Gustav Fonandern [1] | |
|---|---|
 The Harry Lauder of Sweden [2] | |
| Born | July 14, 1880 |
| Died | November 22, 1960 (aged 80) |
| Occupation(s) | architect, singer |
| Spouse | Maria Lovisa Fonandern [3] |
Gustav Fonandern (1880-1960) was a Swedish architect, singer and recording artist, who spent considerable time in the United States during the 1920s. [1]
As a young man Fonandern studied to be an architect. Upon graduation he opened his own firm in Gävle. It wasn’t long, however, before he began performing in cabarets in addition to his work as a draftsman. [4] Eventually the singing took over, but he continued with his architectural activities when time allowed. [5]
During the 1910s and 1920s Fonandern toured frequently and performed in Sweden's folk parks. In 1921 he embarked on an American tour, which took him from coast to coast by automobile, something never done by a Swedish artist before. In Duluth, Minnesota Fonandern gave his first ever radio performance. [4]
Gustav Fonandern stayed in the United States off and on from 1921 through 1926. When he was not on tour or in the recording studio, he worked as an architect in Chicago and other cities. In addition to buildings in California and Florida, he designed 150 houses and a large hotel on Long Island, outside of New York. [5]
After returning to Sweden Fonandern continued to tour, this time by car, which was so unusual at the time that advertising posters read: "Performance by GUSTAV FONANDERN, architect and ballad singer with his own car!". [4]
Despite his great success as an entertainer, Fonandern never put away the drafting pen for good. In the early 1930s he founded yet another architectural firm, this time on Drottninggatan in Stockholm. [5]
Gustav Fonandern recorded more than two hundred fifty songs in Sweden [5] and over forty in the United States. His releases on the Columbia and Victor labels introduced current Swedish hits to his countrymen abroad. [6] The Swedish-American singer Olga Lindgren-Nilsen, who was married to Olle i Skratthult in the 1920s, gave credit to Fonandern, Lydia Hedberg (Bergslagsmor) and other performers from Sweden for providing much of her new material. [7]
The Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research had one recording by Fonandern and two by Hedberg on its album "From Sweden To America", which was released as an LP in 1981 and as a CD in 1996. [7] In 2011 the twenty-three tracks on the CD were released on iTunes and Amazon mp3.
In 2016 the Minnesota Historical Society opened an online archive of Swedish American newspapers. These historic publications give many accounts of Gustav Fonandern's American performances and recordings in the years 1921 – 1926. Search term is "Gustav Fonandern". [8]
Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist.
Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland, having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria. However, Gävle is far nearer to the greater Stockholm region than it is to most other major settlements in Norrland and has a much milder climate than associated with said region.
Ernst Ragnar Johansson, professionally known as Ernst Rolf was a Swedish actor, singer and composer and musical revue artist. Rolf was born in Falun in the Swedish province of Dalarna, where his father was a tailor and member of the temperance movement. His musical talent was evident from the start when even as a young child he performed at IOGT meetings. He would sing while his older brother Birger played the piano.
Charles Godfrey Widdén (1874-1933) was a Swedish-born singer and comedian, who performed regularly in Worcester, Massachusetts and New York City during the years 1900 - 1920 and achieved national prominence through his numerous recordings.
Hjalmar Peterson was a singer and comedian from Sweden, who achieved great popularity during the 1910s and 1920s. His stage name was Olle i Skratthult.
Marie Sundelius was a Swedish-American classical soprano. She sang for many years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and later embarked on a second career as a celebrated voice teacher in Boston.
Emil Norlander (1865-1935) was a Swedish journalist, author, songwriter and producer of musical revues.
Anna Myrberg was a Swedish author and song lyricist.
Lars Bondeson (1865-1908) was the stage name of Carl Jansson-Öhlin, who was one of the founders of Swedish bondkomik. Born in Örebro in 1865, he was a singer, storyteller, lyricist and music publisher. His songbooks were a major influence on countless entertainers in Sweden and America.
Kalle Nämdeman was the stage name of Karl Gustafsson, a Swedish songwriter, performer and recording artist.
Known as the father of bondkomik, Jödde i Göljaryd (1855–1900) was a beloved storyteller, whose folk humor and songs dominated popular culture in Sweden during the 1890s.
Carsten Thorvald Woll (1885-1962) was a leading Norwegian-American singer and recording artist of the 1910s and 1920s.
Theodor Larsson (1880–1937) was a Swedish songwriter and comedian.
Ted Johnson was a Swedish-American violinist, who led a popular Scandinavian dance band in the Twin Cities during the 1930s and 1940s.
Lydia Hedberg (1878–1964) was a Swedish singer, who performed in folk costume and was known as Bergslagsmor.
Ragnar Hasselgren was a Swedish-born singer and recording artist, who was active on the American West Coast from the 1920s through the 1970s.
Calle Lindström (1868–1955) was a Swedish singer and comedian from Östergötland.
Events from the year 1792 in Sweden
Kalman Juvelier was an Austrian-born Yiddish theatre actor and manager, Broder singer, Tenor, and recording artist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who was active both in Europe and the United States. After emigrating to the United States in 1900, he became a key figure in the Yiddish theatre in New York, working with such notables as Boris Thomashefsky, David Kessler, Bertha Kalich and Jacob P. Adler and was director of the Hebrew Actor's Union as well as the Jewish Theatrical Alliance. From roughly 1905 to 1918, he recorded roughly 90 Yiddish language discs, mostly Yiddish theatre music, for most of the major record labels in the New York area.
Sigrid Agneta Sofia Elmblad, born Sigrid Agneta Sofia Pettersson, was a Swedish journalist, poet, translator and writer, who translated Der Ring des Nibelungen into Swedish and produced the first Swedish translation of the song of Saint Lucy. she produced her first poems under the pseudonym Toivo. Born in Stockholm to a Swedish father and Finnish mother, she was an early member of the Nya Idun society, rising to be chair between 1918 and 1921. After working as a journalist for the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, she travelled extensively with her husband, the opera singer Johannes Elmblad. While living in Bayreuth, she developed her interest in the music of Richard Wagner, which led her to translate his works into Swedish, including Parsifal in 1917, and the work of other German composers like Robert Schumann. She also wrote fiction for adults and children, as well as biographies for figures like Jenny Lind in 1920. She died in Sweden six years later.
