Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960)
At Home with Hugo Alfvén
Elin Rombo (soprano)
Peter Friis Johansson (piano)
rec. 2021, Alfvéngården, Tibble, Sweden
Sung texts with English translations enclosed
Reviewed as downloaded from press preview.
BIS BIS-2575 SACD [67]
Hugo Alfvén had a theory, which he allegedly expressed in 1912, that “the suitability of a poem for musical treatment has nothing whatever to do with the literary merit or quality of the poem.” Whether this was said as an explanation or as an excuse for the dubious merits of some of his choices of poetry is unclear. Anyway, by 1912 he had already written most of his songs and could be retrospective. He was forty and was to live for another forty-eight.
This disc, issued in connection with the celebrations of the composer’s 150 anniversary, opens and closes with two of his later songs. Aftonen (The Evening) is one of his best-known compositions – but not as a solo song. It was written in 1942 for mixed choir and dedicated to Siljanskören, which was the local choir in the Lake Siljan region in Dalecarlia, of which he was conductor since many years. He also made a version for male choir at the same time, for Orphei Drängar, the leading male choir in Sweden at the time, which he also was the leader for. But he also made a version for voice and piano, and it is a rarity. I have sung both the choral versions on many occasions, but I can’t remember hearing the solo voice version before. The song depicts the stillness in the forest in the evening, and in the distance one can hear the call of a herdsman’s horn – sung con bocca chiusa three times. It is hushed and a little mysterious – in the forests there were unknown dangers, trolls and elves.
Så tag mit Hjerte (So Take my Heart) was Alfvén’s
last song, composed to a Danish text in 1946, and it has become his
most performed song, together with a few others. It is a tender love
song, and the text must have evoked memories of his youth, when he was
a notorious skirt-chaser – and his first wife was Danish. Internationally
this and Skogen sover and a couple of other songs became known
through Jussi Björling, who frequently included them in his many
recital programmes. This is not a song with big gestures and flamboyant
top notes – quite the opposite. It comes from the heart and Björling
knew that. One can hear that in his recordings – and Elin Rombo
on the present disc also feels it. After the last note has faded out
one only wants silence…
The rest of the programme contains those other songs by Alfvén one regularly hears, but also a number of relative rarities. Sju dikter av Ernest Thiel (Seven Poems by Ernest Thiel) from 1908 were very close to Alfvén’s heart. Thiel was a banker and art collector, who in due time built an imposing art gallery in the island of Djurgården, not far from central parts of the city. The museum still exists, now owned by the state. For some time, Thiel and Alfvén belonged to the same circle of friends, and Thiel who had a deep interest in the arts, also supported the young composer financially. It has been said that Alfvén set these poems and dedicated them to Thiel as a sign of gratitude for his support but, as Gunnar Ternhag writes in the liner notes,” the primary reason for composing the songs was that he was gripped by Thiel’s poems. Otherwise it would not be possible to explain the intense creativity which resulted in these striking miniatures. The songs, with their brief lyrics, have a rare expressivity:
a sensitive interpretation of the texts that resulted in a striking variety and musical settings in which singer and pianist alternate in taking the lead.” It is particularly valuable that all seven songs are recorded in the published order. I am not sure this has ever happened before. And the inspiration flows incessantly, most of all in Du är stilla ro, Jag längtar dig and Skogen sover, which to me are the essence of Alfvén’s art as vocal composer – together with Så tag mit Hjerte.
In 1904 the 20-year-old Anders Österling published his first collections of poems, and Alfvén was captured by them and decided to set three of them to music, as a miniature cycle, which he did during a stay in Sori Liguri in Italy the next summer. They are strongly emotional and should be better known. As for Österling he became one of the most influential poets and critics during the 20th century, was elected member of the Swedish Academy as the youngest ever in 1919 and for a long period permanent secretary of the academy, where his opinions were important for the choices of Nobel Prize Winners.
Tvenne lyriska stämningar (Two Lyrical Moods) were composed even earlier than that, in 1899, just after he had finished his second symphony, which was his breakthrough. The first song, Svarta rosor, should not be mixed up with Sibelius’s song with the same title. There are two different poets.
