Kurt Atterberg (1887-1974)

[Roasted Swan]

A mesmerizing YouTube performance of probably Atterberg's most gorgeous creation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_jouKfyb8

"This video isn't available anymore"

[Maestro267]

Ah yes, Atterberg's masterpiece Den här videon är inte tillgänglig längre

[Symphonic Addict]

The only works I've seen that appear on live performances on YouTube are three of his concertos (cello, horn and piano, respectively):

Given the grandiosity and gorgeousness of the symphonies, I wonder why no orchestras have performed them and uploaded the videos of the concerts.

[Maestro267]

Yeah I would've thought this year would've been the year for an Atterberg revival, even a small one, it being the 50th anniversary of his death and all.

[Symphonic Addict]

Yesterday I finished my traversal of his symphonies with the 9th 'Sinfonia visionaria'. I was curious to hear it again to find out if my perception was going to be more positive or negative this time. First of all, the piece in question has a form more like a cantata than a proper symphony, so we should be prepared to judge it differently and expect another sort of development of ideas (at least it worked in my experience). Atterberg took inspiration from an ancient nordic legend referring to how evil will lead the world to destruction, so accordingly the climate of the piece resembles a dark, brooding, yet somewhat austere nature/demeanor. Atterberg disliked atonality and dodecaphony, so he used a twelve-tone motive to evoke evil (very clever) and a more dissonant language overall, but not all the piece goes on that line and it maintains tonal elements along its duration. I consider that he partly succeeded at recreating a fatalistic argument with the human voices and the orchestra imprinting sinister, mysterious passages, but somehow the music doesn't reach significative or crucial moments where one says "wow, that was spectacular" and there were not instances with a satisfying tautness-relaxation contrast. I was expecting several real powerful moments, but they never materialized properly.

The recording I listened to was that on Chandos with Järvi et al. It helped that it's a quicker rendition than the CPO one under Rasilainen (34 min. vs 40 min.). Well, having said that, I must say that the work grew on me, but it does have its flaws.

After this revisitation, my order of preference of all his symphonies is like this:

3, 5, 2, 6, 1, 8, for strings, 7, 4 and 9.

I remember having said that I had lost a little of interest in he 3rd and I think it had to do with listening to the Caprice recording which I find a little underwhelming. Listening to the CPO recording, my love for that stellar creation has grown again and remains alive in my dearest preferences.