Classical Music

The great Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar can be heard as accompanist on recordings with John Forsell, and as soloist on a few piano rolls, but never as conductor. However, his successor, Tor Mann was recorded while rehearsing and performing the famous 2nd symphony, and the Serenade, works he himself experienced under the composer's baton as an orchestral cellist. Sixten Eckerberg succeeded Tor Mann, and together with the Gothenburg Symphony and pianist Hans Leygraf, he made the world premiere gramophone records of Stenhammar's important orchestral works. This release explores Stenhammer's heritage through these historical recordings.

STENHAMMAR: Piano Works

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If there is one Swedish composer in the early 20th century who in some way can compare with Sibelius and Nielsen, it is Wilhelm Stenhammar - incidentally a personal friend of both these towering figures in Nordic music. And in Stenhammar's production - which includes songs, piano music and large-scale orchestral works - his string quartets form a special chapter. The seven quartets (of which one, in F minor, was withdrawn by the composer soon after its first performance) were written over the space of 22 years, and mirror Stenhammar's development, from full-blown Romanticism to a more sparse and formally concentrated idiom. As a pianist, Stenhammar worked closely for many years with the Aulin Quartet, the finest Swedish string quartet of its time. (It was the Aulin Quartet that gave the first performances of all Stenhammar's quartets up to and including No.4 in A minor, Op.25.) His familiarity with the medium is evident in these works which have been described as 'the most important written between those of Brahms and Bartók', but which still remain less well-known internationally than they deserve. In a bid to change this, the Stenhammar Quartet here present the first disc in a trilogy which will include the six quartets published during the composer's lifetime, as well as the F minor quartet - for the first time on disc - and other music for string quartet. Making its first appearance on BIS, the Stenhammar Quartet was formed in 2002 and has made a name for itself in Sweden and internationally as interpreters of Stenhammar's music, as well as of core repertoire and contemporary works.

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STENHAMMAR  String Quartets: No. 5 in C, op. 29, “Serenade;” in f; No. 6 in d, op.35 • Stenhammar Qrt • BIS 2009 (SACD: 65:20)


Here is the Stenhammar Quartet’s second installment in its survey of works for string quartet by the ensemble’s namesake composer, Wilhelm Stenhammar. It follows quickly on the heels of Volume 1, which was reviewed only in the last issue (37:3).


Much of what was said about the previous release applies to this one, and so soon after, needn’t be repeated. If you’re familiar with Stenhammar’s late-blooming Romantic idiom in general, and his string quartets in particular, the three works on this disc further reinforce the composer’s consistency in craftsmanship and style.


The three-way comparison I made last time in reviewing Volume 1 of this cycle, which contained the String Quartets Nos. 3 and 4, was between the Stenhammar, Oslo, and Gotland Quartets. Here, with the Nos. 5 and 6, the comparison is again between the Stenhammer and Oslo Quartets, and this time the Fresk Quartet in No. 5 and the Copenhagen Quartet in No. 6—the record label, Caprice, split the quartets up among three ensembles. So here are the results of the present comparison


Quartet No. 5

Ensemble	I	II	III	IV	Total
Fresk Quartet	5:07	7:30	1:54	4:14	18:45
Oslo Quartet	5:29	7:30	2:26	4:32	19:57
Stenhammar Quartet	5:13	7:29	1:58	4:15	18:55

Quartet No. 6

Ensemble	I	II	III	IV	Total
Copenhagen	7:48	2:44	7:48	6:02	24:22
Oslo Quartet	8:14	3:08	7:53	6:03	25:18
Stenhammar Quartet	7:12	2:44	8:08	6:00	24:04

The outcome is pretty much the same as before. The previous comparison found the Stenhammar Quartet taking a middle-of-the-road approach, tempo-wise, between the slightly quicker-paced Gotland Quartet and the generally slower-paced Oslo Quartet. That conclusion is reaffirmed here, even allowing for the two different ensembles, the Fresk and the Copenhagen, taking the place of the Gotland in the Fifth and Sixth Quartets, respectively. With minor exceptions, the Stenhammar’s timings fall in between those of the other ensembles, and end up closer in total to their Swedish (Fresk) and Danish (Copenhagen) counterparts than to their Norwegian (Oslo) colleagues.


