Search - Hugo Alfven, Neeme Järvi, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra :: Hugo Alfven: En Skrgrdssgen; Symphony No. 4 'Frn Havsbandet'

The best Swedish symphony?

Jackie Bushell | Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | 12/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alfvén's Fourth is very possibly the best symphony ever written by a Scandinavian composer. His earlier three are fine works, but here Alfvén reaches the peak of emotional and romantic intensity. Scored for a large orchestra, the work also calls uniquely for wordless male and female soloists, and is in a continuous 47-minute movement.The music was written at a time when Alfvén journeyed frequently in the outer archipelago off Stockholm - a series of 30,000 barren islands and rocks. The feel of the sea is never far from the music, and the music is often as sparse as the archipelago, but there is an underlying love theme which is reflected in rich chromatic and romantic textures for full orchestra. I recently went to Alfvén's house in Leksand, Sweden - now a museum - and saw a page from the score which was written with the same exquisite care with which the music was composed. For best results, listen to the Symphony without external interruption, and you will find that it grows on you with repeated listening.En Skärgardssägen - A legend of the skerries - is an admirable piece, though Neeme Järvi's tempo is slightly too rushed in places to allow the full expansiveness the music deserves (for this, select the Stig Westerberg recording which is two minutes longer). Nevertheless, the combination of the two works inspired by the archipelago is unmissable in the library of lover of Scandinavian music. If I could take only one CD to my desert island, this would be it."