Hilding Rosenberg

[Symphonic Addict]

Interesting, thanks for the info. The last time I heard it on that Caprice recording, I confirmed that it is a choral masterpiece. Let's see (or hear) if the performance you mentioned is an improvement upon the other one.

[vandermolen]

There is a (fairly) modern recording of no.5 from Sveriges Radio that seems to get broadcast at least once a year.  It can currently be heard here:

https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1714723

starting about 27:30.  It is rather better than the composer's own recording on wax cylinders or whatever.

I don't think that it's there anymore. I'll have to search for the wax cylinders!

[DaveF]

I don't think that it's there anymore. I'll have to search for the wax cylinders!

Luckily, since I wrote the above, YouTube has been invented:

[Roy Bland]

Luckily, since I wrote the above, YouTube has been invented:

Sound quality is quite low sadly

[DaveF]

Sound quality is quite low sadly

I'm not sure I agree - yes, there is a noticeable 'off-air' hiss, but your only alternative is the 'Rosenberg conducts Rosenberg' to which @vandermolen is referring:

Now that, to my ears, is low sound quality!
(And yes, this wonderful work needs a modern recording.)

[Roy Bland]

I'm not sure I agree - yes, there is a noticeable 'off-air' hiss, but your only alternative is the 'Rosenberg conducts Rosenberg' to which @vandermolen is referring:

Now that, to my ears, is low sound quality!
(And yes, this wonderful work needs a modern recording.)

I actually have that disc, if we can't get a more recent performance, a good one would be enough a new mastering

[kyjo]

A vinyl rip of Blomstedt's live recording of no.4, never available on CD.  A good transfer, if a bit crackly.  To my ears, this is superior in every way to the Ehrling / Gothenburg version on CD - more urgent (6 or 7 minutes shorter overall), in more detailed and varied sound (paradoxically, for a live concert-hall recording from 1967) and with a soloist (Erik Sædén) who really gives shape and momentum to the sometimes rather long and wordy baritone-and-brass recitatives.  Anyone looking to sample should try the Beast section, about 2' into track 2 - terrifying!
https://archive.org/details/lp_johannes-uppenbarelse-symfoni-nr-4-for_hilding-rosenberg

Thanks for that, Dave! I listened to Rosenberg's 4th a few months ago in the Ehrling recording (which struck me as pretty satisfactory), and was quite positively impressed by it, especially the big dramatic moments with the chorus. I could do without so many baritone recitatives, though. If I'm not mistaken, this work draws upon the same subject matter as Franz Schmidt's The Book with the Seven Seals, in particular by depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in suitably threatening fashion. This symphony, along with his 5th (which I haven't yet heard), could really do with a high-quality modern recording, but I'm not holding my breath...

[DaveF]

Thanks for that, Dave! I listened to Rosenberg's 4th a few months ago in the Ehrling recording (which struck me as pretty satisfactory), and was quite positively impressed by it, especially the big dramatic moments with the chorus. I could do without so many baritone recitatives, though. If I'm not mistaken, this work draws upon the same subject matter as Franz Schmidt's The Book with the Seven Seals, in particular by depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in suitably threatening fashion. This symphony, along with his 5th (which I haven't yet heard), could really do with a high-quality modern recording, but I'm not holding my breath...

I agree the recits can go on a bit - although, as I said, Sædén seems to make much more dramatic sense of them than does Hagegård.  I don't know the Schmidt, although others have mentioned it in relation to Johannes Uppenbarelse as well, so I should have a listen.  I'm not sure, in fact, that the Four Horsemen appear in the Rosenberg, apart from perhaps in the penultimate chorale O syn av vita hästar, which could be about some other horses altogether - the really terrifying bit is the Beast of the Apocalypse ("Sexhundrasextiosex!").