Tor Aulin was primarily a violin virtuoso and the first violinist of a world-famous string quartet. He had received in-depth training from the celebrated violinist...

Tor Aulin was primarily a violin virtuoso and the first violinist of a world-famous string quartet. He had received in-depth training from the celebrated violinist Emil Sauret in Berlin and during the 1890s was regarded as Scandinavia’s leading violin soloist. He was on close personal terms with Henri Marteau, Edvard Grieg, and Wilhelm Stenhammar, and the outstanding pianist Stenhammar often accompanied him. Aulin also made a name for himself as a composer. While his first two violin concertos are classified as exotic works even in Sweden, the third concerto composed in 1896 and thereupon published in Leipzig is something like a favorite. While composing it Aulin must have been thinking of Max Bruch’s exemplary Concerto in G minor, a work that he performed many times – and yet his own imagination and personality are recognizable in this new creation. The elegant and virtuosic work flows with a rich melodic stream of dramatic and lyrical quality, and is here performed by Ulf Wallin and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra.