The Swedish Smorgasbord in Orchestral Music
Various Swedish orchestras/Harry Damgaard, Sten Frykberg,
Björn Hallman, Göran W. Nilson and Gunnar Staern.
rec. 1955, 1976-1980
Reviewed as downloaded from press preview
STERLING CDS1129
[57:59 + 58:44]
The present twofer is a nostalgic retrospect of the origins of the Swedish
record company Sterling, who have, during their existence, enriched the
representation of Swedish music on records. In the foreword to the issue,
Bo Hyttner, the owner of the company, remembers how it all started. Bo ran,
for 22 years, a record shop in Central Stockholm, a shop that was a
meeting-point for music lovers – not only in the capital of Sweden. I often
dropped in there when I visited Stockholm, and it was an adventure to
browse through the LP-boxes and find things that were totally unknown to
me. But Swedish music was in short supply, and customers who were looking
for even well-known works complained. One such customer said, when Bo told
him the truth: “Record it yourself, then!” And he did. The material on
these two discs is from some of the very first Sterling LPs. A few things
are well-known, but the majority of the works are off the beaten track,
even though several of the composers are well-known.
The order is chronological, and the programme begins with Johan Agrell,
born in 1701, and thus a few years younger than Johann Helmich Roman, who
has been called “the father of Swedish music”. Agrell was born in the
Swedish province of Östergötland, and he probably studied with Roman, but
early in his career he obtained a position as Kammarmusicus in
Kassel in Germany. From 1747 until his death, he was Stadtmusicus
in Nürnberg, and he never returned to Sweden. He is supposed to have
composed a lot of orchestral and other instrumental music but much of it
has not been preserved. None of his compositions stem from his early years
in Sweden. The sinfonia recorded here is certainly attractive, with a
lively and fresh opening Allegro, followed by a calm, beautiful
and sad Andante that is the centrepiece of the work in more than
one respect. The brief Allegro presto rounds off the composition
with gusto. A charming opening to this programme.
Then there is a considerable leap in time, from around 1740 to 1867 and
August Söderman’s vital and springy Svenskt festspel. The composer
was the first in Sweden to adapt influences from folk music into his
compositions, and thus, according to Hugo Alfvén, worthy of the soubriquet
“the father of Swedish music”, due to the fact that Roman’s music had no
national features but was influenced, most of all, by Handel, with whom he
probably studied in his youth. The Söderman Festspel, is often
heard on official occasions, and might be called a Swedish equivalent to
Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance.
Wilhelm Peterson-Berger became one of the central composers around the turn
of the century 1900. Five symphonies, a violin concerto, several operas,
popular piano pieces and numerous songs made him popular, while his
activities as a reviewer in Dagens Nyheter, gave him enemies. The
three works here were composed when he was in his mid-20s and still in his
formative years. The May Carnival has a certain youthful freshness
but lacks the thrust of Söderman’s Festspel. The two orchestral
songs are interesting. The story of Flores och Blanzeflor has its
roots in a French romance from the 12th century, which, via a
Norwegian version, became a verse romance in Swedish in 1312. The heathen
Prince Flores saves the Christian Blanzeflor from being married to the King
of Babylon.
In 1891 Oscar Levertin published his poem, and the same year the
young Wilhelm Stenhammar set it for voice and orchestra. It was premiered in
1895. Whether Peterson-Berger heard that version is beyond my knowledge, but three
years later he also set it for voice and piano and also orchestrated it.
There are some similarities between the two versions but generally I think
Stenhammar’s is the more appealing, having known it for many years. Erik
Saedén’s reading of the P-B-version is, as usual, full of insight, and his
enunciation of the text is crystal-clear but by the time this recording was
made he was in his mid-50s, had lost the freshness of tone and is decidedly
dry. Good to have it, anyway, and the Autumn Song is a valuable bonus, even
though it isn’t on the same level as his best-known songs.
Hugo Alfvén, contemporaneous with P-B and Stenhammar, also composed many
songs but was at his best in his orchestral works: five symphonies, some
symphonic poems – of which Midsummer’s Vigil is the most popular –
and a couple of ballets. Andante religioso from the Revelation Cantata is a breathlessly atmospheric and beautiful
elegy that should be heard more often.
Ruben Liljefors belonged to the same generation as P-B, Stenhammar and
Alfvén but never reached the same standing as his colleagues, primarily
because his activities were limited to the provincial orchestra today known
as Gävle Symphony Orchestra, which he led from its inauguration in 1912
until 1931. For most Swedes his brother, the painter Bruno Liljefors, is a
household name. The Sacrificial Procession from the incidental
music to Frithiof and Ingeborg is an efficient vignette: The
procession arrives, comes closer and closer and then disappears in the
distance – all this in less than three minutes. The Festival is
also short, exuberant and full of joy. Should be an ideal concert opener
for a light music entertainment.
I was less enamoured with Adolf Wiklund’s Symphonic Prologue.
It’s a solid piece of workmanship, no doubt, but a little wooden. He is
seldom played today, even in Sweden, but to find him at his best I do
recommend readers to invest in Hyperion’s recording of the two piano
concertos (review).
CD 2 begins with well-known music by Lars-Erik Larsson, famed also
internationally through his Pastoralsvit and maybe the lyric suite Förklädd Gud (God in Disguise). The incidental music for
Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale belongs to same period – around
1940. This music was also the incitement for Bo Hyttner to start his
company, when a customer asked for this particular work. It is easy-going
and beautiful with the short Intermezzo and Pastoral
framed by the gently rocking Siciliana with fine woodwind solos
and the atmospheric Epilogue which conjures up a wintry landscape.
