Wilhelm Peterson-Berger: Violin Sonatas / Ulf Wallin, violin; Love Derwinger, piano

Recommendation

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger wrote music in many different forms, including operas, symphonic works, solo piano music, songs and chamber music. Many of these genres are currently not well represented on CD. This cpo album addresses one such area, the composer's delightful pieces for violin and piano. Performed by violinist Ulf Wallin and pianist Love Derwinger, the program is made up of the earliest of Peterson-Berger's three violin sonatas, a suite for violin and piano and two short pieces.

Peterson-Berger wrote all three of his violin sonatas between 1887 and 1910. His music is written in the romantic, nationalistic vein of the time, and is infused with a quintessential "Swedishness". The program opens with the major work on the CD, the Violin Sonata Op. 1 in E Minor. Written when the composer was only twenty years of age, it shows the strong influence of Edvard Grieg, but also of European romantic composers such as Schumann and Brahms. The second work, the Suite for Violin and Piano Op. 15 was written around the same time as some of the music for which Peterson-Berger is best known, the first of three volumes of his folk-influenced and very delightful Frösöblomster for solo piano. The violin suite has a lyrical and nostalgic character, remindful of those pieces.

The album concludes with two utterly disarming little works, each lasting less than three minutes, which are also the musical samples for this recommendation. The first is titled Canzone and the second, Visa i folkton (Folktune). They are fairly representatives all of the music here - even though some of it is considerably more animated - and it was quite impossible for me not to share these charmers with you. Enjoy!

Album Overview

Peterson-Berger’s Tonally Beautiful Sonatas

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger is known to many Swedes as the turn of the century’s leading musical authority. His symphonies released to date on cpo, however, present a compelling case on behalf of his music, which deserves full recognition beyond his native Sweden. Since it was not easy to have orchestral works performed toward the end of the nineteenth century, the genre of the violin sonata enjoyed extraordinary popularity around 1900 in Sweden. The fact that the young Peterson-Berger had not yet found his own style in his Sonata op. 1 is nothing unusual: the piece manifests elements from Grieg and influences from Sjögren, the leading Swedish poet of the time. Hardly any objections at all can be leveled against Peterson-Berger’s formal mastery. His developmental episodes are natural, and he has a fine sense of proportions. He was also able to strike a tone of folk character even before this became a part of him. In contrast, the music of the Suite op. 15 is a genuine Swedish piece and more folkloristic than the sonata. The composer had become more individual and more self-confident and had developed a deeper feeling for idyllic poetry. Surprises enriching every listening moment – interpreted by Wallin and Derwinger with verve and tonal beauty!

Source: cpo records

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger	Composer: Wilhelm Peterson-Berger Olof Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (27 February 1867, Ullånger, Ångermanland – 3 December 1942, Östersund) was a Swedish composer and music critic. As a composer, his main musical influences were Grieg, August Söderman and Wagner as well as Swedish folk idiom. He is best known for three albums of national romantic piano pieces entitled Frösöblomster I, II and III (Flowers of Frösö), which includes the often performed Vid Frösö kyrka (At Frösö Church) and Sommarsång (Summer Song). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Peterson-Berger
Ulf Wallin, violin	Ulf Wallin, violin The Swedish violinist, Ulf Wallin studied at the Royal University of Music in Stockholm and at the University of Music and Performing Art in Vienna. Since 1996 he has been a professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin. www.loddingkonsert.se/artist.asp?id=131
Love Derwinger, piano	Love Derwinger, piano “Love Derwinger is possibly the most original and interesting pianistic personality of his generation” wrote the music critic of Dagens Nyheter, a leading Swedish Daily newspaper. Born in 1966, Derwinger made his debut at 16, as soloist in Liszt´s second piano concerto. Since then he has given recitals throughout Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Middle East and South America. www.loddingkonsert.se/artist.asp?id=75

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