Gösta Nystroem (1890-1966), an unjustly forgotten Swede

[kyjo]

Me like Stockhausen? Umm...I don't think so. Like I said, nobody will dethrone Shostakovich. I feel a strong kinship with his music that goes well beyond merely 'liking' his music.

It was a joke.......

[Moonfish]

*bump*

Just started to explore Nystroem's music via YouTube ("Ishavet"). This prompted further inquiry into the available BIS recordings...
Picked up:



https://www.youtube.com/v/3AMUvyvr8vA

[Moonfish]

Thanks for this thread, Kyle. I need to familiarize myself with Nystroem's music. I own all of the BIS recordings of his music and haven't heard a note of it (yet). Where should I start?

Just curious! Did you inherit all the BIS recordings? It just seems peculiar (at the time) that you owned them all, but hadn't listened to them....?  After all, BIS releases are generally expensive, OOP and/or single disks.

[Moonfish]

I just listened to "Songs by the Sea" for the first time and was very impressed. Fantastic!!!!!   Beautiful lyrics (especially as I understand what she is singing which makes quite a difference) and filled with Mahlerian/Straussian streaks. It was haunting and delicate, a tonal web that greatly appeals to me. The strings are whispering so evocatively as Helle-Kant's voice unfolds the power of the seascape. It is strange that I never have heard his music before. I will definitely return to these songs - as a matter of fact I will give it another listen right now!!!!   

Nystroem: Songs by the Sea (Sånger vid havet)           Charlotte Helle Kant/Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Svetlanov

https://www.youtube.com/v/nmZVfo2zIlI

[springrite]

Thanks for this thread, Kyle. I need to familiarize myself with Nystroem's music. I own all of the BIS recordings of his music and haven't heard a note of it (yet). Where should I start?

If you do what I'd do, which is to "start anywhere", you would have finished by now!

[Karl Henning]

If you do what I'd do, which is to "start anywhere", you would have finished by now!

(* chortle *)

[ibanezmonster]

https://www.youtube.com/v/3AMUvyvr8vA

That was great. Would have been a nice addition to my forgotten Swedish composers thread that I had a few years ago.

[Moonfish]

That was great. Would have been a nice addition to my forgotten Swedish composers thread that I had a few years ago.

Yeah, "Ishavet" surprised me as well! I was not quite expecting to like it so much. What did you like about it?

I have to dig up your thread (is it on the old board?).

[ibanezmonster]

Yeah, "Ishavet" surprised me as well! I was not quite expecting to like it so much. What did you like about it?

I liked the big, mysterious sound.

I have to dig up your thread (is it on the old board?).

I forgot what an awesome poll I made it to be. 

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,6311.0.html

Seems Nystroem actually was mentioned on that thread.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,6311.msg151929.html#msg151929

[North Star]

Don't even try to deny that the reason for resurrecting this thread is this, Peter 

Like I said, nobody will dethrone Shostakovich. I feel a strong kinship with his music that goes well beyond merely 'liking' his music.

[Moonfish]

Don't even try to deny that the reason for resurrecting this thread is this, Peter 

Karlo,
How.....how....did you know..?   

[Mirror Image]

Just curious! Did you inherit all the BIS recordings? It just seems peculiar (at the time) that you owned them all, but hadn't listened to them....?  After all, BIS releases are generally expensive, OOP and/or single disks.

Hey Peter, I didn't inherit the Nystroem BIS recordings (although that would certainly have been nice). I bought most of them used and for good prices, so, while I didn't know much about this composer's music, it seemed like too good to pass up. Unfortunately, I still haven't really explored Nystroem's music. I've heard a few works but don't remember them now as it's been quite some time since I've heard anything.

[Moonfish]

Hey Peter, I didn't inherit the Nystroem BIS recordings (although that would certainly have been nice). I bought most of them used and for good prices, so, while I didn't know much about this composer's music, it seemed like too good to pass up. Unfortunately, I still haven't really explored Nystroem's music. I've heard a few works but don't remember them now as it's been quite some time since I've heard anything.

Ahh, I see, a collector by habit then...?     Some deals are too hard to refuse!
As I gaze on the growing piles of music I completely understand. Regardless, I would love to know your impressions of Nystroem's "Ishavet" whenever you get the opportunity.

