Hello Dave today I listened to my playlist of the Berwald Symphonies and other stuff conducted by Okko Kamu on Naxos (I also added the Sakari Tone Poems Disc to the list) then I thought didn't Dave mention this cycle in one of his videos so I was glad to rediscover this video about the 3rd symphony and that you used samples from this recording. And today it is exactly four years that you uploaded this video - unbelievable! Berwald seems to me sometimes a little bit like "Nielsen light", he has a distinctive nordic voice of his own but he shares a certain amount of the "Beethovenian muscularity" you always mention when it comes to Nielsen.
My first exposure to Berwald’s third was a live recording of Celibidache conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on EMI great conductors of the 20th century series. Like it a lot!
That Markevitch album with the Schubert was my first introduction to Berwald! And thank you for the Markevitch insider information! I really do hope they're complete collections.
Berwald’s symphonies are wonderful, thanks mainly to the fact the composer had such unique language and style. They’re almost odd! The 2nd symphony is surely the weakest of the four, but it’s still charming despite of its dreary repetitions. I find the Bjorlin set better than Kamu’s - it’s slightly livelier, it was better recorded and the Royal Philhamonic sounds way sharper and preciser than the Helsingborg orchestra. Bjorlin’s 1st is particularly wonderful.
I was introduced to Berwald with Ehrling's old Decca recordings with the LSO. Many regard these as their reference recordings, but his later recordings on (BIS) are definitely better recorded. I just cannot think of Berwald without thinking of Ehrling. Great video again.
My first exposure to this symphony was on a Nonesuch LP. I seem to recall that the liner notes said something about Berlioz praising him. I could easily be wrong.
Thank you for the great reviews! I may be imagining things but I have always heard a reference to Berwald's theme from the adagio (and that you hear again in the finale) about a minute into Sibelius's 7th.
Just noting a coincidence, but I'd never heard of Berwald until two week ago. His Grand Septet was coupled to another piece, and I had no idea who wrote it until it was over. It's fun discovering a Composer like that--realizing you've enjoyed something and then finding out it's by someone you've never heard of who wrote other good stuff.
Perhaps superfluous, but all the recordings David mentioned are on Spotify, including the Ehrling. That set also includes a wonderful Konzerstück for bassoon that is quite rare.
Not sure if I remember Berlioz praising him (could be), but I do seem to remember Mendelssohn did not like him; he found him rather arrogant! Since the Nonesuch days, I have extravagantly loved this music. You have given a very good practical musical primer on perhaps why his orchestration lends such an individual flavor to the symphonies. I have always, very subjectively, found him an artistic brother of Schumann (not as consistently good, or as 'great', but just as 'romantic' in tone and feeling, with a personally distinct tonal or color-istic musical world). Once heard, this Symphony haunts your musical memory, as I feel all great ones do. Ironic, for example, that someone Mendelssohn DID like, Gade, (IMAO), produced little that really is that interesting or memorable for my casual classical ear. Recently, thanks to this video, Dave, I have found a Berwald I had not known existed; the early 1820's or so chamber composer. Delightful works, that stand up unashamedly with many of his more illustrious contemporary! I thank you as my wallet lightens...
@@Ace-dv5ce Likely, Berlioz did not really know him. No evidence they ever met, or that Berlioz ever heard a note of his music, considering he was in Paris while Berwald's few performances were elsewhere, and he was not widely published in his lifetime. Liszt has many musical detractors, but one thing no one can deny him was his generous praise and support of many artists in his day...
@@bloodgrss Indeed. I wonder what Berwald could’ve achieved if he wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time, cause quietly frankly that’s a big hallmark, along with many others you can name that he didn’t quite reach success as an artist in his lifetime. As a Swede I ponder this a bit, I do appreciate some things my country has done though like naming a concert hall after him. I suspect it had more to do with Sweden wanting their own Sibelius or Grieg or Nielsen though if I’m totally honest.
@@Ace-dv5ce You are right; how many artists or musicians would have achieved more had they been more appreciated in their day! Berlioz himself, having stirred up virulent opposition to his music and goals, even dreamt of a symphony one night, only to abandon it through no hope of it being accepted, and the cost in emotional energy and real money he did not easily have to present it. Very sad... Prior to the late 19th century, the influence of German and Italian aesthetics in music, dominated all European compositional language. Berwald was still prone to this, tho' he was one of the first perhaps to have uniquely 'Nordic' flavors to his work. It did take Grieg and Sibelius to forge a more clear path. But, if Berwald does not rate a whole concert hall in his name like them, at least a chamber music annex? He wrote some wonderful works for smaller forces. You may be the man to make it happen, Ace! All the best...
My initiation, many years ago, with Berwald was via a live recording of the third symphony with Celibidache. Very sparse sound, on what was probably a meager piece of recording equipment, (as most Celibidache ‘recordings’ are,) and the woodwinds were not so scintillating as Berwald’s score demands them to be. But the excitement, the electricity in the music hooked me! I was a sworn fan of his unique music ever since.
Bom Cabedal LOL! I was so young and naïve then, that I wasn’t aware of Celi’s propensities for long, drawn out performances. The set featured no Bruckner, so there was no hint of that languor. Actually, the Berwald performance, if memory serves me this morning, is swift and well paced, in that recording. The sound may be pallid, but the effect is pretty effective. Check it out!
My first exposure to Berwald's music was courtesy of a roommate's LP collection as an undergrad in 1975. Two recordings: the Serieuse and Singuliere (numbered as No. 2) coupled on a Nonesuch disc with Schmidt-Isserstedt and the Stockholm Phil., and a pairing of the Singuliere with No. 4 on an earlier Ehrling recording with the London Symphony. I haven't heard either recording in decades; I don't remember the S-I as being paticularly memorable, but I recall the EhrlingLSO as being quite good. Would be interested in knowing your take on those.
I too made acquaintance with Berwald through an impulse purchase of the Nonesuch around 1970. Listened to the first few bars - so wonderfully atmospheric - and was completely hooked. I found the Ehrling equally good, but thought the Markevitch did not catch the mystery so well. I am now content with the Kamu CDs and a whole stack of other Naxos Berwald discs!
@@michaelgriffiths9950 There are certainly many more options available now. Bjorlin's set (originally on Seraphim LPs in the U.S.) contained some nice performances, although the Royal Phil. didn't seem totally in sync with the music. I know that Jarvi's set on DGG has received it's share of criticism, and some feel that he doesn't "get" Berwald, but I've always had great affection for these performances since they appeared in the mid '80's. Ehrling's set on Bis is supposedly the Rosetta stone according to some, but I've always been a bit disappointed with it; it doesn't have the sparkle of his earlier LSO recordings.
Berwald was a very fine colorist, and like all great colorists, really knew how to use woodwinds to great effect. I haven’t listened to his music in some time, but I will put this symphony on soon, probably starting with Markevich. I don’t remember what recording I heard first, I’m guessing it’s one of your “baddies,” so hopefully I’ll like a goodie even more.
A little off-topic, but there is another substantial symphonist from the time period Berwald inhabited - Franz Lachner! Have you discussed him yet in any context? Your insights on this stodgy fellow of a composer would be interesting to hear in a future video! If you like - and if your ears can take a computer rendition - you'll find in my channel a "recording" of his yet unpublished and unrecorded 4th that I have recreated from his autograph and typeset via notation software.
Delightful. The Symphonie singulière is such a good piece. Thanks for some interesting recommendations. It's a shame that Ehrling's LSO Decca recording seems never to have made it to CD as it's a terrific performance. Also love Markevitch, but I must now go and try Kamu - don't know that record at all.
