Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942)

[Peter1953]

In the thread "Kurt Atterberg"  the Nordic or Scandinavian sound has been mentioned a few times. The Swedish Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (P.-B.) is another example of a composer who knew how to translate the beautiful, lonely, silent and impressive Nordic landscape, in particular the Swedish mountains, into music.

P.-B. was a feared music critic (during 1896-1930), who knew how to make enemies amongst his contemporary fellow Swedish composers. So one might expect that his own compositions must be of quite a high level. I wonder if that is a fact. I've been listening to the 5 CD cpo box of his 5 symphonies, violin concerto and some other orchestral pieces and it is my listening experience that his output varies in quality (BTW, I'm not familiar yet with his other music, like his famous piano miniatures).
Of his symphonies I like his 3rd and 5th, but have difficulties with his 4th. His VC is a nice piece, but I'm not overwhelmed. So far I recognize 3 pieces which are absolutely wonderful (and makes the CD set worth having):
1. Romance for violin and orchestra in D minor. Very moving and I think his most beautiful orchestral piece.
2. Tranquillo, the 3rd movement of his Lapland Symphony (No. 3). Such a serene painting of the Nordic landscape.
3. The Pine Forest, the 5th part of his Suite "I somras" (Last Summer), which is also a subtle presentation of the Nordic nature.

Back to Atterberg. Born 20 years after P.-B. I think Atterberg's music is much more fascinating. But is it fair to compare both composers?

I'm interested in what members think of P.-B.

[M. Henriksen]

Interesting post Peter! I've known the music by Peterson-Berger for some years, and although the cpo recordings are high-standard as always, I don't think his symphonic output is in the same league as Atterberg or Peterson-Berger's contemporary Hugo Alfvèn.
For me Peterson-Berger is at his best in smaller scale, and I have to recommend Noriko Ogawa's recording of the lovely "Frösöblomster" (Frösö flowers) which is 3 "books" of Piano pieces. Small, wonderful tone-pictures perfect for a glass of wine on the balcony a Nordic summer night

http://bis.se/index.php?op=album&aID=BIS-CD-925

When it comes to Atterberg, I would say that he is much closer to Hugo Alfvèn musically. Peterson-Berger didn't like Alfvèn very much, claiming that he was only a good orchestrator and not much else.


Morten

[M. Henriksen]

Reading a bit more about Peterson-Berger's orchestral music in some Swedish sources summons up my impression of his large-scale works:

The majority of the Swedish music critics' views were that Peterson-Berger orchestration was unconventional and his musical development and somewhat rhapsodic style was insufficient to tie tie large works together.


Morten

[TerraEpon]

I agree about the violin romance -  one of the most heartwrenchingly wonderful pieces of music that no one knows.
I also agree about the BIS Froso Flowers disc -- a must for anyone who likes Grieg's Lyric Pieces.

[Ilja]

Peterson-Berger's operatic works aren't half bad, I think, at least the ones that I've heard (Arnljot and Doomsday Prophets) and his melodic tension span seems to fit these pieces – and miniatures - much better than lengthy orchestral works. Lovely tunes.

[FBerwald]

I believe his symphonies represent him best. His Symphony no 5 'Solitudo' II movement Scherzando is beautiful. I also like his  Frosoblomster.

[Miles R.]

I have recently acquired the CPO box of 5 CDs of Peterson-Berger and have been listening solely to the five symphonies so far, not yet to the other pieces in the set, though the comments in this thread indicate that I should do well to move on to those pieces at some point. I find P.-B. to be quite a charmer, even if his symphonies are not exactly tightly knit.

I can't forbear to make the further observation, however shallow it be, that this set of CDs is itself quite charming. At first I was disconcerted to see that the five disks were packaged in the most space-consuming possible way, namely each in its own jewel case. (I'm running out of space to store disks.) But I very much like the paintings used as illustrations, and I much prefer handling individual jewel cases to handling the little cardboard sleeves used, e.g., in the Brilliant Classics set of the five symphonies of Hugo Alfvén, which has also recently arrived.

[alexi]

I believe his symphonies represent him best. His Symphony no 5 'Solitudo' II movement Scherzando is beautiful. I also like his  Frosoblomster.

