performed by the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt, available on Spotify (cover image by Eleni Afiontzi) Rosenberg’s second symphony dates from 1934, and we have what I perceive to be a similar situation with the quartets. The second quartet … Continue reading Rosenberg Symphony no. 2, op. 62 ‘Sinfonia Grave’
performed by Charles Barkel, violin, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hilding Rosenberg (although the YouTube video lists Tor Mann as conductor, I’m almost positive it’s under the composer’s baton) (cover image by Geoffrey Datema) Rosenberg’s first violin concerto … Continue reading Rosenberg Violin Concerto no. 1, op. 22
performed by the Lysell String Quartet, available on Spotify (cover image by Delyn Stirewalt) And here we are with more of the Editor’s Choice series. For a refresher, this series features 20th century composers who gave us a whole cycle … Continue reading Rosenberg String Quartet no. 2, op. 21
performed by the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra under John Avison (cover image by Brenda Helen) Since this article isn’t going to be very long, let’s talk briefly about the conductor above, John Avison. He was born on April 25, 1915 … Continue reading Rosenberg: Sinfonia da Chiesa no. 1, op. 15
performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Stig Westerberg in a performance that is no longer on YouTube, or anywhere else, it seems (cover image by Caleb Woods) As I said, we’re back to Rosenberg for the next installment of … Continue reading Rosenberg Symphony no. 1, op. 5
performed by the Kyndel Quartet (available here on Spotify) (cover image by Rodion Kutsaev) Here we are introducing the next composer in our Editor’s Choice lineup, Hilding Rosenberg. We’ve only seen him once on the blog before, and yet here … Continue reading Rosenberg String Quartet no. 1, op. 9
So much Swedish music! There were a few challenges in preparing this series. At the beginning, as I said in the introduction, there were a few names that were responsible for deciding to do this series to begin with. I’d … Continue reading The Swedish Series: a wrap-up
performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sergiu Comissiona No one in the 1950s noticed, that I am always breaking up the structures, that I was creating a whole new symphonic form. Pettersson, from Paul Rapoport’s Allan Pettersson, p. 21 … Continue reading Pettersson Symphony no. 7
performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Leif Segerstam Karl-Birger Blomdahl was born on 19 October, 1916 in Växjö. He was educated as a biochemist (why are all these people such overachievers?), but Wikipedia (English or Swedish) says very … Continue reading Karl-Birger Blomdahl: Symphony no. 3, Facetter
performed by Yamei Yu and the Leipziger Streichquartett, available here or in iTunes Gustav Allan Pettersson was born on 19 September 1911, “the youngest of four children of a violent, alcoholic blacksmith… at the manor of Granhammar in Västra Ryd parish in … Continue reading Gustav Allan Pettersson: Violin Concerto no. 1 for violin and string quartet
performed by the English Chamber Orchestra under Johannes Somary I wanted to share a quote here of the composer expressing his desire to write music “to entertain and please, and compose listener-friendly ‘modern’ music,” as paraphrased in his Wikipedia article, but … Continue reading Dag Wirén: Serenade for Strings, op. 11
performed by the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt One creates out of what has been before, out of the experiences of others, as well as those of oneself, out of everything one knows, has read, or been acquainted with … Continue reading Hilding Rosenberg: Symphony no. 3 ‘The Four Ages of Man’
performed by the Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester under B. Tommy Andersson This is a piece I had to make room for in the schedule, because I came across the Kallstenius name very late in my research, and he seems completely unrelated to … Continue reading Edvin Kallstenius: Symphony no. 2 in Fm, op. 20
performed by the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra under Paul Magi, or below by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under Michael Schonwandt Carl Wilhelm Eugene Stenhammar was born on 7 February, 1871 in Stockholm, where he began studying music. At some point he … Continue reading Wilhelm Stenhammar: Serenade in F, op. 31
performed by the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Michail Jurowski or below by the Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester under Stig Westerberg Olof Wilhelm Peterson-Berger was born 27 February, 1867 in Ullånger (or just not Stockholm), the oldest child of a surveyor, Olof Peterson, and Sophia Wilhelmina, nee Berger. He, too, … Continue reading Wilhelm Peterson-Berger: Symphony no. 3 in Fm ‘Same-Ätnam’
performed by the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt under Ari Rasilainen The video above is of the second and fifth symphonies back to back. The second symphony ends about 41 minutes in, but this is the recording to listen to. As much as I … Continue reading Kurt Atterberg: Symphony no. 2 in F, op. 6
performed by the Stenhammar Quartet (no YouTube this time, but a review of the album is on MusicWeb, and it’s rather frank and more negative than I was inclined to be. Also, if you’re determined to listen to something today and … Continue reading Atterberg String Quartet no. 2 in B minor, op. 11
performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Niklas Willén The symphony has no programme, it depicts neither concrete nor abstract. It is an expression of the joy of living, an expression of the sun-lit happiness that filled my whole being. … Continue reading Hugo Alfvén: Symphony no. 3 in E major, op.23
performed by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under Hans-Peter Frank Another symphony in E flat! Fredrik Vilhelm Ludvig Norman was born on 28 August 1831 in Stockholm, beginning his musical training with Lindblad, from last week. However, he also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he … Continue reading Ludvig Norman: Symphony no. 2 in E flat, op. 40
performed by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under Okko Kamu I’ve been very excited about this Swedish Symphony Series for some time, and I think we got off to a great start with the first symphony of Adolf Fredrick Lindblad last week, but today’s … Continue reading Franz Berwald: Symphony no. 4 in E flat, ‘Sinfonie naïve’
performed by the Uppsala Kammarsolister Per August Ölander was born 8 January, 1824 in Linkoping. His father was an organist. He studied at Uppsala University, and owed something of his career to support from his father-in-law, Johan Erik Nord Blom, Director … Continue reading Per August Ölander: String Sextet
Fugue for Thought 