Hugo Alfvén - Works for Mixed Choir a cappella (Erik Westbergs vokalensemble)

Information

Composer: Hugo Alfvén

1. Papillon
2. Stemning
3. En visa om Barnens Ö på Barnens Dag
4. Taltrasten
5. Anders, han var en hurtiger dräng
6. Julhymn
7. Klang min vackra bjällra
8. Julsång
9. Som stjärnan uppå himmelen så klar
10. Herr Olof i älvornas dans
11. Tjuv och tjuv, det ska du heta
12. Duvans sång på liljekvist
13. Vallvisa från Älvdalen; Limu, limu, limaa
14. Uti vår hage
15. Rosor och violer
16. Å inte vill jag sörja
17. Vedergällningen
18. Vaggvisa
19. Aftonen
20. Och jungfrun hon går i ringen

Erik Westbergs vokalensemble

Erik Westbergs, conductor

Date: 2022

Label: NaxosSweden - Swedish Society

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=SCD1187

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Review

This disc, issued to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Hugo Alfvén, was for me a trip down Memory Lane and a voyage of discovery. As an avid choral singer since my mid-twenties – both in mixed choirs and male choirs – I have been singing many of these songs in both capacities. Alfvén very often composed or arranged his songs for both types of choirs, since for many years he led his mixed Siljan Choir in the Province of Dalecarlia, where in time he settled permanently and, as Director Musices at Uppsala University, led two men's choirs weekly. For Swedish choirs, Alfvén’s songs are the bread and butter of the repertoire, and most choral singers with some experience know them by heart.

All the goodies are here, Papillon, Stemning, Aftonen and the ever popular folk song adaptations, of which Uti vår hage is the one everyone knows. The light and airy Papillon also lends its name to the whole collection and is on the cover image illustrated by the Common Brimstone, which was in 2022 voted Sweden’s national butterfly. Stemning, one of the noblest choral compositions that I know, is a setting of a Danish text, written first for male choir and then for mixed choir, but it also exists in a version for string orchestra with choir ad libitum. Aftonen, on the other hand, was first written for mixed choir and is dedicated to the Siljan Choir and probably premiered by them. The nocturnal atmosphere is so marvellously tangible, and anyone who has ever walked in the Swedish woods at sunset will feel at home.

A similar atmosphere also reigns in the little herding song Limu, limu, lima, arranged by Alfvén as early as 1923 for Leksands hembygdskör, a predecessor to the Siljan Choir. Also Som stjärnan uppå himmelen så klar is in the same vein. It was arranged as late as 1952 for the Siljan Choir by an 80-year-old Hugo Alfvén, beautiful and simple with solo soprano accompanied con bocca chiusa by the choir. Terese Antonsson is the excellent soloist, as she is in a couple of other songs. Several of the other folk songs are dances, lively and sometimes burlesque. And the highlight is probably the concluding number of the programme, Och jungfrun hon går i ringen with a dramatic crescendo towards the end, where there is contrapuntal shooting with fifteen shotguns in the last stanza. A riveting finale! Even for readers with little or no connections with Alfvén’s music – or Swedish music on the whole – all these pieces should be easily appreciated, irrespective of nationality, and the excellent liner notes are also helpful.

But for me this was also a voyage of discovery, insofar as there are no less than six World Premiere Recordings. Something of a curiosity is En visa om Barnens Ö. In 1923 Alfvén got a commission to write a choral piece for Children’s Day, an activity to get funds for summer camp activities in the archipelago outside Stockholm. Uniquely he wrote it for children’s choir and men’s choir. It is a beautiful piece, simple but melodious. The ladies of the vocal ensemble sing the children’s parts on their own and are then joined by the men.

Taltrasten is a setting of a poem by the Dalecarlian poet Kerstin Hed. This folk music inspired song depicts the song thrush, which in Ms Hed’s words is “our local nightingale”. A charming song.

Julhymn (Christmas Hymn) was composed in 1909, but it is based on a solo song that Alfvén wrote the previous year. It is not known whether he intended to rework it to a choral piece from the beginning. To me it seems to be a valuable addition to the Christmas repertoire.

Klang, min vackra bjällra is a well-known song with text by Zacharias Topelius, who wrote the text to a folk song, which Johan Fredrik Berwald, cousin of Franz, had used in a play.

Herr Olof i älvornas dans is a medieval ballad, that Alfvén found in the collection “Swedish Folk Songs from Ancient Times.” From the same collection is also Duvans sång på liljekvist, beautifully sung by Terese Antonsson, who also, together with Andreas E. Olsson, is soloist in Vedergällningen, again from this collection. It has obviously been recorded before, but was unknown to me.

Throughout the singing of Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble is superb with pinpoint intonation and a flair for the rhythmic felicities in the dance oriented songs. The mix of all the best of Alfvén’s standard works and a good handful of premiere recordings, should make this disc an obligatory buy for general music lovers and specialist trainspotters alike. A very desirable tribute to the Alfvén celebrations.

-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

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Hugo Alfvén (May 1, 1872 – May 8, 1960) was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter. Alfvén became known as one of Sweden's principal composers of his time, together with his contemporary Wilhelm Stenhammar. Alfvén's music is in a late-Romantic idiom. His orchestration is skillful and colorful, reminiscent of that of Richard Strauss. Like Strauss, Alfvén wrote a considerable amount of program music. Some of Alfvén's music evokes the landscape of Sweden. Alfvén played violin at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, toured Europe as a conductor throughout his life, and also a talented watercolorist painter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Alfvén

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Lars "Erik" Westberg (born 1 September 1956 in Stockholm) is a Swedish conductor and professor in music performance. He studied choral conducting with Eric Ericson at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm 1976–1987. Westberg has been the leader of numerous choirs, including the YMCA choir in Stockholm and the Oslo Philharmonic choir. In 2018 he was appointed conductor of the Swedish Youth Choir. With the Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble he has premiered over sixty works and made more than twenty recordings. Since 1990, Westberg has primarily worked at Luleå University of Technology/School of Music in Piteå.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Westberg

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The Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble was formed in 1993 and consists of 16–20 singers. The members of the Ensemble work as soloists, church musicians and music teachers and come from northern Sweden and Finland. The Ensemble has commissioned and premiered about 60 works by composers such as Gunnar Eriksson, Paula af Malmborg Ward, Tebogo Monnakgotla, Jan Sandström, Sven-David Sandström, Carl Unander Scharin and Arvo Pärt. The Ensemble has undertaken over 30 international tours and has made 15 CDs issued by the record companies Opus3, Studio Acusticum Records and Naxos.

https://www.vokalensemblen.se/

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