Wennerberg-Reuter Stenhammar & Hallen [SACD]

Peter Friis Johnson - Wennerberg-Reuter Stenhammar & Hallen [SACD]

Pianist Peter Friis Johansson has brought together_x000D_ renowned musicians, including violinist Johan Dalene_x000D_ and soprano Sofie Asplund, for a programme that_x000D_ juxtaposes three generations of Swedish composers. The_x000D_ vocal and chamber works performed here testify to the_x000D_ special place these genres occupy in Swedish art music_x000D_ and to the vitality of musical societies in the early_x000D_ twentieth century, which sparked an interest that went_x000D_ far beyond easily digestible music._x000D_ _x000D_ Andreas Hallen is the oldest of the composers featured_x000D_ here. His Piano Quartet shows great confidence despite_x000D_ being an early work. Like many composers of his_x000D_ generation, Hallen readily incorporates folk elements._x000D_ Wilhelm Stenhammar produced an important and_x000D_ varied body of work. His Violin Sonata is a work that_x000D_ reflects the ideals of his German education: it is absolute_x000D_ music without any explicit extra-musical narrative_x000D_ content, a 'synthesis of classicism and sensitive poetry',_x000D_ as his first biographer put it. Sara Wennerberg-Reuter is_x000D_ the least-known of the three, and many of her scores_x000D_ remain unpublished. Stockholm's only female organist_x000D_ with a permanent position, she left behind a varied body_x000D_ of work spanning a wide range of styles. She distanced_x000D_ herself from her contemporaries with a musical style_x000D_ that focused on melody, a commodity she felt had by_x000D_ then become scarce.