Gösta Nystroem
Encyclopedia
Gösta Nystroem was a Swedish composer
.
Nystroem, originally Nyström, was born in Silvberg, Sweden, a parish in the province of Dalarna
, but spent most of his childhood in Österhaninge near Stockholm, at the time a small village but nowadays a suburban district. His father was a headmaster and an organist
. In his younger days, Nystroem was both a composer and a painter (one of the first Swedish Cubists), but when he was about thirty years old, he eventually decided to focus on music.
He studied composition
in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Paris. Among his teachers in Paris were Vincent d'Indy
and Leonid Sabaneyev
. After living in France, mostly in Paris, for several years, he moved to Gothenburg
on the Swedish west coast in the 1930’s, where he also worked as a music critic. In the 1950s he settled in Särö
, a rather wealthy village about twenty kilometres south of Gothenburg, where he had a house that originally belonged to the family of his first wife, Gladys Heyman, whom he married in 1921 in France. The couple had three daughters. Gladys died in 1946, and in 1950 Nystroem got remarried to Helen Lyon, who, like Gladys Heyman, came from an upper class Gothenburg family.
In Sweden, Nystroem was regarded as a modernist in the 1930s, but in today’s view, his music is only moderately modernistic. It is influenced by the French music of the time of his studies, but still has a Nordic, romantic tone, and is most often melancholic or sorrowful. As a person and artist Nystroem was dependent on the sea and preferred to live close to it.
Among Nystroem’s most appreciated works are his romances
. The most widely known collections are Sånger vid havet (Songs by the sea, with orchestra or piano, 1942), På reveln (At the reef, with piano, 1948) and Själ och landskap: nya sånger vid havet (Soul and landscape: new songs by the sea, with piano, 1950). The poet apparently closest to Nystroem's soul was the Swedish female writer Ebba Lindqvist (1908-1995). They shared a deep relationship with the sea. Five settings to music of Lindqvist’s poems are to be found in the romance collections mentioned above.
Nystroem composed six symphonies. Among these, Sinfonia espressiva (1932-37) and Sinfonia del mare (1946-48) are considered to be the best. Sinfonia espressiva grows from a slow first movement scored for strings and timpani. In the second and third movements, groups of wind instruments and percussion are added, and only the finale is scored for full orchestra.
The sea symphony, Sinfonia del mare, is written in one continuous movement, picturing different moods inspired by the sea. It is Nystroem’s most popular work and might be said to have overshadowed other important works in his output. In the middle of the symphony is a section where a soprano sings a setting of Lindqvist’s poem "Det enda" ("The one") about a person who has fled from the sea, "as one flees from the beloved", but who will soon return to "sit by the sea and know it's the one on earth". Nystroem’s other symphonies, seldom played, are Sinfonia breve (1929-31), Symphony No. 4 (1952, originally entitled Sinfonia shakespeariana), Sinfonia seria (1962-63), and Sinfonia tramontana (1965).
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Nystroem, originally Nyström, was born in Silvberg, Sweden, a parish in the province of Dalarna
Dalarna
', English exonym: Dalecarlia, is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. Another English language form established in literature is the Dales. Places involving the element Dalecarlia exist in the United States....
, but spent most of his childhood in Österhaninge near Stockholm, at the time a small village but nowadays a suburban district. His father was a headmaster and an organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
. In his younger days, Nystroem was both a composer and a painter (one of the first Swedish Cubists), but when he was about thirty years old, he eventually decided to focus on music.
He studied composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Paris. Among his teachers in Paris were Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
and Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist.-Biography:...
. After living in France, mostly in Paris, for several years, he moved to Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
on the Swedish west coast in the 1930’s, where he also worked as a music critic. In the 1950s he settled in Särö
Särö
Särö is a locality situated in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 2,982 inhabitants in 2005. It is located south of Gothenburg on the Särö peninsula, and is famous for its golf and tennis history. Geographically, the peninsula marks the transition from the Bohuslän archipelago in...
, a rather wealthy village about twenty kilometres south of Gothenburg, where he had a house that originally belonged to the family of his first wife, Gladys Heyman, whom he married in 1921 in France. The couple had three daughters. Gladys died in 1946, and in 1950 Nystroem got remarried to Helen Lyon, who, like Gladys Heyman, came from an upper class Gothenburg family.
In Sweden, Nystroem was regarded as a modernist in the 1930s, but in today’s view, his music is only moderately modernistic. It is influenced by the French music of the time of his studies, but still has a Nordic, romantic tone, and is most often melancholic or sorrowful. As a person and artist Nystroem was dependent on the sea and preferred to live close to it.
Among Nystroem’s most appreciated works are his romances
Romances
Romances is the fifteenth studio album by Mexican singer Luis Miguel, released on August 12, 1997, by Warner Music Latina. It is the third album of the Romance series, in which Miguel covers Latin songs from 1940 to 1978...
. The most widely known collections are Sånger vid havet (Songs by the sea, with orchestra or piano, 1942), På reveln (At the reef, with piano, 1948) and Själ och landskap: nya sånger vid havet (Soul and landscape: new songs by the sea, with piano, 1950). The poet apparently closest to Nystroem's soul was the Swedish female writer Ebba Lindqvist (1908-1995). They shared a deep relationship with the sea. Five settings to music of Lindqvist’s poems are to be found in the romance collections mentioned above.
Nystroem composed six symphonies. Among these, Sinfonia espressiva (1932-37) and Sinfonia del mare (1946-48) are considered to be the best. Sinfonia espressiva grows from a slow first movement scored for strings and timpani. In the second and third movements, groups of wind instruments and percussion are added, and only the finale is scored for full orchestra.
The sea symphony, Sinfonia del mare, is written in one continuous movement, picturing different moods inspired by the sea. It is Nystroem’s most popular work and might be said to have overshadowed other important works in his output. In the middle of the symphony is a section where a soprano sings a setting of Lindqvist’s poem "Det enda" ("The one") about a person who has fled from the sea, "as one flees from the beloved", but who will soon return to "sit by the sea and know it's the one on earth". Nystroem’s other symphonies, seldom played, are Sinfonia breve (1929-31), Symphony No. 4 (1952, originally entitled Sinfonia shakespeariana), Sinfonia seria (1962-63), and Sinfonia tramontana (1965).
Chronological worklist
- 1917 revised 1924 Rondo Capriccioso for violin & orchestra
- 1924 Regrets, 6 pieces for solo piano
- 1924-25 Arctic Ocean (Ishavet or La mer arctique), symphonic poem after an unfinished ballet
- 1925 Babel's Tower, symphonic poem
- 1929-30 Concerto for Strings 1
- 1929-31 Sinfonia Breve (Symphony 1)
- 1932-35 revised 1937 Sinfonia Espressiva (Symphony 2)
- 1934 The Tempest, incidental music to Shakespeare
- 1936 Merchant of Venice (Theatre Suite 4)
- 1940 Viola Concerto, Hommage à la France
- 1940-44 revised 1951-2 Sinfonia Concertante for cello & orchestra
- 1942 Songs by the Sea, five songs for voice with orchestra or piano
- 1945 Ouverture Symphonique
- 1946-48 Sinfonia del Mare (Symphony 3) after Ebba Lindqvist, for soprano & orchestra
- 1948 At the Reef, for voice & piano
- 1950 Soul & Landscape, three Ebba Lindqvist poems for soprano & piano
- 1952 Sinfonia Shakespeariana (Symphony 4)
- 1952 Ungersvennen och de sex Prinsessorna, ballet
- 1953 Partita for flute, string orchestra & harp
- 1954-57 Violin Concerto
- 1955 Concerto for Strings 2
- 1956 String Quartet
- 1958 Herr Arnes Penningar, opera based on a novel by Selma LagerlöfSelma LagerlöfSelma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ....
- 1959 Piano Concerto, Concerto Ricercante
- 195? Midsummer Dream, after Martinson, for soprano & piano
- 1962-63 Sinfonia Seria (Symphony 5)
- 1963 Sinfonia di Lontano
- 1965 Sinfonia Tramontana (Symphony 6)
- 19?? Sommarmusik for soprano & orchestra