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

-----------------------------------------------------------

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

-----------------------------------------------------------

Hugo Alfvén (1 May 1872 – 8 May 1960) was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter. Born in Stockholm, he studied at the Royal College of Music, as well as in Brussels and Dresden. From 1910 to 1939 he was Director musices at the University of Uppsala. Alfvén is considered as one of Sweden's foremost composers whose music combined central European stylistic features with Swedish folk music. Among his works are a large number of pieces for male voice choir, five symphonies and three Swedish Rhapsodies. Alfvén was also a talented watercolor painter and a gifted writer.

***

Founded in 1993, the Erik Westberg vokalensemble is a 16–20-member group from northern Sweden and Finland, made up of soloists, church musicians, and music teachers. The Ensemble has premiered around 60 works by notable composers like Arvo Pärt and Jan Sandström. They have released over 15 recordings on labels including Opus3 and Naxos, with their album Vita Nuova acclaimed as "world class" by OPUS magazine. The group has toured internationally over 30 times, including a major project, Choral Singing for Peace and Justice, which reached over 500 million viewers during a tour of Tonga and Samoa.

***

Erik Westberg (born 1956) studied choral conducting with Eric Ericson. He has led choirs including the YMCA Choir in Stockholm, the Oslo Philharmonic Choir, and the Swedish Radio Choir. Internationally, he has guest-conducted groups such as Pro Coro Canada and Coro Nacional de España. Westberg is currently the artistic director of the Swedish Youth Choir and a professor at Luleå University of Technology. His catalogue includes more than twenty recordings on the record labels Studio Acusticum Records, Opus3, Naxos, and Caprice. For his contributions to Swedish musical life, Westberg received the King's Medal in 2006.

-----------------------------------------------------------