Sixten Ehrling was famous for his bristling comments and sardonic humor. Here is a wonderfully hilarious list that musicians of the Detroit Symphony compiled while Ehrling was their MD. Enjoy... www.grahamnasby.com/misc/musichumour_sixten-ehrling-quotations.shtml
A great symphony! I’m glad to hear the sample from Kamu...to me the orchestration is so transparent. Regarding Herbert Blomstedt, at least there’s a video: www.konserthuset.se/en/play/berwald-sinfonie-singulière/
My exposure to Berwald is a fondly remembered recording of Symphonies 1 and 3 with the Royal Stockholm Phil and Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt on a Nonesuch LP. Do you know it? I’m wondering if it ever made it to CD. M
If you want Blomstedt/RSPO, there is a recorded concert in superb sound@ www.konserthuset.se/en/play/berwald-sinfonie-singulière/. Plenty of woodwind in this version. The bassoon player is so focused and intense. Worth a watch
Wikipedia: Maestro Ehrling's difficult personality was overshadowed only by his wit. "Someone once told me I was not difficult, I was impossible. I agreed," he confided to Detroit Free Press music critic John Guinn, 7/1/90. He told his American publicist that he preferred reading his reviews in the smallest room of his house, and brilliantly interwove business arrangements with extremely humorous observations. In his final interview with Guinn, he noted that "They had a ceremony In Sweden for my birthday recently, and the man giving the birthday tribute had a great line. 'Mr. Ehrling nowadays is not angry,' he said. Then he paused, 'All the time,' he added."
David - I find your videos both informative and entertaining. I'm almost holding my breath waiting for your "HOWEVER!" utterance!
Hello Dave today I listened to my playlist of the Berwald Symphonies and other stuff conducted by Okko Kamu on Naxos (I also added the Sakari Tone Poems Disc to the list) then I thought didn't Dave mention this cycle in one of his videos so I was glad to rediscover this video about the 3rd symphony and that you used samples from this recording. And today it is exactly four years that you uploaded this video - unbelievable! Berwald seems to me sometimes a little bit like "Nielsen light", he has a distinctive nordic voice of his own but he shares a certain amount of the "Beethovenian muscularity" you always mention when it comes to Nielsen.
My first exposure to Berwald’s third was a live recording of Celibidache conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on EMI great conductors of the 20th century series. Like it a lot!
This has been a favourite of mine ever since I heard it as a schoolboy. Even made my student orchestra play it, and I didn’t regret it.
That Markevitch album with the Schubert was my first introduction to Berwald! And thank you for the Markevitch insider information! I really do hope they're complete collections.
I have the DG recording by Neeme Järvi with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. That seems pretty solid to me. I love this composer as well.
I have the Jari also and I really like it, so there Dave.
Berwald’s symphonies are wonderful, thanks mainly to the fact the composer had such unique language and style. They’re almost odd! The 2nd symphony is surely the weakest of the four, but it’s still charming despite of its dreary repetitions.
I find the Bjorlin set better than Kamu’s - it’s slightly livelier, it was better recorded and the Royal Philhamonic sounds way sharper and preciser than the Helsingborg orchestra. Bjorlin’s 1st is particularly wonderful.
I was introduced to Berwald with Ehrling's old Decca recordings with the LSO. Many regard these as their reference recordings, but his later recordings on (BIS) are definitely better recorded. I just cannot think of Berwald without thinking of Ehrling. Great video again.
Agreed - that is the set I had
My first exposure to this symphony was on a Nonesuch LP. I seem to recall that the liner notes said something about Berlioz praising him. I could easily be wrong.
Thank you for the great reviews! I may be imagining things but I have always heard a reference to Berwald's theme from the adagio (and that you hear again in the finale) about a minute into Sibelius's 7th.
Just noting a coincidence, but I'd never heard of Berwald until two week ago. His Grand Septet was coupled to another piece, and I had no idea who wrote it until it was over. It's fun discovering a Composer like that--realizing you've enjoyed something and then finding out it's by someone you've never heard of who wrote other good stuff.
Interesting!
Perhaps superfluous, but all the recordings David mentioned are on Spotify, including the Ehrling. That set also includes a wonderful Konzerstück for bassoon that is quite rare.
Blomstedt performed the 3rd with the Berlin PO, and it's available on their "Digital Concert Hall" - it wasn't as compelling as I hoped it would be.
