Hugo Emil Alfvén (; 1 May 18728 May 1960) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.
Career
Violinist
Alfvén was born in
Stockholm, Sweden, and studied at the
Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 to 1891 with the violin as his main instrument while receiving lessons from
Lars Zetterquist. He also took private composition lessons from
Johan Lindegren, a leading counterpoint expert. At the same time he played the violin at the
Royal Opera in Stockholm 1890-1892.
Conductor
Starting in 1897, Alfvén travelled much of the next ten years in Europe. He studied violin technique in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
with
César Thomson
César Thomson (18 March 1857 – 21 August 1931) was a Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer.
Biography
He was born in Liège in 1857. At age seven, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and studied under Désiré Heynberg, Rodo ...
and learned conducting in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
with
Hermann Ludwig Kutzschbach. In 1903-4 he was formally professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory, Stockholm. From 1910 Alfvén was ''
Director musices
Director musices, Latin for music director, was a title held by music directors especially at European universities or cathedrals; sometimes also at cathedral schools. The title is still used at universities in Sweden. In Finland it is an honorar ...
'' (music director) at the
University of Uppsala
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance during ...
(a post he held until 1939). There he also directed the male voice choir
Orphei Drängar
Sångsällskapet Orphei Drängar (OD) is a Swedish male voice choir and singing society based in Uppsala, Sweden. While best known for its high quality performances of the classical repertoire, OD sings music of all genres in many different langu ...
(or 'O.D.') (until 1947). He conducted in festivals at Uppsala (1911), Dortmund (1912), Stuttgart (1913), Gothenburg (1915), and Copenhagen (1918–1919). He toured Europe as a conductor throughout his life. He received a Ph.D. ''honoris causa'' from Uppsala in 1917 and became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 1908. Alfvén recorded some of his orchestral music in stereo late in 1954 (the first classical stereo recordings made in Sweden); the recordings were issued on LP in the U.S. by
Westminster Records
Westminster Records was an American classical music record label, issuing original recordings until 1965. It was co–founded in 1949 by Mischa Naida (who later founded Musical Heritage Society), the owner of the Westminster Record Shop in New Y ...
. A three-CD collection of Alfvén's recordings as a conductor has been issued.
Music
Alfvén became known as one of Sweden's principal composers of his time, together with his contemporary
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist.
Biography
Stenhammar was born in Stockholm and was the brother of architect Ernst Stenhammar. He received his first musical e ...
. Alfvén's music is in a late
Romantic idiom. His orchestration is skillful and colorful, reminiscent of that of
Richard Strauss. Like Strauss, Alfvén wrote a considerable amount of
program music
Program music or programatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program notes ...
. Some of Alfvén's music evokes the landscape of Sweden.
Among his works are a large number of pieces for male voice choir, five
symphonies and three orchestral "Swedish Rhapsodies." The first of these rhapsodies, ''Midsommarvaka'', is his best known piece.
Alfvén's five symphonies, the first four of them now several times recorded (with another cycle in progress), give a picture of the composer's musical progress. The first, in F minor, his Op. 7 from 1897, is an early work, tuneful in a standard four movements. The second, in D major (1898–99), his Op. 11 (and in a way his graduation piece, as recounted a
concludes with a substantial, even powerful chorale-prelude and fugue in D minor. The third symphony, in E major, Op. 23 (1905), also in four movements, more mature in technique though light in manner, was inspired by a trip to Italy. The fourth symphony, in C minor, Op. 39 of 1918–9 "From the Outermost Skerries" (there is also a tone-poem, ''A Legend of the Skerries''), is a symphony in one forty-five-minute movement using wordless voices, inspired by
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.
Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he ...
's ''
Sinfonia Espansiva''. The 5th, in A minor, begun 1942, is one of the composer's last works, and has been recorded only twice in full (recordings and performances of the 5th, while rare enough, are usually of its quarter-hour first movement).