Besides the songs the disc also contains two groups of piano pieces. Alfvén was no pianist, his instrument was the violin, but he had taken piano lessons as well. His most important composition in this genre is Skärgårdsbilder (Archipelago Images) from 1901-02. Alfvén was interested in sailing, and he enjoyed being in the Stockholm Archipelago. The outer movements are filled with life and images: Sun reflections and Song of the Waves. But the mid-movement Night is dark and glum, as though he is sailing in late November.
The four pieces from Leksand are piano transcriptions of fiddle tunes. Alfvén had a deep interest in folk music, in particular from Dalecarlia, where he formed Siljanskören as early as 1904. After his retirement in 1939 he settled permanently in the little village Tibble. Today his house is a museum, and this disc was recorded in the building, employing Alfvén’s own Steinway Grand Piano, which he bought in 1910. It sounds excellent and the acoustics in the wooden building are warm and agreeable.
Peter Friis Johansson plays well in the piano pieces and is a perceptive and pliable partner to Elin Rombo in the songs. Ms Rombo has been one of my favourite sopranos for quite some time, both in the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where I have enjoyed her in a wide variety of roles, and in concerts. But her recent recording from 2019 titled “Nightingale” and was a homage to Jenny Lind, was a disappointment. There her tone was “uncharacteristically worn and shrill and vibrato-laden”. I am much more satisfied with this Alfvén disc. She is as usual very careful with nuances and is in particular attractive in the softer music. Piano and pianissimo passages are ravishing – and a lot of Alfvén’s songs are restrained and intimate. In forte passages her vibrato tends to spread – a tendency that is quite natural for a soprano of her age. But it still a beautiful tone, and by and large I am full of admiration.
As for comparisons there isn’t much competition as far as I have been able to find out. The closest is Bluebell ABCD027, recorded in October 1986, with MariAnne Häggander and Lars Roos. There is a great deal of overlapping between the two, but they are also complementary. On BISCD633 “OD Sings Alfvén” there is a good handful of solo songs with Claes-Håkan Ahnsjö, tenor, and Folke Alin, piano, but the disc is primarily a tribute from Alfvén’s one-time own male choir Orphei Drängar.
Otherwise you can find one or two individual songs on various mixed compilations with world stars like Anne Sofie von Otter, Barbara Bonney, Camilla Tilling and – of course – Jussi Björling. But for substantial helpings of Alfvén, Häggander/Roos and Rombo/Friis Johansson are the only options.
Then it is up to you, dear reader: pick one or the other or buy both. You won’t regret it.
Göran Forsling
Contents
1. Aftonen (Herman Sätherberg) [3:26]
Sju dikter av Ernest Thiel, Op. 28 [17:49]
2. 1. Djupt hos friborna människor [1:41]
3. 2. Ett enda vart mitt hjärta givet [2:16]
4. 3. Jag kysser din vita hand [4:59]
5. 4. Du är stilla ro [2:46]
6. 5. Jag längtar dig [1:05]
7. 6. Skogen sover [2:52]
8. 7. Se, du kom med jubel och sång i hågen [1:35]
Fyra låtar från Leksand för piano [11:00]
After Lekatt Mats, Tibble, 1908
9. Gånglåt [2:50]
10. Dans [2:42]
11. Skänklåt [1:35]
12. Danslek [3:38]
Tre Österlingsånger, Op. 22 [10:24]
13. 1. Bön [2:58]
14. 2. Pioner [3:10]
15. 3. Minnesskrift [3:57]
Skärgårdsbilder, Op. 17, för piano [12:50]
16. Solglitter [3:17]
17. Natt [5:24]
18. Böljesång [3:58]
Tvenne lyriska stämningar (Ellen Lundberg), Op. 8 [6:53]
19. 1. Svarta rosor (Tristi amori) [4:09]
20. 2. Sommardofter [2:36]
21. Så tag mit hjerte (Tove Ditlevsen) [3:16]
