to their composer.<ref name="Minnen2005">{{cite book |last=Minnen |first=Cornelis van |title=Van Loon: Popular Historian, Journalist, and FDR Confidant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IeTIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 |date=14 October 2005 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-1-4039-7714-4 |page=189}}</ref>

=== Memorials ===

{{Bellman's Stockholm}}

Bellman was the subject of an 1844 ballet choreographed by [[August Bournonville]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kisselgoff |first1=Anna |title=Ballet Review: A Smorgasbord Fit for a King |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/16/arts/ballet-review-a-smorgasbord-fit-for-a-king.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=16 June 1998}}</ref> Bellman features as a character, along with Ulla Winblad and King Gustav III, in the first episode of the Swedish television series "Nisse Hults historiska snedsteg" (Nisse Hult's historical slips) by SVT Drama.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nisse Hults historiska snedsteg |trans-title=Nisse Hult's historical slips |url=https://gameshop.se/product/film/500951/nisse-hults-historiska-snedsteg-2/ |access-date=16 October 2020 |publisher=GameShop.se |language=sv}}</ref> Bellman appears with his cittern and various objects from ''Fredman's Epistles'' and ''Fredman's Songs'' on a 100 [[Swedish kronor]] postage stamp issued in 2014 and designed by Beata Boucht; he was shown on earlier Swedish stamps in 1940 and 1990, commemorating the 200th and 250th anniversaries of his birth, and again in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Carl Michael Bellman |url=http://wopa-stamps.com/index.php?controller=country&action=stampProduct&id=12137 |publisher=World Online Philatelic Agency |access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref> Bellmansgatan in Stockholm's [[Södermalm]] district is named for Bellman; [[Stieg Larsson]] places the apartment of his [[Millennium trilogy|''Millennium'' trilogy]] hero Mikael Blomkvist in Bellmansgatan, which Dan Burstein and Arne de Keijzer suggest is meant to provide Bellman associations.<ref name="BursteinKeijzer2011"/>

=== Bellman jokes ===

Swedish schoolchildren tell [[Bellman joke]]s about a person named Bellman, an [[antihero]] or modern-day [[trickster]] with little or no connection to the poet. The first known Bellman joke is in a book from 1835, which quoted a letter written in 1808 by a contemporary of Bellman. 19th-century Bellman jokes were told by adults and focused on Bellman's life at court; they often related to sex. In the 20th century, the 'Bellman' character became generic, the jokes were told by schoolchildren, and often related to bodily functions. The jokes have been studied by anthropologists and psychologists since the 1950s.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Klintberg, Bengt af | date=November 1987 | url=http://www.buks.dk/PDF/Varfor_er_bellmannhistorierna_roliga.pdf | title=Varför är Bellmanhistorierna roliga? |trans-title=Why are Bellman jokes so funny? | journal=Børne-og UngdomsKulturSammenslutningen  | volume=9 | language=sv | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502234624/http://www.buks.dk/PDF/Varfor_er_bellmannhistorierna_roliga.pdf | archive-date=2 May 2013 }}</ref>

=== Bellman museum ===

Stora Henriksvik, also called the Bellman museum (''Bellmanmuseet'') for its small permanent Bellman exhibition, celebrates his life and work with paintings, replica objects and a beachside café in a 17th-century Stockholm house. The place, beside the beach at Långholm, was in Bellman's time called ''Lilla Sjötullen'' (The Small Lake-Customs House) where farmers from [[Lake Mälaren]] had to pay a toll on the goods they were taking to market in Stockholm's ''Gamla stan''. The place is mentioned in Epistle No. 48, ''[[Solen glimmar blank och trind]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bellmanutställning |url=http://www.storahenriksvik.se/bellmanmuseet |publisher=Stora Henriksvik |access-date=16 March 2016 |language=sv}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Bellmanmuseet |url=http://www.timeout.com/stockholm/museums/venue/1%3A21465/bellmanmuseet |magazine=Time Out}}</ref>

