Pettersson: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 Norrköpings Symfoniorkester & Christian Lindberg

• Allan Pettersson (1911-1980): Symphony No. 5:
• 1 Beginning 06:25
• 2 Figure 17 05:51
• 3 Figure 43 18:13
• 4 Figure 129 10:13
• Symphony No. 7:
• 5 Beginning 02:38
• 6 Bar 53 04:52
• 7 Bar 172 04:25
• 8 Bar 255 03:01
• 9 Bar 311 04:36
• 10 Bar 389 02:22
• 11 Bar 432 00:56
• 12 Bar 450 03:08
• 13 Bar 512 05:16
• 14 Bar 564 02:36
• 15 Bar 613 01:57
• 16 Bar 648 02:25
• 17 Bar 707 03:01
• Total Runtime 01:21:55

Info for Pettersson: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

A characteristic trait in Allan Pettersson’s music is the use of strong contrasts – shifts between an enormous intensity and calm relaxation, between complex and violently dissonant passages and peaceful, simple melodies and harmonies. This certainly applies to both works recorded here by the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and Christian Lindberg – the composer’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies. Premièred in 1963 and 1968 respectively, these two symphonies contributed substantially to Pettersson’s public standing during the 1960s. The Fifth earned him the music prize of the newspaper Expressen, while at the same time Pettersson’s extensive use of traditional harmony, particularly in the slow ending of the work, caused a number of commentators to criticize it as ‘outmoded’. In 1964, the symphony probably contributed to Pettersson being selected as one of the first recipients of a public remuneration scheme for composers which guaranteed them a lifelong minimum income. Four years later, the first performance of Symphony No. 7 was conducted by Antal Doráti, the dedicatee of the work. The event is often described as Pettersson’s ‘breakthrough’, and Doráti’s recording of the work in 1969 with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra earned the performers and the composer a ‘Swedish Grammy’ Award each. Pettersson’s Seventh remains the most recorded and most frequently performed of all of his works. It is heard here in a performance from what are widely regarded as the leading Pettersson interpreters of our time.

Norrköping Symphony Orchestra
Emily Nebel, leader (No. 5)
Henrik Jon Petersen, leader (No. 7)
Christian Lindberg, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Pettersson: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7