Mikael Rasmusson wrote:

>>...  His [Leif Segerstam's] rather recent recording of Peterson-Berger
>>(Sym. 1 and 5) was nominated for a Swedish Grammy, an it's an outstanding
>>recording

Richard Pennycuick replies:

>I recall Don Satz was somewhat less than rapturous about Peterson->Berger's
2nd and my limited experience of minor late C19-early C20 >Swedish composers
(Lindberg, Norman) makes me more than usually >cautious about investigating
him, despite Mikael's recommendation (which >label is the CD, BTW?).

The label is Sterling, I can check the details at home, if you're
interested. I think Lindberg is OK, but Norman is slightly boring.

>I find much to admire in eg Alfven, Atterberg, Larsson, Stenhammar.  Would
>Don or someone care to "rank" Peterson-Berger in some way?

Alfven: A Swedish Richard Strauss, unfortunately it was too much Strauss
and not enough Alfven after the First World War.

Atterberg: Sounds too German to me.  Not so original.

Stenhammar: Reminds me (too much) of Rachmaninov (central European Late
Romanticism).  The 2nd Symphony is of course a masterpiece and the Serenade
is entertaining.  The 2nd Piano Concerto starts off well but then turns
Rach...

Larsson: Also an uneven Composer.

Peterson-Berger: Wrote 5 Symphonies (No 4 never recorded), 4 Operas (No
complete recordings), a number of Songs and Piano Works.  You might call
him a Swedish Grieg.  His musical language is original and what I would
call genuine Swedish.

His large-scale works may contain a moment or two of sudden loss of
inspiration, but to me he is No 1 in Sweden.

My ranking would be: Peterson-Berger, Rangstroem (have you heard of him?),
Berwald, Stenhammar, Alfven, Larsson, Atterberg.

Mikael Rasmusson <[log in to unmask]>