=== Bellman society ===

The Bellman Society (''Bellmansällskapet''), founded in Stockholm on the anniversary of Bellman's birth in 1919, fosters interest in Bellman and supports research into the man and his work. To these ends it organises concerts, lectures, and excursions. It produces the series of ''Bellmanstudier'', starting in 1924, so far running to 24 volumes, as well as facsimile prints of Bellman documents, essay collections, and [[:sv:Yngve Berg|Yngve Berg]]'s Bellman [[porcelain]]. It has published recordings including ''Alla Fredmans Epistlar'' (All Fredman's Epistles) and ''Alla Fredmans Sånger'' (All Fredman's Songs). The Society's newsletter is called ''Hwad behagas?''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bellmansällskapet |url=http://www.bellman.org/index.php?id=31 |publisher=Bellmansällskapet |access-date=16 March 2016}}</ref> Sister societies in other countries include the Danish ''Selskabet Bellman i Danmark'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Formål |url=https://www.bellman.dk/formaal/ |publisher=Selskabet Bellman i Danmark |access-date=14 January 2021 |language=Danish}}</ref> and the German ''Deutsche Bellman-Gesellschaft''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Herzlich willkommen bei der Deutschen Bellman-Gesellschaft |language=German |url=https://www.bellmangesellschaft.de/ |publisher=Deutsche Bellman-Gesellschaft |access-date=14 January 2021}}</ref>

== Works ==

Bellman published the following works:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://runeberg.org/authors/bellman.html |title=Bellman, Carl Michael (Nordic Authors) |website=Project Runeberg |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref>

* ''[https://runeberg.org/bcmmanan/0003.html Månan<!--this is OLD Swedish-->]'' (The Moon), Nyström och Stolpe, 1760
* ''[[Bacchi Tempel]]'' (''Temple of Bacchus''), 1783
* ''[[Fredmans Epistlar]]'' (''Fredman's Epistles''), 1790
* ''[[Fredmans Sånger]]'' (''Fredman's Songs''), 1791
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150205173756/http://samladeverk.bellman.org/ Samlade verk]'' (''Collected Works'')

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==

=== English ===

* {{cite book |last=Britten Austin |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Britten Austin |title=The Life and Songs of Carl Michael Bellman: Genius of the Swedish Rococo |publisher=Allhem, Malmö American-Scandinavian Foundation |location=New York |year=1967 |isbn=978-3-932759-00-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Britten Austin |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Britten Austin |title=Carl Michael Bellman: Sweden's Shakespeare of the Guitar Song |location=Stockholm |publisher=Proprius |year=1998}}
* {{cite book |last=Britten Austin |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Britten Austin |title=Fredman's Epistles and Songs |location=Stockholm |publisher=Proprius |orig-year=1990 |year=1999}}
* {{cite book |last1=Van Loon |first1=Hendrik Willem |author-link=Hendrik Willem van Loon |last2=Castagnetta |first2=Grace |title=The Last of the Troubadours |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1939}}
* {{cite book |last=Massengale |first=James |author-link=James Massengale |title=The Musical-Poetic Method of Carl Michael Bellman |publisher=PhD thesis, self-published |year=1979 |isbn=978-9-15540-849-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Roberts (historian) |title=Epistles and Songs (three volumes) |publisher=Grahamstown |year=1984}}
* {{cite book |last=Stork |first=Charles Wharton |author-link=Charles Wharton Stork |url=https://archive.org/details/ana3202.0001.001.umich.edu/page/2 |title=Anthology of Swedish lyrics from 1750 to 1915 |location=New York |publisher=[[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]] |year=1917}}

