God in Disguise

God in Disguise or A God Disguised (Swedish: Förklädd gud) (Op. 24) is a lyrical suite composed in 1940 by Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson to lyrics by Hjalmar Gullberg.

The suite is from the composer’s neo-romantic period. It was written for the radio audience when Gullberg and Larsson were both employed by Swedish Radio. The setting is for orchestra, mixed choir, soprano solo, baritone solo and narrator. The premier performance took place on April 1, 1940, on the radio. Soloists were Kerstin Torlind (soprano), Hugo Hasslo (baritone) and Olof Molander (narrator). The Swedish Radio Choir and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra were conducted by the composer.

The lyrics are from the collection of poems Kärlek i tjugonde seklet ("Love in the 20th Century") from 1933 and based on a motif from ancient mythology where the god Apollo is doomed to appear as a human for one year and serve as farm hand with King Admetus in Thessaly in the drama Alcestis by Euripides.

The music is published by Gehrmans Musikförlag with English translation by John Michael Hearne.

References

• Göran Bergendal. "Larsson, Lars-Erik." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online (accessed August 19, 2009).
• Anderson, Martin. "Larsson, Lars-Erik (Vilner)." In The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online (accessed August 19, 2009).
• Myggans nöjeslexikon : ett uppslagsverk om underhållning. 6, Fell-Gabl. - 1990. - ISBN 91-7752-264-8 (Wiken, Bra böcker) (in Swedish)
• Sohlmans musiklexikon. 4, Kammaropera - Partial. - 1977. - ISBN 91-7198-024-5 (in Swedish)