Naxos Records and
BIS Records among others have either collections or groups of individual recordings covering all of his symphonies and a range of his works. ''Brilliant Classics'' has licensed and re-issued the 5-CD set from BIS devoted to Alfvén that includes the symphonies and other orchestral works.
Swedish Rhapsody No. 1
The first rhapsody – ''Swedish Rhapsody No. 1'', also known as ''Midsommarvaka'' (''Midsummer Vigil'') – was written in 1903 and is often simply called the "Swedish Rhapsody." It is the best-known piece composed by Alfvén, and also one of the best-known pieces of music in Sweden.
Painter and writer
Alfvén's contributions were multi-dimensional and also included painting and writing. He was a talented
watercolorist
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
and once thought to devote himself entirely to painting. He also was a gifted writer. His four-volume autobiography has been called "captivating" and provides significant insight into the musical life of Sweden in which Alfvén was a central figure for well over half a century.
Personal life
Alfvén was born in
Stockholm, Sweden, on 1 May 1872.
He was married three times. His first marriage (1912–1936) was to the Danish painter
Marie Triepcke (1867–1940), who had previously been married to the painter
Peder Severin Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer (; 23 July 1851 – 21 November 1909), also known as P. S. Krøyer, was a Danish painter.
Life
Growing up and early training
Krøyer was born in Stavanger, Norway, on 23 July 1851 to Ellen Cecilie Gjesdal. He was rai ...
(1851–1909). After his divorce from Marie in 1936, he married Carin Wessberg (1891–1956). They were together for two decades (1936–1956) before she died. He married Anna Lund (1891–1990) in 1959.
He died on 8 May 1960 in
Falun
Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...
, Sweden, just after his 88th birthday.
His daughter
Margita Alfvén became a film star in the
silent era. His nephew
Hannes Alfvén
Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén (; 30 May 1908 – 2 April 1995) was a Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). He described the class of MHD waves now ...
received the 1970
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
.
List of musical works
When Hugo Alfvén died, his musical archive was handed over to the
University of Uppsala
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance during ...
and
Jan Olof Rudén was then responsible for filing Alfvén's music, trying to create order in the chaos of a total of 214 works. The works of the composer were officially filed and opus numbered to a total of 54 musical compositions. Alfvén's works were filed according to a Rudén number along with a catalog for an opus number. Rudén has thereby attempted to classify based on other data. There still exist documents to which neither date nor Opus/Rudén number has been accorded.
In the following works below, it may be that some opus numbers contain more than one title. Opus number 48 was never used or at least recovered.
Orchestral
* Opus 7 , Rudén 24: Symphony No. 1 in F minor (Composed in 1897)
** 1st movement: Grave – Allegro con brio
** 2nd movement: Andante
** 3rd movement: Allegro, molto scherzando
** 4th movement: Allegro, ma non troppo
* Opus 11 , Rudén 28: Symphony No. 2 in D major (Composed in 1899) (Mainz 1901)
** 1st movement: Moderato
** 2nd movement: Andante
** 3rd movement: Allegro
** 4th movement: Fugue, Allegro energico
* Opus 19 , Rudén 45:
Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, ''Midsommarvaka'' (Completed in 1903) (Copenhagen 1908)
* Opus 20 , Rudén 49: Symphonic poem, ''En skärgardssägen'' (First performed 1905) (Stockholm 1921)
* Opus 23 , Rudén 54: Symphony No. 3 in E major (Completed in 1905)
