Search - Hugo Alfven, Neeme Järvi, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra :: Hugo Alfven: Symphony No. 1; Swedish Rhapsody No. 2; Drapa; Andante religioso

Hugo Alfvén, who lived from 1872 to 1960, is generally considered the "Grand Old Man" of Swedish music. He is the first essentially Swedish composer to have emerged, being little influenced by the prominent German and Danish composers of his time. His roots are firmly in Swedish folk melodies and nationalistic themes (as in the second Swedish rhapsody, Uppsala), but with the kind of spatial consciousness we find in Sibelius, embracing the distinct landscape of Sweden. Though Alfvén's mature music was written in this century, it still glances backward now and then (and looks to Brahms most of the time). --Paul Cook