Wilhelm Stenhammar

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Wilhelm Stenhammar

Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 - November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist.

Stenhammar was born in Stockholm and his musical education first took place there. He then went to Berlin to further his studies in music. He became a glowing admirer of German music, particularly that of Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. Stenhammar himself described the style of his First Symphony in F major as "idyllic Bruckner" ([1]). He subsequently sought to emancipate himself and write in a more "Nordic" style, looking to Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius for guidance. The latter's Symphony No. 2, especially, had a great effect on him, leading him to change his style and refuse to refer to his First Symphony as anything but a trivial piece, while only acknowledging having written his Second Symphony in G minor.

From 1906 to 1922 he was Artistic Director and chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the first full-time professional orchestra in Sweden. In this capacity, he organized many a performance of music by contemporary Scandinavian composers. Briefly, in 1909, he held the position of director of music at Uppsala University, where he was succeeded in the following year by Hugo Alfvén.

His works were quite varied and included the two symphonies, a substantial Serenade for Orchestra, two piano concertos, four piano sonatas, a violin sonata, six string quartets, many songs and other vocal works, including several large-scale works for chorus or voices and orchestra (the early ballad "Florez och Blanzeflor" op. 3 written around 1891, "Ithaka" op. 21 from 1904, the cantatas Ett folk (A people) from 1905 and Sången (The song) op. 44 from 1921).

Many critics maintain that Stenhammar's set of six string quartets is the most important written between those of Brahms and Bartok. Whether or not this is so, there is no denying that Stenhammar's quartets represent a very important development during the twenty five years he was writing chamber music. Tonally, they range from the middle late Romantics to a style akin to mature Sibelius. Though not unknown by the Swedish chamber music public, his string quartets have been sadly neglected elsewhere.

Stenhammar was considered the finest Swedish pianist of his time. Concert pianists who venture into the realm of the string quartet often wind up writing compositions which sound like they were composed at, and are perhaps better played at, the piano. That Stenhammar's works show no such trait is due entirely to the fact that for nearly half of his life, he worked intimately with the Aulin Quartet, the top Swedish string quartet of its day and one of the best then performing in Europe. In fact, he toured throughout Europe with them for many years and a piano quintet was nearly always featured on their programs. Thus it is no accident that his quartets show a fine grasp of instrumental timbre and technique. The part writing is sure, always idiomatic and evenly distributed.

Wilhem Stenhammar died at age 56 in Jonsered in the historic province of Västergötland.

[edit] References

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[edit] Works

orchestra works
- Symphony No. 1 in F major (1902/03, withdrawn)
- Symphony No. 2 in G minor, Opus 34 (1911-15)
- Symphony No. 3 in C major (1918/19, fragment)
- Serenade in F major, Opus 31 (1908-13, rev. 1919)
- “Excelsior! ” Concert Overture, Opus 13 (1896) *
- Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor, Opus 1 (1893)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Opus 23 (1904-07)
- “Two Sentimental Romances” for violin and orchestra, Opus 28 (1910)
choral works
- “The Celebration on Solhaug” (opera), Opus 6 (1893)
- “Tirfing” (opera), Opus 15 (1898)
- “Ett Folk” (cantata), Opus 22 (1905)
- “Sangen” (cantata), Opus 44 (1921)
- vocal works ** approx. 60 songs
chamber music
- String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Opus 2 (1894)
- String Quartet No. 2 in C minor, Opus 14 (1896)
- String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Opus 18 (1900)
- String Quartet No. 4 in A minor, Opus 25 (1909)
- String Quartet No. 5 in C major, Opus 29 (1910)
- String Quartet No. 6 in D minor, Opus 35 (1916)
- Violin Sonata in A minor, Opus 19 (1899/1900)
piano music
- Sonata No. 1 in C major (1880)
- SonatA No. 2 in C minor (1881)
- Sonata No. 3 in A-flat major (1885)
- Sonata No. 4 in G minor (1890)
- Sonata in A-flat major, Opus 12 (1895)
- 3 Fantasy, Opus 11 (1895)
- “Late Summer”, 5 pieces of Opus 33(1914)