Soldatgossen - Edison Cylinder (1908)

Soldatgossen is Swedish for "The Soldier Boy."

The song was published in 1858 and became very popular.

Issued in 1908 on Edison Goldguss Walze 20509.

Lyrics are from a poem written by J. L. Runeberg (1804-1877). Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish priest, lyric poet, and epic poet.

He wrote exclusively in Swedish but he did not live in Sweden. He is considered a national poet of Finland.

The man who composed the music is not Swedish. Instead, he was German-Finnish.

The composer is Fredrik Pacius, who is known today for his patriotic songs.

Fredrik Pacius was born in Hamburg in 1809. His father, named Johann Conrad Ludwig Pacius, was a wine merchant.

After the Great Fire of Turku in September 1827, a major part of Finnish cultural life and administration was moved to Helsinki, which in 1812 had become the capital of the Grand Duchy.

So Pacius moved to Helsinki in February 1835.