HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dag Ivar Wirén (15 October 1905 – 19 April 1986) was a Swedish
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 def ...
.


Life

Wirén was born at Striberg near Nora. His father had a roller blind factory, and there were various musical activities in the family home; he took
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
lessons, and was a student at the Karolinska school in
Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...
, and played the
bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
and
celesta The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...
in the town orchestra.Dag Wirén Foundation website - biography.
''www.dagwiren.se''
Wirén studied at the Stockholm conservatory from 1926 to 1931, which gave him much exposure to music from all periods; hearing
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...
's oratorio ''
King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...
'' in 1927 was an important experience. In 1932 he won the state stipend and used the award money to continue his studies in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he lived from 1931 to 1934. While there, he studied composition under the Russian composer
Leonid Sabaneyev Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev () (3 May 1968) was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist. He was the son of Leonid Pavlovich Sabaneyev, a famous hunting expert, and his brother Boris was also a music ...
, though he said later that his constant attendance of concerts had a greater impact on his work. In Paris he met
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
(as well as his compatriot Gösta Nystroem) and was exposed to the music of Stravinsky,
Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( â€“ 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
and the French composers of ''
Les Six "Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name has its origins in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in '' Comœdia'' (see Bibliography). Their mu ...
''.Cnattingius CM
''Contemporary Swedish Music.''
The Swedish Institute, Stockholm, 1973.
Jacobsson, Stig. ''Dag Wirén – life and works''. CD notes for CPO 999 563-2, 1998. In 1934, Wirén moved to
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
with his bride, the Irish cellist, Noel Franks, whom he had met in Paris; their daughter, Annika, was born in 1947. In 1937, the couple set up home permanently in
Danderyd Danderyd Municipality (; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it is located within Sto ...
, just north of Stockholm. As well as composing, Wirén regularly played his main instrument, the piano, on Swedish Radio during the 1930s; he also devoted himself to chamber music in the 1930s and 40s; although he conducted in a recording of his Sinfonietta, he hated conducting.Åhlén C. G. ''Swedish composers conduct their own works 1937-1950.'' CD notes for Phono Suecia PSCD 79, 1995. He was music critic at the "Svenska Morgonbladet" from 1938 to 1946, and in 1947 became vice-chairman of the Society of Swedish Composers.Brandel Å. A Mature Generation: Larsson, Wirén, de Frumerie, Koch. In: ''Sweden in music.'' Musikrevy International, Stockholm, 1960. From 1948, he spent summers on the island of Björkö, in Stockholm's archipelago. He served as a member of the board of directors of the
Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...
from 1962 to 1971. His TV ballet ''Den elaka drottningen (The Evil Queen)'' won the 1960
Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...
. He also wrote the music for the Swedish entry for the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, '' Annorstädes vals'' (Absent Friend), sung by Ingvar Wixell. He retired from composing in 1970, commenting, "One should stop in time, while one still has time to stop in time." He died at Danderyd on 19 April 1986.


Music

Wirén's output, which ranges from serious to popular, is notable for its quality rather than quantity, and a number of his works were refused opus numbers or withdrawn. He once commented that his first desire was to entertain and please, and compose listener-friendly "modern" music. He was reluctant to write for the voice (in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest entry, Alf Henrikson wrote the lyrics after Wirén had composed the music). Neoclassical pieces from Wirén's early Parisian period, including the Piano Trio (1933) and the Sinfonietta (1933–34), are melodically and rhythmically entertaining. Upon his return to Sweden, he composed his first two symphonies and his most famous work, the ''
Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...
for Strings'' (1937); the spirit of this serenade may also be found in the finale of his second symphony (1939). Wirén went on to compose five symphonies, concertos and other orchestral works, including music for the stage and film scores, as well as instrumental and chamber music, including a series of string quartets. His musical style on return from Paris remained broadly neoclassical; melodic, energetic and with high spirits. Towards the mid-1940s Wirén became more serious in style, perhaps under the influence of
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
. Wirén also developed a personal technique, first used in the third string quartet (1941–45), of gradual motivic
transformation Transformation may refer to: Science and mathematics In biology and medicine * Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching * Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous * Trans ...
, avoiding repetition (metamorphosis technique). He pursued this approach in his third symphony (1944), where the first motif in the first movement, based on a step-wise
Dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...
progression, is transformed during the movement and then echoed in the last three movements. Motivic tautness also characterizes the deeply expressive fourth symphony (1952), as well as his rather cooler later works, including the fifth symphony (1964) and fifth string quartet (1970).


Works

See List of compositions by Dag Wirén for a complete list.


Stage

*''Oscarsbalen'' (The Oscar Ball), ballet in one act (four tableaux) (1949) *''Plats på scenen'' (Take Your Places on the Stage), ballet (1957) *''Den elaka drottningen / Snövit'' (The Evil Queen / Snow White), ballet (1960)


Orchestral

*Symphonies **Symphony No. 2 (1939) **Symphony No. 3 (1944) **Symphony No. 4 (1952) **Symphony No. 5 (1964) *Concert Overture No. 1 (1931) *Sinfonietta in C major (1934) *Serenade for Strings (1937) *Concert Overture No. 2 (1940) *Divertimento (1957)


Concertante

*Cello Concerto (1936) *Violin Concerto (1946) *Piano Concerto (1950) *Flute Concertino (1972)


Recordings

As conductor Wirén recorded his Sinfonietta in May 1948 for Cupol, reissued on Phono Suecia PSCD 79, 1995.


References


External links


A list of Wirén autographs
with some information about dates
Broadcast from 1960 of Wirén's Violin Concerto Op. 23
(British Library) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiren, Dag 1905 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Swedish classical composers Litteris et Artibus recipients Swedish opera composers Swedish male opera composers Royal College of Music, Stockholm, alumni People from Nora Municipality Swedish male classical pianists Swedish film score composers Swedish male film score composers Swedish music critics 20th-century Swedish classical pianists 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians