Alfvén / Rautavaara: Orchestral Works
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
- Format
- Digital
Hugo Alfvén was a talented writer, painter, musician and composer. He was born in 1872 in Stockholm and studied first at the Royal Conservatory (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) and later in Berlin, Dresden, Paris and Brussels. Alfvén was influenced by Wagner and Richard Strauss, but his style is also characterized by Swedish folk music.
The festival play was commissioned in 1908 for the inauguration of the new Art Nouveau building of the Royal Dramatic Theater (Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern) in Stockholm. The work is appropriately rousing and festive for such an occasion. In 1932 Alfvén was asked to write incidental music for a play by Ludvig Nordström commemorating the 300th anniversary of the death of the Protestant Swedish prince at the Battle of Lützen at the end of the Thirty Years' War. The resulting suite is an extensive work in its own right.
Cantus arcticus is probably Rautavaara's best-known work and was written in 1972 on commission from the University of Oulu in North Finland on the occasion of the first official doctoral ceremony. Rautavaara, however, was inspired by the nature of the region and integrated recordings of bird song on two channels into the orchestral structure.
Tracklist
- 01 Festspel, Op. 25 07:50
- 02 Cantus arcticus, Op. 61 "Concerto for Birds & Orchestra": I. The Bog (Think of Autumn and of Tchaikovsky) 07:53
- 03 Cantus arcticus, Op. 61 "Concerto for Birds & Orchestra": II. Melancholy 04:00
- 04 Cantus arcticus, Op. 61 "Concerto for Birds & Orchestra": III. Swans Migrating 06:52
- 05 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: I. Vision 03:32
- 06 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: II. Intermezzo 02:32
- 07 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: III. I Kejsar Ferdinands slottskapell 06:26
- 08 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: IVa. Sarabanda 02:34
- 09 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: IVb. Bourrée 01:57
- 10 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: IVc. Menuett 02:58
- 11 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: V. Elegi 04:45
- 12 Gustav II Adolf, Op. 49: VI. Breitfenfeld 10:09