I love this symphony! I have the Kammu - love it
Not sure if I remember Berlioz praising him (could be), but I do seem to remember Mendelssohn did not like him; he found him rather arrogant! Since the Nonesuch days, I have extravagantly loved this music. You have given a very good practical musical primer on perhaps why his orchestration lends such an individual flavor to the symphonies. I have always, very subjectively, found him an artistic brother of Schumann (not as consistently good, or as 'great', but just as 'romantic' in tone and feeling, with a personally distinct tonal or color-istic musical world). Once heard, this Symphony haunts your musical memory, as I feel all great ones do. Ironic, for example, that someone Mendelssohn DID like, Gade, (IMAO), produced little that really is that interesting or memorable for my casual classical ear. Recently, thanks to this video, Dave, I have found a Berwald I had not known existed; the early 1820's or so chamber composer. Delightful works, that stand up unashamedly with many of his more illustrious contemporary! I thank you as my wallet lightens...
I know Liszt praised him highly for his originality and inventiveness, don’t know about Berlioz though.
@@Ace-dv5ce Likely, Berlioz did not really know him. No evidence they ever met, or that Berlioz ever heard a note of his music, considering he was in Paris while Berwald's few performances were elsewhere, and he was not widely published in his lifetime. Liszt has many musical detractors, but one thing no one can deny him was his generous praise and support of many artists in his day...
@@bloodgrss Indeed. I wonder what Berwald could’ve achieved if he wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time, cause quietly frankly that’s a big hallmark, along with many others you can name that he didn’t quite reach success as an artist in his lifetime.
As a Swede I ponder this a bit, I do appreciate some things my country has done though like naming a concert hall after him. I suspect it had more to do with Sweden wanting their own Sibelius or Grieg or Nielsen though if I’m totally honest.
@@Ace-dv5ce You are right; how many artists or musicians would have achieved more had they been more appreciated in their day! Berlioz himself, having stirred up virulent opposition to his music and goals, even dreamt of a symphony one night, only to abandon it through no hope of it being accepted, and the cost in emotional energy and real money he did not easily have to present it. Very sad...
Prior to the late 19th century, the influence of German and Italian aesthetics in music, dominated all European compositional language. Berwald was still prone to this, tho' he was one of the first perhaps to have uniquely 'Nordic' flavors to his work. It did take Grieg and Sibelius to forge a more clear path. But, if Berwald does not rate a whole concert hall in his name like them, at least a chamber music annex? He wrote some wonderful works for smaller forces. You may be the man to make it happen, Ace! All the best...
I had thought the Symphony No. 4 had been titled Symphonie Naïve.
Yeah, I think it was but Berwald retracted the name later. Not sure.
My initiation, many years ago, with Berwald was via a live recording of the third symphony with Celibidache. Very sparse sound, on what was probably a meager piece of recording equipment, (as most Celibidache ‘recordings’ are,) and the woodwinds were not so scintillating as Berwald’s score demands them to be. But the excitement, the electricity in the music hooked me! I was a sworn fan of his unique music ever since.
Wow, a Celibidache Berwald.... did it last for an hour or so?
Bom Cabedal LOL! I was so young and naïve then, that I wasn’t aware of Celi’s propensities for long, drawn out performances. The set featured no Bruckner, so there was no hint of that languor. Actually, the Berwald performance, if memory serves me this morning, is swift and well paced, in that recording. The sound may be pallid, but the effect is pretty effective. Check it out!
My first exposure to Berwald's music was courtesy of a roommate's LP collection as an undergrad in 1975. Two recordings: the Serieuse and Singuliere (numbered as No. 2) coupled on a Nonesuch disc with Schmidt-Isserstedt and the Stockholm Phil., and a pairing of the Singuliere with No. 4 on an earlier Ehrling recording with the London Symphony. I haven't heard either recording in decades; I don't remember the S-I as being paticularly memorable, but I recall the EhrlingLSO as being quite good. Would be interested in knowing your take on those.
They have been retired permanently.
I too made acquaintance with Berwald through an impulse purchase of the Nonesuch around 1970. Listened to the first few bars - so wonderfully atmospheric - and was completely hooked. I found the Ehrling equally good, but thought the Markevitch did not catch the mystery so well. I am now content with the Kamu CDs and a whole stack of other Naxos Berwald discs!