=== Swedish ===
; Sources

* {{cite book |last=Hassler |first=Göran |others=Peter Dahl (illus.) |title=Bellman – en antologi |language=Swedish |trans-title=Bellman – an anthology |publisher=En bok för alla |year=1989 |isbn=91-7448-742-6 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7642413 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hägg |first=Göran |title=Den svenska litteraturhistorien |language=Swedish |trans-title=History of Swedish literature  |year=1996 |publisher=[[Wahlström & Widstrand]] |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-46-17629-2 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7282926 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kleveland |first1=Åse |author1-link=Åse Kleveland |last2=Ehrén |first2=Svenolov |title=Fredmans epistlar & sånger |language=Swedish |trans-title=The songs and epistles of Fredman |year=1984 |publisher=Informationsförlaget |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7736-059-1 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7663908}} (with facsimiles of sheet music from first editions in 1790, 1791)
* {{cite book |last=Lönnroth |first=Lars |author-link=Lars Lönnroth |title=Ljuva karneval! : om Carl Michael Bellmans diktning |language=Swedish |trans-title=Sweet Carnival! On Carl Michael Bellman's Poetry |title-link=Ljuva karneval! |publisher=[[Albert Bonniers Förlag]] |location=Stockholm |year=2005 |isbn=978-91-0-057245-7 |oclc=61881374 }}

; Further reading

* {{cite book |last=Andersson |first=Ingvar |author2=Agne Beijer |author3=Bertil Kjellberg |author4=Bo Lindorm |title=Ny svensk historia – Gustavianskt 1771–1810 |trans-title=New Swedish history – Gustavian 1771–1810| date=1979 |publisher=Wahlström & Widstrand | isbn=91-46-13373-9 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7280367 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Brunner |first=Ernst |title=Fukta din aska |trans-title=Moisten your ashes |date=2002 |publisher=Bonnier |isbn=91-0-058026-0 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/8532874 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Burman |first=Carina |author-link=Carina Burman |title=[[Bellman. Biografin]] |trans-title=Bellman. The Biography |year=2019 |publisher=[[Albert Bonniers Förlag]] |location=Stockholm |isbn=978-9100141790 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Eriksson |editor-first=Lars-Göran | title=Kring Bellmann |trans-title=Around Bellman | location=Stockholm | publisher=[[Wahlström & Widstrand]] | date=1982 | isbn=91-46-14135-9 | url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7280713 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Henrikson |first=Alf |author-link=Alf Henrikson |title=Ekot av ett skott – öden kring 1792 |trans-title=The echo of a shot – life around 1792 |location=Höganäs |publisher=Bra Böcker |date=1986 |isbn=91-7752-124-2 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/571390 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Huldén |first=Lars |author-link=Lars Huldén |title=Carl Michael Bellman | date=1991 |publisher=[[Natur & Kultur]] |location=Stockholm | isbn=91-27-03767-3 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7229167 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Huldén |first1=Lars |author1-link=Lars Huldén |last2=Pettersson |first2=Björn |year=1961 |title=Om samordning hos Bellman / Lars Huldén. Nominal statsbildning i Mikael Lybecks prosa / Björn Pettersson |url=https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/teos/binding/2109455 |publisher=Swedish Literature Society in Finland |language=Swedish |location=Helsinki |ref=none |access-date=20 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815161935/https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/teos/binding/2109455 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last=Jonshult |first=Bengt Gustaf |title=Med Bellman på Haga och Carlberg |trans-title=With Bellman at Haga and Carlberg |issue=6 in ''Småskrifter'' series |publisher=Solna Hembygdsförening |location=Solna |date=1990 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7793440 |isbn=91-971109-1-4 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Matz |first=Edvard |title=Carl Michael Bellman – Nymfer och friskt kalas |trans-title=Carl Michael Bellman – Nymphs and splendid feasts |year=2004 |publisher=Historiska Media |location=Lund |isbn=91-89442-97-0 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/9515270 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Hjord |editor-first=Bengt |title=Stadsbor i gångna tider: Släktforskaren och staden: Årsbok 1989 |trans-title=City dwellers in olden times: The genealogist and the town | publisher=Sveriges Släktforskarförbund, Norstedts Tryckeri |location=Stockholm |date=1989 |isbn=91-87676-03-6 | chapter="Carl Michael Bellmans okända släkt" by Marianne Nyström pp. 209-226 and "Skalde-Anor: Carl Michael Bellmans härstammning" by Håkan Skogsjö pp. 227-236 |url=http://libris.kb.se/bib/7765970 |ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Commons-inline}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Karl Mikael Bellman |volume= III | page=549| short=1 }}<!--how does this help, it's brief, old, tertiary, and cites no sources-->
* [http://www.samladeverk.bellman.org/ Facsimiles of Bellman's collected works]

