Sången (The Song), cantata for voice, chorus & orchestra, Op. 44
Sentimental Romances (2) for violin & orchestra, Op. 28
Ithaca for baritone & orchestra, Op. 21
Though there were plenty of other fin-de-siècle Swedish composers -- Kurt Atterberg, Tor Aulin, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, and Ture Rangström, to name a few -- Hugo Alfvén was the only one to rival Wilhelm Stenhammar for sheer, indisputable greatness. Unfortunately, even Alfvén and Stenhammar are generally known only to fans of Scandinavian music, but evidence of Stenhammar's greatness is furnished by this splendid 1982 Capriccio recording of his last major work, the mighty, moving symphonic cantata, The Song.The Song is in ...
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Though there were plenty of other fin-de-siècle Swedish composers -- Kurt Atterberg, Tor Aulin, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, and Ture Rangström, to name a few -- Hugo Alfvén was the only one to rival Wilhelm Stenhammar for sheer, indisputable greatness. Unfortunately, even Alfvén and Stenhammar are generally known only to fans of Scandinavian music, but evidence of Stenhammar's greatness is furnished by this splendid 1982 Capriccio recording of his last major work, the mighty, moving symphonic cantata, The Song.The Song is in two big movements, setting an ecstatic pantheistic text and scored for massive forces: four vocal soloists, an adult choir, a chamber choir, a children's choir, and a massive orchestra. There are echoes of Wagner and Sibelius, with a touch, perhaps, of Mahler, but these are only echoes, because Stenhammar's compositional voice is all his own -- directly expressive, strongly constructed, thoroughly tonal, and above all, highly melodic. Herbert Blomstedt leads his assembled multitudes,...
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