@@michaelgriffiths9950 There are certainly many more options available now. Bjorlin's set (originally on Seraphim LPs in the U.S.) contained some nice performances, although the Royal Phil. didn't seem totally in sync with the music. I know that Jarvi's set on DGG has received it's share of criticism, and some feel that he doesn't "get" Berwald, but I've always had great affection for these performances since they appeared in the mid '80's. Ehrling's set on Bis is supposedly the Rosetta stone according to some, but I've always been a bit disappointed with it; it doesn't have the sparkle of his earlier LSO recordings.
Berwald was a very fine colorist, and like all great colorists, really knew how to use woodwinds to great effect. I haven’t listened to his music in some time, but I will put this symphony on soon, probably starting with Markevich. I don’t remember what recording I heard first, I’m guessing it’s one of your “baddies,” so hopefully I’ll like a goodie even more.
A little off-topic, but there is another substantial symphonist from the time period Berwald inhabited - Franz Lachner! Have you discussed him yet in any context? Your insights on this stodgy fellow of a composer would be interesting to hear in a future video!
If you like - and if your ears can take a computer rendition - you'll find in my channel a "recording" of his yet unpublished and unrecorded 4th that I have recreated from his autograph and typeset via notation software.
He's a possibility, but probably not anytime soon. Thanks for brining it up though. I'll keep it in mind.
Delightful. The Symphonie singulière is such a good piece. Thanks for some interesting recommendations. It's a shame that Ehrling's LSO Decca recording seems never to have made it to CD as it's a terrific performance. Also love Markevitch, but I must now go and try Kamu - don't know that record at all.
Ehrling's Decca 3 and 4 are on Bluebell ABCD 047. I'm not sure it's still in print.
Sixten Ehrling was famous for his bristling comments and sardonic humor. Here is a wonderfully hilarious list that musicians of the Detroit Symphony compiled while Ehrling was their MD. Enjoy... www.grahamnasby.com/misc/musichumour_sixten-ehrling-quotations.shtml
A great symphony! I’m glad to hear the sample from Kamu...to me the orchestration is so transparent. Regarding Herbert Blomstedt, at least there’s a video: www.konserthuset.se/en/play/berwald-sinfonie-singulière/
Blomstedt performed this work with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2016, and it can be accessed on their Digital Concert Hall site. I enjoyed it!
My exposure to Berwald is a fondly remembered recording of Symphonies 1 and 3 with the Royal Stockholm Phil and Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt on a Nonesuch LP. Do you know it? I’m wondering if it ever made it to CD.
M
If you want Blomstedt/RSPO, there is a recorded concert in superb sound@ www.konserthuset.se/en/play/berwald-sinfonie-singulière/. Plenty of woodwind in this version. The bassoon player is so focused and intense. Worth a watch
What about Salonen? I think it's really great!
Go find it.
@@DavesClassicalGuide It’s on Apple Music
As I recall, Ehrling did a couple of Berwald albums for Nonesuch in the 1960's, but they were not very well recorded.
Indeed.
Didn’t Ehrling also do a Sibelius cycle...saw it on LP not sure if it was ever reissued on CD
@@indranilpoddar7195 I have the cycle on CD.
Blake Morris Hi Blake what label would the CDs be on?
@@indranilpoddar7195 Warner Music Finland. I suspect the correct label is "Unobtanium".
If you need an additional dose of vitamin B3 - try Rutland Boughton's 3rd symphony (1937)
Wikipedia: Maestro Ehrling's difficult personality was overshadowed only by his wit. "Someone once told me I was not difficult, I was impossible. I agreed," he confided to Detroit Free Press music critic John Guinn, 7/1/90. He told his American publicist that he preferred reading his reviews in the smallest room of his house, and brilliantly interwove business arrangements with extremely humorous observations.
In his final interview with Guinn, he noted that "They had a ceremony In Sweden for my birthday recently, and the man giving the birthday tribute had a great line. 'Mr. Ehrling nowadays is not angry,' he said. Then he paused, 'All the time,' he added."
That smallest room business was a line of Max Reger’s.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Indeed.
symphony no 4 ´ Symphonie Naive ˋ