22 Dec Two evenings with “Songs of the Night” – Romanos the Melodist in Danish
Two weeks ago, the RC team member Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen (SDU) presented his new book “Nattens Sange” (“Songs of the Night”, published by Atlanten) at two events in Denmark. The book is the first monograph on the Byzantine poet Romanos the Melodist (485-560 CE) in Danish, containing an introduction to the life and work of the poet, translations of four hymns and a commentary on each hymn.
The book has been beautifully accompanied by artwork of the Danish artist, Peter Brandes (b. 1944). Furthermore, the bishop of the Danish diocese of Ribe, Elof Westergaard, has written a foreword to the book.
The first event, which took place on Tuesday 5 December at the Aarhus cathedral, was an interview by pastor Henrik Lund with Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen and Peter Brandes. The interview was accompanied by a performance of medieval melodies to two of the hymns translated in the book, as well as the oldest known melody to Romanos’s famous Christmas hymn “Today the Virgin gives birth to the one who is above all being”. The hymns were performed by Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen, assisted by two singers, Mads Djernes and Christian Oluf Verdoner. The melodies have not been sung in this manner since the thirteenth century. The melodies were kindly transcribed from the manuscript St Petersburg 674 (c. 1270) by Christian Troelsgård (University of Copenhagen) and Ioannis Arvanitis (Athens).
The second event was hosted by the diocese of Ribe on Wednesday, 6th of December. At this event, Elof Westergaard, Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen and Peter Brandes presented the book and spoke about the relevance of Romanos the Melodist today. Westergaard and Brandes both pointed to the influence Romanos has had on Swedish poets such as Hjalmar Gullberg and Gunnar Ekelöf as well as on the 1979 Noble literature prize laurate, the Greek author Odysseas Elytis. Romanos has accompanied both Brandes and Westergaard for many decades as a continuing source of inspiration. Brandes, who has done artwork for several translations of ancient poets such as Homer, Vergil, Ovid and Sappho, as well as modern poetry, ranks Romanos as one of the best poets in literary history.
Since its publication on 15th of September 2023, “Nattens Sange” is close to being out of stock, as it was printed in a limited edition of 300 copies.
Text and images: Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen
1) The cover of the book “Nattens Sange”
2) Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen (m) and Peter Brandes (r) discuss Romanos with pastor Henrik Lund (l) at the Catherdral of Aarhus on December 5, 2023.
3) The team behind the book, from l to r: bishop Elof Westergaard, publisher Fedja Wierød Borčak, Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen and artist Peter Brandes.