I have lost count of how many times it has been used as background to
wintry landscapes on sundry TV-programmes. The conductor, Sten Frykberg,
legendary also as a popular broadcaster of a request programme with he
hosted for many years, learnt how to play this music directly from the
composer, whom he knew well.
Exactly contemporaneous is Sven Sköld’s Sommar, which has
also been much loved by Swedish radio listeners and often requested from
Frykberg’s programme. Just as Larsson’s Epilogue has been
associated with Swedish winter, Sköld’s miniature is the incarnation of
Swedish summer. The warm and beautiful violin melody, excellently played by
Antonio Nicolini, and the jolly dancing mid-section hit the mark perfectly.
Albert Henneberg is today almost totally forgotten, though in the 1920s and
30s he had some international successes. His six operas and six symphonies
lie un-played. The overture to the opera Bolla och Badin from 1942
is, however, a very attractive piece. It is jolly and spirited and the
orchestration is colourful. Maybe it could be worth digging in the
archives?
Bo Linde grew up in Gävle and studied with Lars-Erik Larsson, which was
regarded as unfashionable by the new generation of composers in the 1950s.
But Linde was unfashionable himself. He rejected many of the new trends and
wanted to produce understandable music, entertaining, playful.
Unfortunately, he left this world at age of 36 when he was on the verge of
being recognised nationwide. In Gävle he was appreciated, which can be
heard from the applause at the end of the piano concerto, recorded live in
his home town together with the strings of the Gävleborgs Orkesterförening,
which was the name of the orchestra at the time. The composer is at the
piano, aged 22. The first movement opens with a spirited Entrada,
joyfully rhythmic, followed by a warm and inward Largamento, after
a dark, serene chord in the piano, the Capriccio brings the
movement to a playful end – and stops abruptly.
The second movement, Variazioni, features the soloist almost
throughout, but at the end the Andantino has the strings in the
foreground, until the piano takes over for the full stop. Both movements
have the character of a divertimento, where the piano part is rather
improvisatory. The third movement again features the piano, but more
powerfully. The live mono recording from 1955 belies its age, even though
the string tone is a little wiry.
The Preludio e Finale, Op. 16 for strings only is also from 1955.
It is a more serious piece, at least the Preludio. The Finale has more of the playfulness one associates with Linde. A
valuable work.
Finally, another pleasant surprise: Sven-Eric Johanson’s Variations on a grouse lek of Värmland from 1963. Johanson was a
versatile artist who adopted the twelve-tone technique but also wrote
melodious music and electronic music. His appearance was inspired by
Salvador Dali. This piece, based on folk music, is a charming composition
where he employs his skill at instrumentation to great effect, imitating
the gallinaceous cackling at the beginning and creates fascinating sounds
in an easy-to-digest idiom.
As always with Sterling the documentation is abundant. The sound quality is
excellent, considering the fact that the recordings were made more than 40
years ago. With technicians of the calibre of Robert von Bahr this is no
wonder. Some of the best orchestras in the country were employed and
likewise conductors. The programme is
varied and interesting and should appeal to the Swedish public as well
as an international audience. I do hope that Bo Hyttner will be interested in continuing to dig in his
vast archives.
Göran Forsling
CD 1 [57:59]
Johan AGRELL (1701 – 1765?)
Sinfonia F major, Op. 1:6 (c. 1740) [8:05]
1. I. Allegro – [2:49]
2. II. Andante – [3:40]
3. III. Allegro presto [1:36]
August SÖDERMAN (1832 – 1876)
4. Svenskt festspel / Swedish Festival (1867) [7:07]
Wilhelm PETERSON-BERGER (1867 – 1942)
5. Majkarneval i Stockholm / May Carnival in Stockholm (1892) [5:45]
6. Florez and Blanzeflor (1898) [9:53]
77. Höstsång / Autumn Song (1896/1936) [4:16]
Erik Saedén (baritone) (tr. 6, 7)
Hugo ALFVÉN (1872 – 1960)
UUppenbarelsekantat / Revelation Cantata, Op. 31 (1913):
8. Andante religioso [4:19]
Ruben LILJEFORS (1871 – 1936)
Frihtiof and Ingeborg (1916):
9. Offertåg / Sacrificial Procession [2:53]
10. Festspel / Festival (1932) [4:07]
Adolf WIKLUND (1879 – 1950)
11. Symfonisk prolog / Symphonic Prologue (1934) [11:34]
CD 2 [58:44]
Lars-Erik LARSSON (1908 – 1986)
Fyra vinjetter till Shakespeares En Vintersaga / Four Vignettes for
Shakespeare’s The Winter Tale, Op. 18 (1938) [10:05]
1. I. Siciliana [3:21]
2. II. Intermezzo [1:23]
3. III. Pastoral [2:01]
4. IV. Epilog [3:20]
Sven SKÖLD (1899 – 1956)
5. Sommar / Summer (1938) [3:55]
Albert HENNEBERG (1901 – 1991)
6. Bolla och Badin: overture (1942) [4:22]
Bo LINDE (1933 – 1970)
Konsert (nr 1) för piano och stråkorkester (Concerto (No. 1) for piano and
strings, Op. 12 (1955) [22:54]:
7. I. Entrada e canto [8:11]
8. II. Variazioni [6:53]
9. III. Improvisato e Finale [7:50]
Prelude e Finale, Op. 16 (1955) [11:01]
10. I. Preludio [4:49]
111. II. Finale [6:12]
Bo Linde (piano)
Sven-Eric JOHANSON (1919 – 1997)
112. Variationer över en värmländsk orrlåt / Variations on a grouse lek of
Värmland (1963) [6:27]
