Alfven: Mountain King Suite / Symphony No. 5 / Gustav Ii Adolf: Elegy
8/31/1994, 9 Tracks, 1:08:00
Featuring
Neeme Järvi
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Hugo Alfvén
Did you know?
1/7
Performer Biography
Neeme Järvi, the conductor, made his conducting debut at the age of 18 and won first prize at an international conducting competition in Rome in 1971.
Compositional Technique
In his Fifth Symphony, Hugo Alfvén reused material from earlier compositions, primarily from his full-length ballet, The Mountain King (Bergakungen).
Composer Biography
Hugo Alfvén, the composer, worked on his Fifth Symphony right up to his death in 1960 at the age of 88.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Alfvén stated in a 1958 radio interview that the first movement of his Fifth Symphony was "both technically and in other respects the least terrible thing I have produced."
Composition History
Alfvén's First Symphony came as a complete surprise to the Swedish musical establishment in 1897, presenting a grandiose symphony of a previously unknown calibre in Sweden.
Composition History
The first movement of Alfvén's Fifth Symphony was completed for a performance on the occasion of the composer's 70th birthday.
Cultural Impact
Alfvén's ballet suite from The Mountain King, originally created to salvage music after the ballet disappeared from stages, later became one of the most frequently-performed pieces of Swedish music.
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