[vandermolen]

The Sinfonia del Mare is a beautiful work, which I often listen to. I have three CD recordings of it.

[Mirror Image]

The Sinfonia del Mare is a beautiful work, which I often listen to. I have three CD recordings of it.

This, too, is a work I return to even after not listening to any other Nystroem work. I can say with confidence this is one of my favorite Swedish works. It even made my own 'Top 10 Favorite Nordic Works' list. Of the three performances you own, which one is your favorite, Jeffrey?

[vandermolen]

This, too, is a work I return to even after not listening to any other Nystroem work. I can say with confidence this is one of my favorite Swedish works. It even made my own 'Top 10 Favorite Nordic Works' list. Of the three performances you own, which one is your favorite, Jeffrey?

I enjoy all three versions John but probably this one is my favourite:
[asin]B00004UUUC[/asin]
I don't really listen to any other Nystroem work either.

[Mirror Image]

I enjoy all three versions John but probably this one is my favourite:
[asin]B00004UUUC[/asin]
I don't really listen to any other Nystroem work either.

Very nice, Jeffrey.

[pjme]

Ebba Helfrid Lindqvist -Galéen , born April 7, 1908, in Oscar Fredrik parish, Gothenburg, grew up in Grebbestad, dead 5 September 1995 in Varberg, was a Swedish writer (poet). She studied for a Master's degree in Uppsala and became a Swedish teacher at Göteborg upper secondary school for girls. Married in 1933 with business school graduate Ivar Galéen and eventually had three children. Poetry critic at Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning (Gothenburg, Trade and Shipping Gazette) from 1949 to 1956. In Grebbestad, Tanum Municipality has established the memorial garden Ebba Lindqvist's Place with a bust by Per Agelii.
Her debut was in 1931 with the collection of poems Jord och rymd (Earth and Space), but her real breakthrough came with Fiskläge (The Fishing Village, 1939) depicting life in the Bohuslän archipelago.

Det enda

Såsom man flyr från den älskade,
inte orkar förtäras i ett, i ett,
så har jag flytt från havet.

.....

"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".


Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebba_Lindqvist

....

In 1939 Lindqvist's husband and then Ebba Lindqvist herself with their two children moved to New York. They dared not stay in Sweden during World War II, as her husband was of Jewish descent. Lindqvist's impressions of New York were recorded in Manhattan in 1943 and in the short story collection Vägen till Jeriko (The Road to Jericho) 1946. After the war the family moved back to Gothenburg and had their third child. After a few years they left Sweden again, since her husband was placed overseas in his work. They lived a while in Lebanon and then in Nairobi. In 1958 the poetry collection Karavan was published, with designs from the Near East.
In 1964 Resa mellan fyra väggar (Journey between four walls) came out, whose motifs are largely taken from the Bible. The last collection of poems, Mässa för måsar (Mass for Gulls) appeared in 1966.

Many of Ebba Lindqvist's poems have been set to music. Composer Gosta Nystroem's Sinfonia del mare is built around his setting of Lindqvist's poem Det enda. Other composers who have set Lindqvist's poems to music are Torsten Sörenson, Ake Hermansson, Alfred Janson, Maurice Karkoff, Lars Edlund, Hilding Hallnäs, Martin Bagge, Vivan Myhrwold Lassen and Henrik Mossberg.

[lescamil]

I finally got my wish and there is now a recording of Nystroem's Concerto Ricercante.

http://www.capriccio.at/henning-mankell-piano-concerto-op-30

I just finished listening to it and it received a superb performance from Anna Christensson and company. It's an excellent post-romantic work with touches of modernism here and there and it has some great piano writing. A shame he didn't do more for the instrument.

[cilgwyn]

Thanks for this thread, Kyle. I need to familiarize myself with Nystroem's music. I own all of the BIS recordings of his music and haven't heard a note of it (yet). Where should I start?

This isn't the first time I've heard this from you MI! I just wish I had a load of cd's I hadn't listened to yet. As soon as they drop through the letterbox it's almost as if I can't wait to load them into the cd drawer. Either the quantity of cd's arriving is so large it takes you months to wade through them,or you are simply made of very stern stuff indeed and can keep your hands away from those pristine,shiny,shrink wrapped jewel cases ?!! Or maybe,you just like to take your time,absorbing and contemplating the contents of each cd in turn,before you move onto the next one?!!