Credits:

Ian Bostridge

Description:

Hugo Alfven (1872?1960) was one of the few composers of the National Romantic period who achieved wide popularity both in Sweden and abroad. 2022 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Stockholm-born Alfven Alveen was born in Stockholm. To commemorate the occasion, the Swedish Society Discofil label, which has made numerous recordings of performances by musicians with close ties to Alvén and who share his spirit of the times, is releasing a two-CD collection album. The first disc features music for orchestra, including three "Swedish Rhapsodies." The other disc contains smaller pieces that, along with the orchestral works, focus on his best-known genres: choral music and songs. The Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 "Midsummer Dawn" (Midsummer All Night), conducted by Alveen himself, is a valuable recording from which this label was born. The recording session took place at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm on October 7, 1954, and was the first "stereo" recording ever made. This is a rare recording, as Alvén was pleased to be able to preserve the "correct tempo" of the performance.One of Alveen's most famous songs, "The Forest Sleeps," will be recorded live from the "Jussi Björling Memorial Concert" held at the Stockholm Concert Hall on September 9, 1985, and will be the first time that his child Lars' songs will be recorded on CD. The last piece in the collection is the male chorus piece "Dawn by the Sea". This work was dedicated to the "Orfei Drengal" (OD) in Uppsala, where Alveen served as conductor from 1910 to 1947. The performance, conducted by Eric Ericson, the seventh conductor, is a recording from the Swedish Music Anthology, The Rural Wedding.