Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar wrote three symphonies, of which the first was withdrawn from public performance and the third was left incomplete. As a result, the Symphony No. 2 in G minor (1911-1915) stands alone as a fully realized and representative example of Stenhammar's symphonic thinking, showing considerable formal innovation and a rugged personal style, though he seems to have derived much of his inspiration from the Symphony No. 2 in D major of Jean Sibelius. In this performance by Christian Lindberg and the ...
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Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar wrote three symphonies, of which the first was withdrawn from public performance and the third was left incomplete. As a result, the Symphony No. 2 in G minor (1911-1915) stands alone as a fully realized and representative example of Stenhammar's symphonic thinking, showing considerable formal innovation and a rugged personal style, though he seems to have derived much of his inspiration from the Symphony No. 2 in D major of Jean Sibelius. In this performance by Christian Lindberg and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the symphony receives a robust performance that doesn't downplay the Sibelius influence, but seems to revel in it, especially in the organic development of long-breathed themes and extended crescendos. The symphony is followed by a concert version of Ett drömspel, the incidental music for August Strindberg's A Dream Play , which Stenhammar composed in 1916. The shifting images and irrational action on stage are reflected in the moody and atmospheric...
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