Birgit Nilsson loved telling stories, both as a child and adult. With great empathy and lots of anecdotes, she was happy to recount her upbringing in Svenstad. One of her greatest personal commitments was the forty odd charity concerts she gave in the church in her hometown of Västra Karup. For these performances she often wrote a piece for the concert programs.

Here are excerpts from Birgit’s own words from one such:

“At the baptism, I overruled both the priest and the organ”

In interviews, it often happens that a journalist can ask in which place I have sung the longest, or where I prefer to perform. Quite reflectively, I usually say that at the Stockholm Opera I have sung for 35 years, in Vienna and Munich 28, at Metropolitan 22 and so on. It was not until now that it struck me that in my hometown Västra Karup I have sung the longest.

This certainly contributes to the fact that this place is also closest to my heart. “Put her on her stomach, and give her a sudden!” The old rector Anders Nilsson spoke so disrespectfully at my first appearance in Västra Karup’s church. But at that time I was only a few months old. Mother Justina has so often told me about the embarrassing infant baptism, that I think I remember the whole event. Apparently I was already then equipped with unusually strong vocal cords, for my loud and persistent cries overwhelmed both the priest, the organ and the assembled congregation. I never came to ask my mother what the priest could have meant by “sudden”. Maybe she did not know either.

Much later I have read somewhere that before the comfort button was invented, a piece of cloth was rolled up, which was tied around a string. This so-called blur was then dipped in something sweet, e.g. syrup or honey and stuck in the mouth of the screaming child. If this did not help, it could happen that you dipped suddenly in brandy! It took all the breath out of the poor insect, so it simply could not bear to scream anymore. Prost Nilsson, who was born in the middle of the 19th century, still believed in the magical power of the eraser. However, the pacifier had already made its entrance when I was born, and therefore one can hardly fear that they tried to comfort me with brandy. ”

Fourteen years, I think I was

“My second appearance in V. Karup’s church took place under more civilized conditions. I was 14 years old and newly confirmed. After a period of piano and singing lessons for the acting cantor, David Pålsson, he let me start in the church choir. Pretty soon I even got to start singing solo in church. I remember with particular pride that I was entrusted to sing solo in Beethoven’s hymn at my confirmation teacher’s, Einar Magnusson’s wedding. This to be able to sing solo was extremely flattering, because I was the youngest in the choir.

The church choir took a lot of time. We rehearsed once a week, and sometimes more. Sometimes the rehearsals were left at the home of a choir member, and then it was often served in the form of coffee and cakes in large quantities. These invitations were always much appreciated. We sang at all church holidays, at weddings and funerals as well as at some non-profit associations. Christmas Day was the busiest day of the year… These Christmas morning mornings with fragrant fir trees, lit candles and filled churches, are among my most wonderful memories, which I would not, for anything in the world, want to be without. I continued from time to time to perform as a soloist, not only in church, but also at some other events. I was greatly encouraged by Pastor Johannes Thulin. He himself was interested in music and had a beautiful singing voice. It was not uncommon for him to ask me to sing something, and I was never asked. That way, I got a certain habit of performing. Yes, they were the ones behind my back who called me the “opera singer”.

Personally, I had a very vague idea of ​​what opera was and did not intend to devote myself to anything that I had neither seen nor heard. On the other hand, I dreamed of trying out the wings outside Västra Karup, to train my voice properly, so that I could eventually become a fine concert singer. ” How it went then, you may all know by now… ”

Edited excerpt from concert program – Birgit Nilsson concert 1982, for the benefit of Bjäre Härads Hembygdsförening.