Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927), was a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
conductorConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
and
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
.
Stenhammar was born in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
, where he received his first musical education. He then went to
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
to further his studies in music. He became a glowing admirer of German music, particularly that of
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
and
Anton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. His symphonies are often considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
. Stenhammar himself described the style of his First Symphony in F major as "idyllic Bruckner".
Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927), was a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
conductorConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
and
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
.
Biography
Stenhammar was born in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
, where he received his first musical education. He then went to
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
to further his studies in music. He became a glowing admirer of German music, particularly that of
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
and
Anton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. His symphonies are often considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
. Stenhammar himself described the style of his First Symphony in F major as "idyllic Bruckner". He subsequently sought to emancipate himself and write in a more "Nordic" style, looking to
Carl NielsenCarl August Nielsen was a composer, conductor, and violinist from Denmark. His works have long been well known in Denmark and they have been "a mainstay throughout the Nordic countries and, to a lesser extent, in Britain," noted the critic Alex Ross in 2008 in The New Yorker, and rising young...
and
Jean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity....
for guidance. The latter's
Symphony No. 2Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 43 was started in winter 1900 in Rapallo, Italy, and finished in 1902 in Finland. It was first performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on 8 March 1902 with the composer conducting...
, 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, 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 UniversityUppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded as early as 1477, it is the oldest such institution in the Nordic countries, and for centuries has been one of Europe's most renowned seats of learning....
, where he was succeeded in the following year by
Hugo Alfvénwas a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.- Violinist :Alfvén was born in Stockholm and studied at the Music Conservatory there from 1887 to 1891 with the violin as his main instrument, receiving lessons from Lars Zetterquist. He also took private composition lessons from Johan...
.
Wilhelm Stenhammar died of a
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
at 56 years of age in
JonseredJonsered is a locality situated in Partille Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 928 inhabitants in 2005....
in the historic province of
Västergötland' is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
. He is buried in Gothenburg.
Work
His works were quite varied and included the two symphonies, a substantial
SerenadeIn music, a serenade is, in its most general sense, a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. There are three general categories of serenade in music history....
for Orchestra, two
piano concertoA piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
s, four
piano sonataA piano sonata is a sonata written for unaccompanied piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although piano sonatas have been written with one movement , two movements , five or even more movements...
s, a
violin sonataA violin sonata is a musical composition for solo violin, which is nearly always accompanied by a piano or other keyboard instrument, or by figured bass in the Baroque period.-List of Violin sonatas:*Ella Adaïewsky...
, six
string quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, many songs and other vocal works, including several large-scale works for chorus or voices and orchestra (the early
balladA ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative and set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later North America, Australia and North Africa. Many...
"Florez och Blanzeflor" op. 3 written around 1891, "Ithaka" op. 21 from 1904, the
cantataA cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and often containing more than one movement.-Historical context:...
s
Ett folk (
A people) from 1905 and
Sången (
The song) op. 44 from 1921.
Writing in The
Chamber Music JournalThe Chamber Music Journal is published by The Cobbett Association for Chamber Music Research.It is a quarterly periodical devoted exclusively to non-standard, rare or unknown chamber music of merit. . ISSN 1535 1726. It is considered one of the leading chamber music reference sources in English...
, R.H.R. Silvertrust notes 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 musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
public, his string quartets have been sadly neglected elsewhere. In 2009
Edition SilvertrustEdition Silvertrust is a U.S. publisher of chamber music. Founded by R.H.R. Silvertrust, Editor of The Chamber Music Journal and President of The International Cobbett Association for Chamber Music Research....
published the world premiere edition of his Allegro Brillante for
piano quartetA piano quartet is a musical ensemble consisting of a piano and three other instruments, or a piece written for such a group. In classical music, those other instruments are usually a string trio, that is a violin, viola and cello....
composed in 1891.
Stenhammar was considered the finest Swedish
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
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 QuartetTor Aulin was a Swedish violinist, conductor and composer. Aulin studied music at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and then in the Conservatory of Berlin with Émile Sauret and Philipp Scharwenka. From 1889 to 1892 Aulin served as concertmaster of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm...
, 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 quintetA piano quintet is a chamber musical ensemble made up of one piano and four other instruments or a piece written for such a group.The most common grouping is one piano, two violins, a viola, and a cello—that is, a piano with a string quartet...
was nearly always featured on their programs. Thus it is no accident that his quartets show a fine grasp of instrumental
timbreNot to be confused with timber.In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that mediate the perception of timbre include spectrum and envelope...
and technique. The part writing is sure, always idiomatic and evenly distributed.
Stenhammar is also the name of the summer residence of the Swedish king. It is situated outside the town of Flen about 120 kilometers south of Stockholm.
List of compositions
- 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-flat 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)
- Opera and 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)
- Allegro ma non tanto in A Major for Piano Trio (1895)
- Allegro Brillante in E flat Major for Piano Quartet (1891)
- 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 Fantasies, Opus 11 (1895)
- “Late Summer”, 5 pieces of Opus 33(1914)
External links
See also: List of Swedes in music, List of classical music composers