Olof Wilhelm Peterson-Berger ( 27 February 1867, Ullånger — 3 December 1942, Östersund) 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 A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

. As a composer, his main musical influences were Grieg,

August Söderman (Johan) August Söderman (17 July 1832 in Stockholm – 10 February 1876 in Stockholm) has traditionally been seen as the pre-eminent Swedish composer of the Romantic generation, known especially for his lieder and choral works, based on fol ...

and Wagner as well as Swedish folk idiom.Percy G. ''Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, An Introduction''. (Stockholm, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger Society) 1982.

The composer

Peterson-Berger studied at the

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Conservatory from 1886–89 and then in Dresden for a year. He is best known for three albums of

national romantic Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

piano pieces entitled ''Frösöblomster I, II and III'' (''Flowers of Frösö''), which includes the often performed ''Vid Frösö kyrka'' (''At Frösö Church'') and ''Sommarsång'' (''Summer Song''). The sets, which were composed over a period of 18 years (1896 - 1914) and brought together afterwards as a collection have gained a reputation of representing a quintessential "Swedishness" in the romantic, nationalistic vein of their time. The most famous of the pieces, ''Sommarsång'' (''Summer Song'') recalls the warm, calm, harmonious and bright pre-summer evenings where the sun in the north almost never goes down; they were the great breakthrough for Wilhelm. ''Sommarsång'' is still known to most Swedes, even to people generally uninterested in music: the majority of young piano students in the Nordic countries have been taught this piece. His songs for vocal ensemble are also still regularly performed, and are part of the core repertoire of Swedish choirs. His other works include the five

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

- among them are no.2 ''Sunnanfärd'' and no.3 '' Same-Ätnam'' generally considered the best - as well as the operas '' Ran'', ''

Arnljot ''Arnljot'' is an opera by the Swedish composer Wilhelm Peterson-Berger. Written in 1906, it premiered April 13, 1910, and was revised in 1956. The origin to ''Arnljot'' is a melody that Wilhelm Peterson-Berger created when he first visited J� ...

'', ''Domedagsprofeterna'' ("The Doomsday Prophets") and ''Adils och Elisiv'' ("Adils and Elisiv"). His command of the larger forms, in both architecture and instrumentation, is disputed. He was stage manager at the Stockholm Opera from 1908-10. The opera ''Arnljot'' has nevertheless become something of a symbol for the province of

Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the north a ...

and is regularly performed there, as a "

musical drama Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the nar ...

", at Arnljotlägden on

Frösön Frösön (, ; "Frey's island"), (Old no, Frøys øy) is the largest island in the lake Storsjön, located west of the city Östersund in Jämtland, Sweden. During most of recorded history Frösön was the regional centre of Jämtland, and it is th ...

, close to Peterson-Berger's former home, Sommarhagen. ''Domedagsprofeterna'' is the antithesis of ''Arnljot'' – a light festive musical comedy set in 17th century Uppsala, while the saga ''Adils och Elisiv'' where Swedish ‘talsång’ (speechsong) attained its purest expression is a work extolling Peterson-Berger's belief in humanism and the goodness of man. He also wrote about eighty songs, many of which set poems by Erik Axel Karlfeldt, for example ''Aspåkers

polska Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

''.

Work list (partial)

Orchestral

*Symphony No.1 in B flat major, ''Baneret'' ("The Banner"), 1889-1903, revised 1932-1933 Movements: "När vi först drogo ut", "Mellan fedjerna", "Vid hjältebåren", "Mot nya vårar" *Symphony No.2 in E flat major, ''Sunnanfärd'' ("The Journey of Southerly Winds"), 1910 Movements: "Stiltje - Seglats", "Rosenstaden: Dionysoståget - I Eros tempel - Symposion", "Hemlängtan - För sunnanvind" *Symphony No.3 in F minor, ''Same Ätnam'' ("Lappland Symphony"), 1913-1915 Movements: "Forntidsbilder", "Vinterkväll", "Sommarnatt", "Framtidsdrömmar" *Symphony No.4 in A major, ''Holmia'' ("Stockholm"), 1929 *Symphony No.5 in B major, ''Solitudo'' ("Solitude"), 1932-1933 *Orientalisk Dans ("Oriental Dance"), 1889-1890 *Violin concerto in F sharp minor, 1915-1928 *Romance in D minor for violin and orchestra, 1915 *Törnrosasagan ("The Story of the Sleeping Beauty"), 1934 *Symphony No.6, ''Hellas'' ("Greece"), 1935-1938 - unfinished

