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BIS.CD-654 STEREO Eppl Total playing time: 78'30 STENHAMMAR, Wilhelm e87r-rs27) Sju dikter ar Ensarnhetens tankar op.7 (189S_9b) 10'20 Seven Poems from Thoughts of Solituderbp.T fo"t word;shaForlag) (Texts: Verner uon Heidenstam) E I. Dar innerst i min ande 1',33 E II. I enslighetftirsvinna 1'09 l-9JIII. Min stamfar hade en stor -osspokal 1'10 E IV. Kom. vdnner.lAt oss s:itta 0'59 l-!.JV. I Rom, i Rom, dit ung jag kom 7'49 l-9.1VL Du sdker ryktbarhet r'07 lZ VII. Du hade mie kair 2'07 Fem visor till text av Johan Ludvig Runeberg op.g (1895_96) I'10 Five Songs to Texts by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Op,S f,nwrst _(Texts: Johan Luduig Runeberg) l-91I. Lutad mot giirdet l'25 l9JII. Dottern sadetill sin samla moder 1'05 @ III. Den tidiga sorgen 1',O1 llll IV. Till en ros 2',26 r..jiJv. benasen 1Ca) Fyra svenska singer op.16 (189s_97) 8'32 _ Four Swedish Songs, OpJ6 {net NordishaFort@g) EEI. (Tert: Let oss dciunga Verner uon Heid.enstam) 2'55 ll4 II. (Tert: Guld och grdna skogar Tor Hedberg) 1'13 I J (Text: III. Ingalill Gustaf Frdding) 2',21 L!9IV. Fylgia (Text: Gustaf Frc)ding) I',44 Fem sAnger av Bo Bergman op.20 (1903-04) 11'56 Five Songs of Bo Bergman, Op,2O {x.iks) (Texts:Bo Bergman) E L Stjarnoga r'49 @ II. Vid ftinstret Jdl @ III. Gammal Nederlzindare 1',19 @ IV. MAnsken 2'05 E V. Adasio 2'44 Visor och stdmningar op.26 (1908-09) 27'04 Songs and Moods, Op.28 rwtnemHdnsen) E I. Vandraren (Text: Vilhelm Ekelund) z',0r @ II. Nattyxne (Text: Erik Axel Karlfeldt) '',43 E III. Stlarnan (Tert: Bo Bergman) 1'19 E IV. Jungfru Blond och Jungfru Brunett (Text:Bo Bergman) 4',28 El V. Det far ett skepp (Text: Bo Bergman) t'27 E Vt. Nar genom rummet ltjnsterkorsets skugga ligger r'25 (Text: Verner uon Heidenstam) @ VII. Varftir till ro sA brhtt (Text: Verner uon Heidenstamt 0'49 @ Vfff . Lycklandsresan (Text: Gustaf Frading) 2',04 @ IX. En strandvisa (Text: GustafFrdding) 2',13 @ X. Prins Aladin av Lampan (Tert: Gustaf Fr6ding) 4',43 Efterskiird 10'30 Late Harvest (published posthumously in 1933) (Gehrruns) @ I. Var vAlsignad, milda bmsinthet (1904) (Text: Gustaf Frdding) l',23 @ II. Tlost (1904) (Text: GustafFrdding) 2',28 @ III. Klockan i923) (Text: Bo Bergman) 3'38 @ IV. Manniskornas 6gon (L923) (Text: Bo Bergman) 1'08 @ V. Hjartat (1977) (Text: Bo Bergman) 1'31 Peter Mattei, baritone. Bengt-Ake Lund.in, piano ilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)grew and it was precisely in the 1890s that Sten- up in a musical family; his father was a hammar wrote about twenty ofhis most success- successful amateur composer as well as ful songs, setting the works of young Swedish a prosperous architect. Music, especially vocal poets. music, was performed in the family home, and The songs were issued in collections - but Stenhammar composed his first romances when these can scarcely be referred to as cycles, he was only seven. Some of the songs he wrote because even though they sometimes all have as a teenager were so successful that they still texts by the same poet, they do not belong feature in romance recital programmes today. In together thematically. In fact they were compos- the years up to 1924 he composed about 110 ed sporadically over a period of several years, songs, 66 of which were published. In Swedish and aim for contrast and variation rather than musical life of the time - both in the composers' unity. Stenhammar was very conscious of this studios and on the concert platform -vocal and, although he did not often speak about his music was predominant. songs, he left a letter from summer 1900 in 'When Stenhammar's position as the forenost and which he reveals his thoughts: I am most multifaceted Swedish musical personality setting a text I do not sit down and reflect upon at the turn ofthe century is nowadays becoming what I shall find, for I shan't find anything; but I ever clearer. He was probably the best pianist in read and think myself into the poem, listen to the country and made his d6but in 1892, at the the sound of the words. until it forms itself into age of 21, in the D minor Concerto by Brahns. music of its own accord, into melodic speech, He was regarded as the leading song accompan- into spoken melody and the harmonies will 'I ist at the turn of the century and he often accord with the mood of the words...': must appeared with great singers such as John Fors- know what I think, and say it as naturally as ell. In addition he was conductor and artistic possible.'He regarded the drive for originality director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and audacity as pure nonsense, and thought from 1907 until 