It’s with good reason that Stenhammar’s circa 1910 Fifth Quartet carries the nickname “Serenade,” for it’s an easygoing, genial, breezy, spontaneous-sounding, melodious work that has much in common with Hugo Wolf’s much earlier (1887) Italian Serenade and Dag Wirén’s much later (1937) Serenade for Strings. But, personally, I find Stenhammar’s score prettier than the former and better put together than the latter; and it’s performed by the Stenhammar Quartet’s players with much warmth and affection.


By virtue of its minor key, the Sixth Quartet, dated 1916, is necessarily a somewhat less upbeat-sounding piece, but Stenhammar doesn’t seem to have had it in him to compose a dark, tragic-sounding work. The score frequently veers off into sunnier, major-key climes for lovely, song-filled melodies.


The unnumbered String Quartet in F Minor, date 1897, is an equally engaging piece, which, in its melodic contours and rhythmic patterns, more than occasionally calls Dvo?ák to mind. If you’re just beginning to explore Stenhammar’s string quartet output, I’d strongly suggest you start with this disc. The music is as ear-pleasing and emotionally satisfying as anyone could ask for, and the performances by this outstanding Scandinavian ensemble, complemented by BIS’s vibrant SACD recording, make this an unqualified recommendation.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

'Finland has Sibelius, Norway has Grieg and Denmark Nielsen - so what about Sweden?' This question, often put to Swedish musicians and music-lovers, is one that has no simple answer. Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927), a personal friend of both Sibelius and Nielsen, would seem to be the obvious candidate - but when his name is suggested the usual reaction is 'Stenhammar who?' It is therefore gratifying that the tide seems to be turning: there is a growing international awareness of Stenhammar's great skills as an orchestrator, and his quite individual approach to the opportunities that offered themselves to composers around the turn of the 20th century. The present recording is an indication of this trend, with a Belgian orchestra - the eminent Royal Flemish Philharmonic - choosing to record three of Stenhammar's orchestral works for its first disc on BIS. Conducting the music of his fellow-Swede is Christian Lindberg, who has collaborated with the orchestra in his three-fold capacity as trombone soloist, composer and conductor. The team has chosen to open with the symphonic overture Excelsior!, composed for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1896. Having made his début as a composer only four years previously, Stenhammar had not yet entirely found his own voice, but the work displays an infectious exuberance and enthusiasm, contrasting with the following, more reflective Interlude from the composer's final large-scale work, the cantata Sången from 1921. Closing the disc is the Serenade in F major, often regarded as Stenhammar's finest orchestral score. Beginning it during an extended visit to Florence in 1907, Stenhammar was hoping to create 'a sort of Florentine dithyramb to spring', but doubts soon made themselves felt: 'I wanted to write so beautifully and tenderly about the South, as only a Northerner is able to. But I don't know if I can.' Premièred in 1913 (with revisions made in 1919), the work has proved to its many admirers that he could - as well as, if not better than, anyone else.

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Selections recorded September and October 1995.

In a way it is odd that Stenhammar may be best known for a comparative trifle - the Entr'acte from the huge cantata "Sången" (The Song). This is an encore for basically all Swedish orchestras touring abroad. So why limit oneself to recording just that? Well, because the Cantata demands quite big forces - 4 soloists with demanding parts and 2 choruses on top of a quite large orchestra. It has only been commercially recorded once before, by Herbert Blomstedt. Recording the work has been on Neeme Jarvi's wish list for decades. All the better now that, when he has turned 80, he was finally able to fulfill his dreams, and with extremely good forces at that: four brilliant soloists, the two choruses and Stenhammar's own orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony in their great hall. Concert Master Sara Troback does pride to the Two Sentimental Romances and the group has something as edifying as a very large movement for oboe solo in the Suite. The recording includes live material, and all the necessary performance tension and musicality pervade these readings.