Opera

*'' Ran'', 1899-1900 * ''Lyckan'' ('The Happiness'), 1903 *''

'', 1907-1909 *'' Domedagsprofeterna'' ('The Doomsday Prophets'), 1912-1917 *''Adils and Elisiv'', 1921-1924

Vocal

*Sveagaldrar,

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

, 1897 *Part songs/music for choir: Tio sånger för blandad kör; Album, 8 sånger för blandad kör (including his settings of J. P. Jacobsen’s ‘Stemning’ and

Helena Nyblom Helena Nyblom (7 December 1843 – 9 October 1926) was a Danish-Swedish children's story author. She is perhaps most remembered for ''The Swan Suit.''

′s 'I Fyrreskoven'); Juninatt (words by M J Lermontov translated by W P-B; Guldfågel; Trädet, Ingerid Sletten, Prinsessen (words Bjornstjerne Bjornson); Våren kom en Valborgsnatt; Hvile i Skoven – Chorus mysticus (words J S C Welhaven); Sommarkväll. *Solo songs: Jamtlandsminnen (Memories from Jamtland) opus 4 (1893), Fyra visor i svensk folkton (Op. 5) including 'När jag för mig själv i mörka skogen går' and 'Bland skogens höga furustammar', Ur Fridolins visor (From the melodies of Fridolin) with words by E A Karlfeldt (1900), Ur Hösthorn (1928), Återkomst (Return)

Piano music

*Frösöblomster ("Fröso Flowers"), 1896, 8 pieces including ''Sommarsång'', ''Lawn tennis'', ''Till rosorna'', ''Gratulation'' and ''Vid Frösö kyrka'' *Frösöblomster II, 1900, 6 pieces *Frösöblomster III: I sommarhagen, 1914, including ''Intåg i Sommarhagen'' *Six songs for piano, 1897 *Färdminnen, 1908 *Earina, 1917, 7 pieces *Italiana, 1922 *Anakreontika, two books, 1924 and 1936

Critic and writer

As well as being a composer, Peterson-Berger was also a respected though very controversial music

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

for the

newspaper '' Dagens Nyheter'' ("News of the Day") from 1896-1930.Haglund R. Peterson-Berger in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ed Sadie S. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. He was conservative and fought the increasing influence of modernism in music, especially from

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

and his followers. His progress was hindered by many enemies whom he made through his writings; he attacked showy virtuosity and dry academicism with satire but also with strict conscientiousness. For either composers or performers who did not conform to his taste (or who were young and insecure female musicians, to take one typical example), he was not above grave personal insults.
Other writings include ‘Svensk musikkultur’ (Swedish musical culture, 1911) which includes clearsighted and satirical attacks on the prevailing musical establishment, ‘Richard Wagner som kulturföreteelse’ (Richard Wagner as a cultural phenomenon, 1913) as well as translations of Tristan und Isolde (for a 1909 production in Stockholm), and Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy (1902) and Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1919).Percy G. Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, An Introduction. Stockholm, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger Society, 1982.

The man

One acquaintance later recalled his surprise when, on a journey by train from Stockholm to Östersund and Frösön, the big man and notorious critic suddenly burst into tears and felt soft like a child as the bucolic landscape of his beloved Jämtland began to unfold outside the window. Even this writer, however, noted that even Peterson-Berger's threatening and miserable physical appearance and demeanour conformed to the stereotype of the dour Scandinavian. His home on the island of

near Östersund (where he spent his summers from 1914 and then lived permanently from 1930) is open to the public in the summer months and is much as the composer left it. The downstairs music hall has his grand piano (he was a competent pianist), a work room (with a ‘picture window’ looking out over Storsjön) and library (with his collection of books and scores), while upstairs the bedrooms may be viewed. He lived alone there with a butler and his cats. There is also a small café where books and CDs are sold.

References

Nationalencyklopedin, band 15 (1994) (''

Swedish National Encyclopedia ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 1980 ...

'', in

) Percy G. Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, An Introduction. Stockholm, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger Society, 1982.

External links

* *
Peterson-Berger Institutet
at www.peterson-berger.se
Arnljot 2008
at www.arnljot.se {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm 1867 births 1942 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians Male opera composers People from Kramfors Municipality Romantic composers Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers Swedish opera composers Translators of Friedrich Nietzsche