Nielsen: String Suite / Sallinen: String Quartet No. 3

Featuring

Wojciech Rajski
Manuela Wiesler
Musica Vitae
John Fernström
Aulis Sallinen
Erland von Koch

Carl August Nielsen
Edvard Grieg
Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson

Did you know?

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Composition History

Edvard Grieg orchestrated two of his songs for string orchestra as his Opus 34, titled Two Elegiac Melodies, because he needed new orchestral music as a conductor.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Erland von Koch, a Swedish composer, believed that even serious music should be "entertaining," a principle also valued by Ingmar Bergman, for whose films von Koch wrote music.

Recording & Production

Musica Vitae, the young string orchestra on this recording, is based in Växjö, Sweden, and has performed in various countries including Scandinavia, Czechoslovakia, West Germany, and Austria.

Performer Biography

Manuela Wiesler, the flautist on this album, was born in Brazil, grew up in Vienna, and lived in Iceland and Sweden before returning to Vienna.

Critical Reception

Before its premiere, Carl Nielsen's Little Suite was described in a newspaper as being by "a Mr. Carl Nielsen, whom noboclv knou's," but he became a celebrity after the concert.