Cornelis Vreeswijk
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Cornelis Vreeswijk (born August 8, 1937 in IJmuiden , Netherlands ; † November 12, 1987 in Stockholm ) was a Dutch-Swedish songwriter , composer and poet .
Life
Vreeswijk's father Jacob was a haulier in IJmuiden and owned several taxis and trucks. In 1949 he moved to Ekerö near Stockholm in Sweden with his wife Jeanne and four children . Cornelis was the oldest in the sibling line, ahead of Marianne (* 1939), Ida (* 1943) and Tonny (* 1952). He got excellent grades in Swedish at school, mainly thanks to his intensive study of Swedish poetry and prose , but also - according to himself - the comic series Phantom was one of his most outstanding learning resources. After graduating from secondary school in Stockholm, he first went to sea as an apprentice machinist, but after four months he checked again and then worked in various activities, such as an office apprentice, factory worker and surveyor assistant ("altar boy") in Lidingö , where the family had moved. During this time he learned to play the guitar and began to write his own pieces.
He decided to become a journalist, but his diploma was insufficient for the Swedish Journalism Institute , so he began to study sociology at the Socialinstitut (older name: University of Social Affairs) in Stockholm. He began performing as a songwriter while studying and quickly became popular. He made his first record on the Metronome label and toured Sweden with Fred Åkerström and Ann-Louise Hanson.
Critics certify that he has succeeded in merging his impressions of French chansons and American blues with Swedish song tradition and literary impulses from authors such as Gunnar Ekelöf and Aksel Sandemose into a large oeuvre of songs and tunes. Later he also took impressions from the samba music. Typical of Vreeswijk's songs are, like Carl Michael Bellman and Evert Taube , to whom he sometimes refers as a songwriter ( Fredman's epistle ), recurring characters such as “Ann-Katrin”, “Fredrik Åkare”, “Polaren Pär” etc., a sympathy with the socially weak, pacifism, social change and in the form a mixture of colloquial and high-level language.
He was known to the general public primarily for his translations of some American songs. He is said to have found this work annoying over time. He has also edited volumes of poetry and starred in a number of films.
In 1987 Vreeswijk received the Troubadour Prize of the “Nils Ferlin Society”.
Vreeswijk is now counted among the great Swedish songwriters. He never accepted Swedish citizenship. The journalist Oscar Hedlund wrote a biography in which, among other things, the character of Ann-Katrin, who ended up as a drug victim, appears.
Vreeswijk died of liver cancer. His grave lies in the Katarina cemetery in Stockholm next to that of the baroque poet Lars Wivallius (1605–1669). The income from the exploitation of his rights is collected in a fund and administered by the "Cornelis Society", which has been awarding a "Cornelis Vreeswijk Scholarship" every year since 1988 to artists who sing or write in Swedish.
After his death, Vreeswijk's popularity continued to grow, and his songs are widely used in Sweden. In 2010 the film "Cornelis" about his life was released, the main role being played by the Norwegian singer Hank von Helvete .
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 NL
|
|||
| 1970 | Cornelis Vreeswijk |
NL1 (11 weeks) NL |
|
| 2002 | A homage |
NL44 (8 weeks) NL |
EPs
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
NL
|
|||
| 1972 | De Nozem En De Non |
NL21 (5 weeks) NL |
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
NL
|
|||
| 1972 | Veronica |
NL12 (9 weeks) NL |
Web links
- Literature by and about Cornelis Vreeswijk in the catalog of the German National Library
swell
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: NL albums NL singles
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vreeswijk, Cornelis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch-Swedish troubadour, composer and poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 8, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | IJmuiden , Netherlands |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 12, 1987 |
| Place of death | Stockholm |