Customer Reviews

Pettersson: Symphonies 8 & 10

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Gustaf Allan Pettersson (1911-1980), the Swedish composer known sort of as Mahler taken to extremes, composed some 16 symphonies. I qualify the number since it isn't known (at least not to this reviewer) whether or not his First, unperformed at this death, is performable; and Pettersson may have left performable sketches of a 17th behind. So, give or take a symphony, he composed 16 large scale works for full orchestra, not including concertos for viola and violin.

Anyway, this reviewer considers the composer's middle period, comprising the 6th, 7th, and 8th symphonies, to be his greatest. By the 55-minute (roughly) and searingly sorrowful 6th, the influences of Mahler and Berg (primarily) had been digested and what emerged was a distinctive compositional personality, none of whose works really sounds merely like homage or pastiche (the way even moments of Shostakovich's do to this set of ears); the Mahler in Pettersson is something on the order of a deep brotherhood in suffering and redemption, on a spiritual plane (again, unlike Shostakovich with his ever-present political overtones). The 7th Symphony may be the most traditional of all, which makes it possibly the finest introduction to AP's output; the 8th, while not dissimilar, is more difficult.

For one thing, there's less obvious melody here, though it is to be found wandering, if you will, amidst the ruins which much of the music suggests to me. I find it even more pessimistic; though apparently the composer thought of it in terms of catharsis primarily-- "to exorcise the fiendishness of existence and transfigure the repressed possibilities of happiness" were the composer's words regarding his intent. The redemptive note is present, but you have to be open to the expression of such an element in other than the traditional major-mode manner. On the whole, a draining work which after a few listens will get under your skin if you're at all responsive to this sort of thing.

The Tenth is fiery by comparison, a turbulent whirlwind of a one-movement work, which, at about 21 minutes, seems to fly by. In this work, Segerstam and his Norrkoping do greater justice to the violence of the expression than Alun Francis's version; I haven't heard the OOP Dorati, but I gather it was special.

Segerstam and the orchestra surpass an earlier 8th I have heard and own, on the Orfeo label; for one thing, his tempos throughout are swifter, making more seem to happen in this work; everything is sharper, and the recording is clearer. I wish I could compare Segerstam's 8th to Comissiona's pioneering recording from 1980(?), but that isn't on CD yet and my budget hasn't permitted the laying out of funds for the rare LP on EBay. Anyway, regardless how fine that one was, the Segerstam is by all means welcome.

This disc is recommended STRONGLY to anyone with the slightest interest in this composer.

many finely written points on Pettersson's connection with Mahler and second viennese. Also his grasp that whereas Shostakovich's reference point is the suffering due to Stalin's evils, Pettersson's expressions are on a much wider scale. Incompassing the entire world, and is prophetic of the times we are living in today.
I prefer Segerstam's 8th slightly more than the CPO but prefer the CPO 10th over BIS due to the weakness in the brass section to make sense of Pettersson's terse scoreing.
I can't say the 7th is my favorite as it seems to me as just one part of his grand scale symponic cycle. Though the 7th has that deeply moving restitution. Starting with 6 continuing through to the 11th, 12th is a choral score, 13, 14, the 15th ends this symphonic journey.

EDIT
I just discovered the 12 sym the other day. previous listen was mnot done with patience as it is a one movement hour long intense filled score. WOW!!! was I wrong about this sym 12. Most definetly belongs in the Grand symphonic Cycle, beginning with sym 5 going to 15.
If you can finda copy of the Cappricio Sym 12, do so.
I suspect, in fact I know , Pettersson will reign as the most appreciated composer late in my life.
I am now 52. Should take another 2 or 3 decades for Pettersson to be acknowledge for who he was and what he gave to mankind.
Here's a little anecdote to back up this bold , daring hypothesis.
2 months before katrina hit i told my wife New Orleans was going to flood.
Pettersson will become the most popular and appreciated composer, both in europe and america. America has no orch that has the ability to perform a sym from Pettersson. The british, the scots, germans and of course one or 2 orchestras in Sweden (refer to Segerstam's recordings) can bring life to Pettersson. The Stockholm does not have the ability to bring forth a successful Pettersson. I've heard their Sibelius and its only fair. They would only make a mess of Pettersson.
Neither the russians nor the american bands have the ability to get at the soul of Pettersson. Both orch's would only get the machanics of Pettersson. Mechanics are fine and dandy in Beethoven. Concerning Pettersson, takes another level of crafmanship in talents.
That said, i can just see the headlines, *Boston on the 7th*. Sure, they'll go for the most popular, and get at that sweet resolution of the 7th. I just wish the americans would stay away from the 7th, until all the others have been performed. Of course no orch can successfully perform the 12th, only a Swede group could do that. And I suspect no orch and chorus will match what the Cappricio recorded yrs ago. That recording is definitive for all time.
Paul
New Orleans
July 17,2008

EDIT: Prefer this Segerstam 8th to the CPO, there are tricky passages which Segerstam brings out better than the CPO recording.
Dec 28,2008

Allan Pettersson's remarkable symphonic cycle is probably the very epitome of Scandinavian angst; dark, desperate and intense (the seventh, possibly the pinnacle of the cycle, was famously titled `the suicide symphony'), often contrasting long, choral-like, darkly serene passages with explosive, shuddering outbursts of cataclysmic fury. The eighth symphony is an ambitious work in two parts (totaling a little more than three-quarters of an hour); the first part is exactly a choral, long-breathed and calmly, lyrically unfolding. Stylistically I was continually reminded of Hovhaness, but with more breadth and depth; Bach is an obvious inspiration, as is - perhaps - Franz Schmidt and Berg. But this music is darker, more disconcerting, and the grandly conceived arch is constantly disrupted by shudderings and uneasy outbursts, as if something very frightening and uneasy is hiding beneath the dark waters of a slowly flowing river.

The second section is more intensely conflict-filled, the horrors more expressed although they never, formally speaking, disrupt the flow of the music which grinds onward toward inevitable doom, ending in pained, desolate lyricism. It is overall a stirring work of tremendous power. It also contrasts well with the more concentrated tenth (which lasts a little more than half of the eighth).

In one continuous section, the tenth is an urgently forward-moving work (and Segerstam seems to push it onwards almost excessively, but only almost). The typical Petterssonian chorale arrives at approximately 18 minutes, but is continually violently attacked and pummeled around, until darkness and violence win out, ending the work in a apocalyptic climax. The performances are magnificent, as far as I can tell, with all the tension, power and dark atmospheres the music calls for; the Norrköping players at least manage to bring out the variety of distorted, blackened colors and Segerstam certainly keeps the pace up, never losing sight of the overall architectures of these striking works. Strongly recommended, but this is surely not music for the faint-hearted.