Pettersson, A.: 8 Barefoot Songs / Concertos for Strings Nos. 1-2

Featuring

Christian Lindberg
Anders Larsson
Nordic Chamber Orchestra
Allan Pettersson

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Compositional Technique

Pettersson's Concerto No. 1 for String Orchestra (1949-50) reflects his preoccupation with Béla Bartók's music, particularly the slow movement of Bartók's Divertimento for string orchestra.

Composer Biography

Allan Pettersson's "Eight Barefoot Songs" reflect his difficult childhood and youth, marked by poverty, social exclusion, his mother's strict religious attitudes, and his father's alcoholism.

Compositional Technique

Pettersson's "Eight Barefoot Songs" are musically rooted in the Swedish 'romans' tradition and sometimes allude to historical models like Schubert's "Winterreise."

Composition History

The melodies from Pettersson's "Barefoot Songs" were occasionally quoted in his larger-scale compositions, such as the Sixth and Fourteenth Symphonies, and even served as the nucleus for his Violin Concerto No. 2.

Composer's Artistic Vision

For his Concerto No. 1 for String Orchestra, Pettersson prioritized expression, urgency, and wild, alternating rhythms over precise intonation, stating, "So do not reduce the tempo in order to get the details pedantically correct."

Critical Reception

The premiere of Pettersson's Concerto No. 1 for String Orchestra in 1952 received sharply contrasting reviews, with one critic suggesting he stop composing, while another praised his unique aesthetic.

Composition History

Antal Doráti, principal conductor of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (1966-74), orchestrated eight of Pettersson's "Barefoot Songs" into a suite, transforming them into full-scale orchestral songs.