Hilding Hallnäs (24 May 1903 – 11 September 1984) 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 ...

.Svenskt Musik/Swedish Music Information Centre http://www.mic.se/avd/mic/prod/micv5eng.nsf/docsbycodename/start Hallnäs was married to the actress Gun Holmquist.

Life and career

Hallnäs was born in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, in 1903. His father had been a tenor and sang in choirs. After matriculation in his home town, he entered the

Royal College of Music, Stockholm The Royal College of Music, Stockholm () is the oldest institution of higher education in music in Sweden, founded in 1771 as the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The institution was made independent of the Academy in 1971, and ...

in 1924, studying with Gustaf Hägg and Otto Olsson, and graduated as an organist (1926) and music teacher (1928). He pursued organ studies in Paris with

Alexandre Eugène Cellier Alexandre Eugène Cellier (17 June 1883 in Molières-sur-Cèze – 4 March 1968 in Paris) was a French organist and composer. Cellier studied organ with Alexandre Guilmant until 1908. In 1908, he won the first prize for organ at the Conservat ...

, and studied composition in Leipzig with Hermann Grabner. In 1933, Hallnäs became organist of the Johanneberg church in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, remaining until his retirement in 1968, teaching harmony at the Gothenburg Orchestral Society and becoming a leading light in the musical world of Gothenburg.Percy G. Leading Swedish Composers of the 20th Century. In: ''Swedish music – past and present'', special edition of Musikrevy. STIM & Swedish Institute for Cultural Relations Abroad, Stockholm, 1966. He was active in the Levande Musik (Living Music) concert association and the Gothenburg Composers' Association. In 1974, he settled in Stockholm. Prior to the Second World War Hallnäs was counted among neoclassicists such as

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

and

Lars-Erik Larsson Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson (15 May 190827 December 1986) was a Swedish composer, conductor, radio producer, and educator. He wrote three of the most popular works (each a suite) in Swedish art music: ''A Winter's Tale'' (; 1937–1938), the '' P ...

, but after he began using his own 12-tone system, first heard in his fourth symphony (1952–1955) ''Metamorfosi sinfonice''. He died in Stockholm in 1984.

Awards

Hallnäs was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It") is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gusta ...

in 1963 and the

Litteris et Artibus Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature. The ob ...

in 1981.

Selected compositions

Music for the stage

* Ballet: ''Kärlekens ringdans'' (1955) * Ballet: ''Ifigenia'' (1961–63)

Orchestral music

* Divertimento for orchestra (1937) * Seven symphonies (including ''Sinfonietta pastorale'' (1944), ''Sinfonia notturna'' (1946), Small symphony for strings (1947), ''Metamorfose sinfonice'' (1952)) * Violin concerto (1945) * Piano concerto (1956) * Flute concertos (1957, 1962) * ''En grekisk saga'' (1967 – a protest against the junta's seizure of power) * Viola concerto (1978) * Cello concerto (1981–82)

Organ music

* Fantasi (1936) * Fantasi and preludium with chorale (1957) * Pietà (1962) * Organ sonatas – No 1: De profundis (1965), No 2 (1977) * Passionsmusik - Musica dolorosa (1968)

Chamber music

* Viola Sonata, Op. 19 (1943); dedicated to Sten Broman * ''Legend'' for viola and piano (1945) * String Quartet (1949) * ''Spel för två'' (Jeux à deux) for clarinet and viola (1960) * Violin Sonatas (1965), (1975) * ''Partita Amabile'' and other works for guitar

Vocal

* Rapsodia (1963) for soprano and chamber orchestra * Cantata solemnis (1971) * Around 100 songs,

References

External links

Hilding Hallnäs at the Swedish Music Information Centre
1903 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Swedish classical composers Musicians from Halmstad Royal College of Music, Stockholm, alumni Swedish male classical composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians Recipients of the Illis quorum Litteris et Artibus recipients {{Sweden-composer-stub