** 1st Movement: Allegro con brio
** 2nd Movement: Andante
** 3rd Movement: Presto
** 4th Movement: Allegro con brio
* Opus 24 , Rudén 58: Swedish Rhapsody No. 2, ''Uppsalarapsodi'' (Composed in 1907) (Stockholm 1907)
* Opus 25 , Rudén 59: ''Festspel'' for theatre (Composed in 1907) (Stockholm 1908)
* Opus 26 , Rudén 67: Fest-Ouverture (Composed in 1909)
* Opus 27 , Rudén 62: ''Drapa'' (Composed in 1908)
* Opus 37 , Rudén 99: ''Bergakungen'' (The Mountain King), ballet-pantomime (Composed in 1916 − 1923) (Stockholm 1923)
* Opus 38 , Rudén 92: ''Elégie (At Emil Sjögren's Funeral)''
* Opus 39 , Rudén 93: Symphony No. 4 in C minor, ''Från havsbandet'' (From the Outskirts of the Archipelago) (Completed in 1919) (Vienna 1922)
** 1st Movement: Moderato – Allegretto, ma non troppo
** 2nd Movement: Allegro – Moderato – Allegro
** 3rd Movement: Lento – Maestoso – Molto appassionato
** 4th Movement: Allegro agitato
* Opus 42 , Rudén 109: ''Hjalmar Brantings Sorgmarsch''
* Opus 47 , Rudén 120: Swedish Rhapsody No. 3, ''Dalarapsodi'' (Completed in 1931)
* Opus 49 , Rudén 121: Elegy (from ''Gustav II Adolf'')
* Opus 52 , Rudén 201: Festival Overture
* Opus 50 , Synnöve Solbakken, Suite from the film music, after Norwegian melodies (1934)
* Opus 53 , En Bygdesaga (A Country Tale), Suite from music for the film Mans Kvinna (1944)
* Opus 54 , Rudén 209: Symphony No. 5 in A minor
** 1st Movement: Lento – Allegro non troppo
** 2nd Movement: Andante
** 3rd Movement: Lento – Allegro – Presto molto agitato
** 4th Movement: Finale: Allegro con brio
* Rudén 214: ''The Prodigal Son'', ballet suite
Voice and orchestra
* Opus 13 , Rudén 33: ''The Bells'', baritone and orchestra
* Opus 15 , Rudén 39: ''The Lord's Prayer'', chorus, soloists, orchestra
* Opus 30 , Rudén 76: ''Ballade'', baritone, male chorus and orchestra
* Opus 33 , Rudén 83: ''
Baltic Exhibition
The Baltic Exhibition was held in Malmö, Sweden from 15 May to 4 October 1914. (The official closing date, September 30, was later extended by four days, as permitted in the general rules.)
A Swedish world's fair
The event showcased the industry, ...
Cantata'' (1914)
* Opus 40 , Rudén 98: ''Ode on Gustavus Vasa'', soli, mixed voices, orchestra
Cantatas
* Opus 12 , Rudén: ''Vid sekelskiftet'' (At the Turn of the Century)
* Opus 31 , Rudén: ''Uppenbarelsekantaten'' (Revelation Cantata)
* Opus 36 , Rudén: ''Kantat vid Reformationsfesten i Uppsala 1917'' (Cantata for the 1917 Reformation Festivities in Uppsala)
* Opus 45 , Rudén: ''Kantat vid Uppsala Universitets 450-årsjubileum'' (Cantata for the 450th Anniversary of Uppsala University)
Chamber music
* Opus 1 , Rudén 12: Sonata for violin and piano
* Opus 3 , Rudén 21: ''Romance'', violin and piano
* Opus 5 , Rudén 25: ''Notturno Elegiaco'', horn and organ
* ''Liten svit för soloflöjt ur Mostellaria'' (Little Suite for Solo Flute)
Other
* piano pieces
* songs
In popular culture
Hugo Alfvén is the most probable source of inspiration for the character "Karsten From" found in the novel ''De Dødes Rige (The Kingdom of the Dead)'' by
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
author
Henrik Pontoppidan
Henrik Pontoppidan (24 July 1857 – 21 August 1943) was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and shor ...
.
References
External links
The Hugo Alfvén Society(review of the BIS CD set)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfven, Hugo
1872 births
1960 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Swedish male musicians
20th-century classical composers
20th-century Swedish male musicians
20th-century Swedish musicians
Ballet composers
Litteris et Artibus recipients
Musicians from Stockholm
Romantic composers
Swedish classical composers
Swedish male classical composers
Uppsala University alumni