Ruben LILJEFORS (1871-1936)
Piano Concerto in F minor, op. 5 (1899) [23:20]
Symphony in E flat major, op. 14 (1906) [30:30]
Irène Mannheimer (piano)
Gävleborg Symphony Orchestra/Mats Liljefors
rec. May/June 1995, Concert Hall, Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Stockholm
STERLING CDS1017-2 [53:50]
Recently, I reviewed a Sterling recording of a concerto and
symphony by the little-known Swedish composer, Josef Sillén, and concluded
that the music, while pleasant enough, was very derivative (review).
Here we have another such composer, and music that certainly bears resemblance
to better known works. However, I feel that this is a better proposition.
Some biographical information to begin with. Liljefors was born in Uppsala
into an artistic family; his older brother Bruno became a well-known painter
specialising in nature subjects. Ruben studied in Sweden, graduating in Stockholm
as an organist, and then moved to Germany to work with Salomon Jadassohn,
Felix Draeseke and Max Reger. He spent much of his conducting career in Sweden
working with choirs, but he did help establish the orchestra in Gävle, serving
as its artistic director for twenty years, until deafness made it impossible
to continue.
The spirit of Grieg underlies the concerto, especially its first two movements.
What was odd is that I heard echoes of Rachmaninov in the final movement,
but this seems unlikely as the concerto was written before his music was likely
to have made it beyond the Russian borders. It is suggested that this is a
concerto obviously written by a pianist, but it didn’t strike me as
especially virtuosic; in fact, I found the orchestral contributions to be
more interesting than the piano part. The booklet quotes Wilhelm Peterson-Berger,
composer and critic, who wrote that the concerto was a “deeply serious-minded
imitation of the deeply serious”. That is a little unfair, as it does
have its moments.
The symphony was premiered together with the Third Symphony of Hugo Alfvén,
which received much of the attention; it isn’t difficult to see why.
While the two are almost exact contemporaries, Alfvén’s reputation was
already established, and he had already honed his symphonic skills. His would
have stood out as a much more accomplished work, and the light-hearted, sunny
mood of the Liljefors would have made it seem even less substantial. It is
not as obviously influenced by others as the concerto. It certainly doesn’t
sound like Brahms, Mahler or Wagner; the booklet mentions Svendsen. It has
a freshness that is enjoyable, though I doubt you will leave it whistling
any of the melodies.
The performances are perfectly adequate, but are not helped by a somewhat
recessed and undefined sound. It is disappointing that one other piece, for
example one of his overtures, wasn’t included in the recording session
to fill out the CD rather better. The notes spend the majority of the page
and a half on biographical information, which is appreciated, but very little
on the music itself. For your information, the conductor is the composer’s
grandson.
Apparently, Liljefors’ conducting career meant that he had little time
for composing, which is a shame as these two works do show a degree of promise,
especially the symphony.
David Barker
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