===Swedish===
*{{ChoralWiki}}
*[http://www.bellman.net/ Bellman.net: Carl Michael Bellman homepage]
*[http://litteraturbanken.se/ Litteraturbanken: Recordings of Bellman Epistles] (in Swedish, English and German)
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Carl Michael Bellman}}
*{{runeberg|url=https://runeberg.org/authors/bellman.html|title=Carl Michael Bellman}}
*[http://sv.wikisource.org/wiki/Författare:Carl_Michael_Bellman Wikisource: Carl Michael Bellman]
*[http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/40575/Bellman_Carl_Michael_composer Discography of American Historical Recordings: Carl Michael Bellman]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111228200707/http://stockholmskallan.se/Soksida/Post/?nid=20494 Stockholm City: Bellman's birthplace] with links to other Bellman pages
*[https://arken.kb.se/informationobject/browse?sf_culture=en&names=2133&repos=440&view=table&onlyMedia=1&topLod=0&sort=alphabetic&sortDir=asc Digitized Bellman-manuscripts at the National Library of Sweden]

===English===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140923001832/http://www.bellman.org/index.php?lang=en The Bellman Society (Bellmanssällskapet)] (also in Swedish and other languages)
*[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/carl-michael-bellman-q7047/biography Carl Michael Bellman] at [[AllMusic]]
* {{Books and Writers |id=bellman |name=Carl Michael Bellman}}
*[https://archive.org/download/SwedishAuthors/02TroubadourBookReview.pdf Review of ''The Last of the Troubadours''] at the [[Internet Archive]]

===Translations===
*[http://johnirons.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Bellman+-Rifbjerg John Irons]
*[https://archive.org/details/anthologyswedis00storgoog Charles Wharton Stork]

===Streaming audio===
* {{Librivox author |id=9547}}
*[https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/1094 FE 30 ''Drick ur ditt glas''] at the [[Library of Congress]] ([[Joel Mossberg]])
*[http://www.stockholmskallan.se/Soksida/Post/?nid=24289 FE 33 ''Stolta stad''] at the [[National Library of Sweden]] ([[Sven-Bertil Taube]])
*[http://www.stockholmskallan.se/Soksida/Post/?nid=24340 FE 34 ''Ack vad för en usel koja''] at the National Library of Sweden ([[Tommy Körberg]])
*[https://archive.org/download/SwedishSinger/SkrattaMinaBarnOchVnnerFe75.mp3 FE 75 ''Skratta mina barn och vänner''] at the [[Internet Archive]] (Joel Mossberg)

===Videos===
*[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Carl+Michael+Bellman YouTube: Performances of pieces by Bellman]

{{Carl Michael Bellman}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellman, Carl Michael}}
[[Category:Carl Michael Bellman| ]]
[[Category:1740 births]]
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[[Category:18th-century male musicians]]
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[[Category:Swedish male composers]]
[[Category:Swedish-language poets]]
[[Category:Uppsala University alumni]]
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[[Category:18th-century Swedish musicians]]
[[Category:18th-century Swedish poets]]
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[[Category:18th-century classical composers]]
[[Category:Swedish comedy musicians]]
[[Category:Swedish satirists]]
[[Category:Swedish satirical musicians]]