Kurt Atterberg

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Kurt Atterberg

Kurt Magnus Atterberg (born December 12, 1887 in Gothenburg , † February 15, 1974 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish composer , conductor and music critic .

Life

Kurt Atterberg took cello lessons in his hometown , but was trained as an engineer at the Technical University in Stockholm and worked at the Royal Patent Office from 1912 to 1968, in a managerial position from 1936. Despite briefly studying composition in 1910/11 at the Stockholm Conservatory with Andreas Hallén and some studies in Germany , Atterberg was largely self-taught . From 1916 to 1922 he was conductor at the Royal Dramatic Theater and from 1924 to 1947 President of the Association of Swedish Composers; he also wrote music reviews for the newspaper Stockholms-Tidningen from 1919 to 1957 . In 1915 he married the pianist Ella Peterson, from whom he divorced in 1923.

In 1922 he achieved his breakthrough in Germany with the performance of his 3rd and 4th symphonies. His sixth symphony achieved particular fame , with which he won the 1928 International Schubert Competition of the Columbia record company on the 100th anniversary of Franz Schubert's death and which has since been called the “Dollar Symphony” (the prize awarded was US $ 10,000). It was premiered in Cologne in 1929.

During the time of National Socialism , cooperation with German composers and librettists was intensified. His symphonies have been performed by important conductors such as Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini . In particular, his operas Fanal and Aladin were performed in German opera houses, but only in regional opera houses, not in the metropolises. His steadfast support for the National Socialist cultural policy is underlined by the fact that from 1935 to 1938 he was Secretary General of the Permanent Council for International Cooperation between Composers , an organization of the Reich Chamber of Music . After World War II, Atterberg was accused of being a Nazi sympathizer, also because of anti-Semitic statements in his correspondence. An investigation by the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien , which he requested, formally exonerated him. As a result, Atterberg was avoided by many colleagues and became a marginal figure. For example, in 1952 his revised first opera Härvards Heimkehr had to be canceled after the premiere because too few tickets were sold for the next performance.

Together with Ture Rangström , Atterberg was the leading composer of the second generation of Swedish late romanticists and, together with him, continued the tradition founded by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger , Wilhelm Stenhammar and Hugo Alfvén . He was a proponent of the idea that romantic music should strengthen national identity, while his opponents defined the character of modern music as supranational and cosmopolitan. While his five operas fell into oblivion, his nine symphonies can be heard more often again.

Works

Stage works

Operas

  • Härvard the Harper Op. 12 (1916–1918; revised 1952 for Härvard's homecoming )
  • Wogenroß op. 24 (1923-1924)
  • Fanal op. 35 (1929–1932)
  • Aladin op. 43 (1936–1941)
  • The Tempest op. 49 (1946–1947)

Ballets

  • Per Swineherd op. 9 (1914–1915)
  • Ballet Sketches (1919)
  • The Foolish Virgins op.17 (1920)

Incidental music

  • Jephta (1913)
  • Mats and Petter (1915)
  • Sister Beatrice (1917)
  • Perseus och vidundret op.13 (1918)
  • Turandot (1920)
  • The Tempest op.18 (1921)
  • The three aunts (1923)
  • A winter fairy tale (1923)
  • Hassan (1925)
  • Antony and Cleopatra (1926)

Orchestral works

Symphonies

  • No. 1 in B minor, Op. 3 (1909–11)
  • No. 2 in F major op.6 (1911–1913)
  • No. 3 in D major op. 10 "Västkustbilder (Pictures of the West Coast)" (1914–1916)
  • No. 4 in G minor op. 14 "Sinfonia piccola" (1918)
  • No. 5 in D minor op. 20 "Sinfonia funebre" (1919–1922)
  • No. 6 in C major op. 31 "Dollar Symphony" (1927–1928)
  • No. 7 in A minor op. 45 "Sinfonia romantica" (1942–1943)
  • No. 8 in E minor op.48 (1944)
  • No. 9 in B flat minor op. 54 “Sinfonia visionaria” for solo voices, choir and orchestra (1955–1956)

Orchestral suites

  • Orchestral Suite No. 1 "Oriental Suite" (1913)
  • Orchestral Suite No. 2 (1915)
  • Orchestral Suite No. 3 op.19.1 (1917)
  • Orchestral Suite No. 4 op. 19,2 "Turandot" (1920)
  • Orchestral suite No. 5 op. 23 "Suite barocco" (1923)
  • Orchestral Suite No. 6 op. 30 "Oriental Legend" (1925)
  • Orchestral Suite No. 7 op.29 (1926)
  • Orchestral suite No. 8 op. 34 "Suite pastorale in modo antico" (1931)
  • Orchestral Suite No. 9 op. 47 "Suite drammatica" (1944)

Concerts

  • Rhapsody op.1 for piano and orchestra (1909)
  • Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 7 (1913)
  • Cello Concerto in C minor op.21 (1922)
  • Horn Concerto in A minor op.28 (1926)
  • Piano Concerto in B flat minor op.37 (1935)
  • Double Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Strings Op. 57 (1959–1960)

Further orchestral works

  • Concert Overture in A minor op.4 (1910)
  • Rondeau rétrospectif op.26 (1925)
  • The river. Symphonic poem op.33 (1929)
  • Värmland Rhapsody op.36 (1933)
  • Ballade and Passacaglia op.38 (1935)
  • Concert Overture op.41 (1940)
  • Rondeau caractéristique op.42 (1940)
  • Aladdin. Overture op.44 (1941)
  • Indian Wise Men op.51 (1950)
  • Swedish Summer Festival (1957)
  • Ballad without words op.56 (1958)
  • Vittorioso op.58 (1962)

Works for wind orchestra

  • De fåvitska jungfrurna Rhapsody Arr. by Gösta Morberg
  • Marica trionfale della bella Lucia

Chamber music

  • String quartets
    • No. 1 in D major op.2 (1909)
    • No. 2 op.11 (1918)
    • No. 3 in D major op.39 (1937)
  • Variations and Fugue for String Quartet op.46 (1944)
  • Piano quintet in C major op.31 (1928/42)
  • Violin / Cello Sonata in B minor op.27 (1925)
  • 2 autumn ballads op.15 for piano (1918)

Vocal works

  • Requiem op.8 for solo voices, choir and orchestra (1914)
  • Järnbäraland op.16 for solo voices, choir and orchestra (1919)
  • Das Lied op.25 for voices (choir ad lib.) And orchestra (1925)
  • Das Land des Gesanges op.32 for voices (choir ad. Lib.) And orchestra (1928)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Carl-Gunnar Ahlen: Nazismen legitimerades med musik , Svenska Dagbladet, March 13, 2008.
  2. ↑ Erik Levi: Opera in the Nazi period , in: John London (ed.): Theater under the Nazis , Manchester University Press, 2000, pp. 136–186.
  3. ↑ a b Petra Garberding: Music and Politics in the Shadow of Nazism: Kurt Atterberg and Swedish-German musical relations . Music & Politics 3, Number 2, 2009, ISSN 1938-7687
personal data
SURNAME Atterberg, Kurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Atterberg, Kurt Magnus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish composer, conductor and music critic
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Gothenburg
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1974
Place of death Stockholm