Sorry for bumping such an old thread but I've been in love with the Scherzando of the 5th for the 6 months (and the whole symphony for that matter). I'm glad to find a kindred spirit here. I also think his symphonies represent him best. PB has a unique way of composition and somehow it really resonates with me.

[Dave]

I think Wilhelm Peterson-Berger is a fine composer, but as others have alluded, he tends to sprawl and his music is structurally deficient and facile, to some respects at least (like Rangstrom). But he has a nice sense of color and his music is attractively picturesque, engaging, and quite imaginative (his Oriental Dance for example).

But with that said, there's really no comparison of him with Atterberg (or with Alfven for that matter).  Atterberg's command of the orchestra and structure is a good deal more assured (if instrumentally overblown at places) and no one can dismiss his high level of melodic invention and imaginative qualities (he was deemed Sweden's most melodic composer after all). He can be that fluent and poetic at a very high plane (slow movement of the First Symphony comes to mind here). If you take, for instance, his Varmland Rhapsody, and how imaginative he is and how he molded his ideas to something very tantalizing (and rather teasing), Peterson-Berger does not quite reach that level (esp. with regards to orchestral wizardry). Similar claims can be made with Alfven's music (take that wonderful scherzo movement of the Third Symphony as a point of reference if you will that would've done Glazunov proud). 

So in summary, Atterberg and Alfven show flashes of genius, natural (symphonic) coherency, and compelling line of musical argument while Peterson-Berger is skillful (and sometimes more), but that's where it ends (for me anyhow).

[Gerhard Griesel]

I also have the cpo box of P-B. While I don't find his music off-putting, and agree with FBerwald about movement II from Symphony 5, I have failed so far to find anything in that set that attracts me. It is ironic that he has not succeeded in writing more attractive music than those he critisized. I also agree that the cpo box takes up a lot of space, but at least it is visually attractive, and the sound quality is very good.

[LateRomantic75]

Like Dave, I don't hold P-B in as high regard as Alfven, Atterberg, or Melartin, but he has composed some really attractive music that, as others have pointed out, doesn't always avoid note-spinning. My favorite work of his is Symphony no. 3 Lapland, which makes imaginative and memorable use of folk-inspired material and is wonderfully wistful and atmospheric.

[chill319]

I rather thought that Atterberg and contemporaneous Scandinavian composers were outside the scope of this forum, but if that perception is mistaken, then I would like to add Lars-Eric Larsson to the list of worthy conservative symphonists and ask forum members (so glad DH has joined -- I've profited many times from his fine Amazon reviews) how they would compare the "superficiality" of Peterson-Berger's early 20th-century symphonies to Schumann's Spring symphony or, say, Bizet's symphony? Is there still a place for a rooted, "pleasurable" symphony written during or after the Great War?

[Dave]

Thank you very much. I'm glad to be a part of this great forum (I've learned a good deal already). I see your point in mentioning Peterson-Berger's (PB) Symphonies to Schumann's or Bizet's. It's kind of a valid point, because even Schumann did not have great command in structure and orchestra when he wrote his First Symphony. But even so, he, or Bizet for that matter, was not as rambling and facile as PB, and once you get to his Second Symphony, Schumann the symphonist is more firmly established (not to the level of Brahms and Bruckner, but that's a different topic).

[LateRomantic75]

I rather thought that Atterberg and contemporaneous Scandinavian composers were outside the scope of this forum, but if that perception is mistaken, then I would like to add Lars-Eric Larsson to the list of worthy conservative symphonists and ask forum members (so glad DH has joined -- I've profited many times from his fine Amazon reviews) how they would compare the "superficiality" of Peterson-Berger's early 20th-century symphonies to Schumann's Spring symphony or, say, Bizet's symphony? Is there still a place for a rooted, "pleasurable" symphony written during or after the Great War?

If I'm not mistaken, it says in the forum's policy that composers who lived far into the 20th century but composed in an essentially Romantic fashion like Atterberg can be discussed here.

P.S. I have also gained much from Dave's reviews.

[Alan Howe]

Just to confirm: there's no problem discussing Atterberg here. He's a late, late romantic.