Kurt ATTERBERG (1887-1974)
Orchestral Works - Volume 1
Symphony No.6, Op.31 Dollar Symphony (1927-28) [27:12]
En värmlandsrapsodi, Op.36 (1933) [7:57]
Suite No.3, Op.19 No.1 (1921) [14:30]
Symphony No.4, Op.14 Sinfonia piccola (1918) [19:59]
Sara Trobäck Hesselink (violin); Per Högberg (viola)
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (National Orchestra of Sweden)/Neeme Järvi
rec. Concert Hall, Gothenburg, 31 May-8 June 2012
CHANDOS CHSA5116 SACD [70:14]
The present CD is the first of a projected series of Kurt Atterberg’s
orchestral works from Chandos. All this music is new to me, in spite of there
being at least two other versions of the symphonies currently available. My
first impressions are of largely attractive music that is enjoyable but not
necessarily challenging.
In spite of not having heard the work I do know the famous (infamous) story
of the Sixth Symphony, ‘popularly’ know as the Dollar Symphony.
This work won a competition organised in 1928 by the Columbia Phonograph Company.
It was to celebrate the centenary of Schubert’s death. The composer
‘trousered’ the (then) massive sum of $10,000 (£2000). The
symphony was first heard at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, with the Hallé
Orchestra and their conductor Sir Hamilton Harty. Percy Young has recalled
a review in the Musical Times ‘… many Manchester folk,
left the Free Trade Hall … saddened by the thought that there had been
six hundred symphonies entered for this contest, and that Atterberg’s
had been deemed the best.’ To make matters worse, the composer later
claimed that his entry was a joke and even produced a pamphlet describing
‘How I fooled the World’. Lewis Foreman in an extensive review
of the CPO edition of this symphony has noted that after the premiere this
work was subject to ‘open season’ for the tracing of influences.
According to Foreman, Strauss, Dvořák, Elgar, Brahms, Vaughan
Williams, Holst, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Granados, César Franck, Chopin,
Delius and Grieg were all contenders in the attempt to say what the Dollar
Symphony sounded like.
I have two thoughts. The first is that the nature of the competition was to
write a piece of music that was tuneful: the idea was to find out if melody
could still be applied to a large-scale symphonic work. So it is hardly surprising
that Atterberg chose to use ‘traditional’ forms, harmonies and
tunes. This nod to the past was bound to throw up allusions galore to earlier
masters. The result is a work that is ‘bright, entertaining, pleasant,
jovial and energetic’. Do not be misled into thinking that Atterberg
was somehow writing pastiche. He uses his materials, whether begged, stolen
or borrowed with great creativity and aplomb.
The second consideration is that I do not for one minute believe that this
is a great symphony, however I do think that it is a very good one. The reason
for my confidence in this work is that for all the composer’s bluff,
it is well constructed and internally consistent. It deserves its place in
the repertoire.
The Suite No.3 derives from incidental music written for the play Soeur
Béatrice by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) in 1918. It is a plot
that would hardly pass muster in today’s world and would be regarded
as banal. It was originally scored for the rare combination of violin, viola
and harmonium. Fortunately, in 1921 Atterberg decided that the music was worth
preserving and re-scored it for string orchestra with violin and viola solo.
There are three movements - a ‘Prelude’, a ‘Pantomim moderato’
and a concluding ‘Vision’. The programme notes are correct in
regarding this as ‘a small masterpiece’. In fact, it became one
of the composer’s most performed works and this is reflected in the
fact there are five recordings of this work currently available. The music
is beautiful and certainly does not suffer from the same sentimentality that
the play would appear to have had. It is a delightful discovery and I hope
that it gets the popularity it deserves on Classic FM and elsewhere.
I was taken by En värmlandsrapsodi (A Värmland Rhapsody):
this is an attractive, if a little meandering, meditation on some Swedish
folk-songs. The work was composed in 1933 in a very short space of time as
a celebration of the 75th birthday of the Swedish novelist and
winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1909, Selma Lagërlof (1858
- 1940) who was living in Värmland at that time. It is gentle, reflective
and introspective. In fact I would suggest that it is almost melancholic:
certainly there is a profound sense of loneliness in this music. I enjoyed
Atterberg’s sensitive scoring which was well-reflected in the performance.
The Symphony No.4 also has a strange history. It resulted from an informal
contest with the Swedish composer Natanael Berg (1879 - 1957). The basis of
this competition was to compose a short piece lasting no more than 20 minutes
and containing a solo part for bass tuba. Atterberg produced his Sinfonia
piccolo - and Berg’s was his Pezzo sinfonico. The thematic basis
of this work derives from Swedish folk-tunes that are often in the minor mode.
Atterberg did not use the tunes in their original form but varied, modified
and transformed them to his own whim. There are four well-balanced movements.
The first is boisterous, the slow movement is reflective, and the brief scherzo
is almost Mendelssohnian in its touch. The final ‘rondo’ reminds
me for some reason of the last movement of York Bowen’s Second Symphony.
However, the overarching influence in this work appears to be Sibelius and
Dvořák.
The liner-notes are excellent, although there is room for a little more analysis
and description of the music and certainly a more fulsome biography would
be helpful to those who are new to Atterberg. The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
under Neeme Järvi seems to give a perfect account of these works. I do
not know these pieces in any other versions, but the performance here is ravishing
and totally persuasive. The two soloists make a major contribution to the
Suite No.3.
Kurt Atterberg’s music is something of a revelation. I was reminded
- and this may seem strange - of Percy Whitlock’s masterpiece, the Organ
Symphony. Then I recalled why. In a review of this work, Rob Barnett reflected
that the first movement has been shown to have the ‘plunging romanticism
of Louis Glass’s Fifth, Atterberg's Sixth, Madetoja's Second and Peterson-Berger’s
Journey to the South. Certainly Atterberg has a depth of romanticism
that is striking. The composer himself stated that he was influenced by Max
Reger, the Russian composers and Johannes Brahms. Added to this was his interest
in Swedish folk-tunes. All this leads to an attractive mix that is always
well-wrought, sometimes downright moving and always interesting. The only
‘negative’ is that the music lack challenge. However, not all
composers are made to break the mould. In Atterberg’s case he seems
to have perfected an older design.
John France
Well-wrought, sometimes downright moving and always interesting.
see also review by Ian Lace (March 2013 Recording of the Month)
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