1922. As a composer he worked that fullness of expression was the only in all genres except for religious music - this condition for true art. From this it follows that 'modem' was a reaction against his strict religious he himself had no interest in thought- upbringing. He thus composed orchestral works, processes - although he was a keen advocate of chamber music, piano music, operas, choral and Rangstriim, Rosenberg and other hotspurs. solo songs * and in all of these genres his works Stenhammar stands out as an aristocrat of have found their way into the Swedish musical music who combined culture, dignity and refine- tradition oftoday. ment. This attitude helped him to protect his The 1890s was a golden decade in Swedish warm and rich emotional life from the rigours of poetry. It was then that poets such as Gustaf the outside world. His songs usually follow the Friiding, Verner von Heidenstam and Erik Axel pattern mentioned above: a natural, straight- Karlfeldt made their breakthrough, encouraging forward declamation which resulted in a the young composers of the period to write their genuine, inner artistry - not without Nordic finest songs- It was a foregone conclusion that melancholy, and in total accord with the poet's poetry and music would stimulate each other, words, whether they were idyllic or dramatically 4 anguished. His music is uniquely personal in hammar to concern itself with the problems of character, and the piano writing is often a work the artist. The final song, Du hade mig hcir (yo\ of art in itself: it is more demanding and more Loved Me) is an entirely genuine, individual fully developed than that of any other Swedish song with autobiographical content, written composer of the period, and at times his song after the ending of a problematic relationship accompaniments rank among the very finest with a young lady. Despite the collection's great examples of his piano writing. artistic merit, it was hard for the young Verner von Heidenstam was one of the composer to make an impression, In December greatest Swedish poets - he won the Nobel 1897 he wrote in a letter that he'was receiving Prize for literature in 1916. In one phase of his so little encouragement from the Swedish work he was influenced by the drastic and terse, publishers that, for example, Schildknecht folk-inspired writings of Runeberg. In his refused to print the first three Heidenstam collection of poetry entitled ValLfart och songs'. uarudringsd.r (1888) there is a group of poems Stenhammar's work was made no easier by called, Ensamhetens tanhor (Thoughts Of his severe self-criticism. When Stenhammar Solitude). In these poems we find something of realised exactly what Sibelius had achieved in Runeberg's intimate manner of expression, and his Second Symphony, he withdrew his own this has also influenced Stenhammar's musical First Symphony and did not feel mature enough settings in Sju d.ihter ur Ensamhetens to attempt a symphony again for another ten 'Thoughts tankar (Seven Poems from Of Solit- years. This was not the only occasion on which ude'), Op.7 (1893-95), a collection of straight- Stenhammar and Sibelius had passed along the forward and natural songs. In the first, Dcr same path. Both composers were interested in innerst i min ande (Within My Soul), melodic the poetry of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, and they arches of a boldness unusual for this collection sometimes chose the same poems, Sten- are driven forward by slmcopated chords, and in hammar's songs are generally less dramatic - the second song, I enslighet fdrsuinno mino ar than those of Sibelius but Stenhammar (In Loneliness My Years Pass By) the 24-year- reveals a deep insight into the texts and makes old composer interprets the thought-processes of more detailed observations, whilst Sibelius often an old nan with great insight. In both of these worked with powerful musical blocks. In 1893 songs we also find a striking chorale tone. The Stenhamnar wrote ?uri sdnger ur IdylL och 'Idyll most frequently performed song in this set is epigram (T\o Songs from And Epigram'), Min stamfar hade en stor pohal (My Ancestor Op.4, including Flichan kqrter i Johannenatten Had A Large Goblet), and this melodic pearl was (The Maiden Is Binding On Midsummer Eve) also published separately. The relatively and Flichan hom ifrd.n sin dLskLings mi)te (The melancholy Kom, uiinner, Ldt oss siitto oss ned Maiden Came From Her Lover's Ttyst - set by (Come Friends, Let Us Sit Down) and I Rom, i Sibelius in 1901). Some years later came the Rom, dit ung jag kom (In Rone, In Rome When Fem visor till text av Johon Ludoig Rune' I Was Young) have been performed far less.