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Orchestral

Symphonies

• Op. 3 Symphony No. 1 in B-minor (1909–1911)
• Op. 6 Symphony No. 2 in F-major (1911–1913)
• Op. 10 Symphony No. 3 in D-major “Västkustbilder” (1914–1916)
• Op. 14 Symphony No. 4 in G-minor “Sinfonia piccola” (byggd på svenska folkmotiv) (1918)
• Op. 20 Symphony No. 5 in D-minor “Sinfonia funèbre” (1919–1922)
• Op. 31 Symphony No. 6 in C-major “Dollarsymphony” (1927–1928)
• Op. 45 Symphony No. 7 “Sinfonia romantica” (1942)
• Op. 48 Symphony No. 8 in ?-minor (på svenska folkmotiv) (1944)
• Op. 54 Symphony No. 9 “Sinfonia visionaria” for soloists (mezzo-soprano & baryton), chorus & orchestra (1955–1956)

Orchestral Suites

• Suite No. 1 “Orientale” (1913)
• Suite No. 2 “Fem stycken” for chamber orchestra (1915)
• Op. 19,1 Suite No. 3 for violin, viola and string orchestra (1917)
• Op. 19,2 Suite No. 4 “Turandot” or “chinese suite” for string quartet (1920)
• Op. 23 Suite No. 5 “Barocco” pour flûte, haubois, clarinette et cordes (1923)
• Op. 30 Suite No. 6 “Orientalische Legende” for flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion, piano and string orchestra (1925)
• Op. 29 Suite No. 7 for string orchestre after music for a scene of Antoine et Cléopatre of Shakespeare (1926)
• Op. 34 Suite No. 8 “Suite pastorale in modo antico” for small orchestra (1931)
• Op. 47 Suite No. 9 “Suite dramatica” for chamber orchestra (1944)

Concertos

• Op. 1 Rhapsody for piano and orchestra (1909)
• Op. 7 Concerto for Violin in E minor (1913)
• Op. 21 Concerto for Cello, in C minor (1922)
• Op. 28 Concerto for Horn in A major (1926)
• Op. 37 Concerto for Piano in B flat minor (1935)
• Op. 57 Double concerto for violin, cello and string orchestra (1959–1960)

Works for brass

• De fåvitska jungfrurna rhapsody arranged by Gösta Morberg
• Marica trionfale della bella Lucia

Other orchestral works

• Op. 4 Concert Overture in A minor (1910/12 rev. 1933)
• Op. 18 Svit ur Stormen “Storm suite” No. 1 (1921/1936)
• Op. 26 Rondeau retrospectif (1925)
• Op. 33 Älven — från fjällen till havet “The River — from the Mountains to the Sea” symphonic poem (1929)
• Op. 36 En värmlandsrapsodi “A Varmland Rhapsody” (1936)
• Op. 38 Ballade and Passacaglia over a theme from a Swedish folk tune (1935)
• Op. 42 Rondeau caracteristique (1939–1940)
• Op. 41 Concert overture in popular style (1940)
• Op. 43 Aladdin — five pieces (1941)
• Op. 44 Aladdin. Ouverture (Perpetuum mobile orientale)
• Op. 51 Indian tunes (1950)
• Rondo-overture on melodies from Birger Sjöberg’s “Fridas Bok” (1956–7)
• Svensk sommarfest “Swedish summer party” for chamber orchestra (1957)
• Op. 56 Ballad without words (1958)
• Op. 58 Vittorioso (1962) (original finale to Symphony No. 7)
• Op. 59 Svit ur Stormen “Storm suite” No. 2 (1964–1965)

Stage music

Operas

• Op. 12 Härvard Harpolekare (1916–18) Revised to Härvards Heimkehr (1951)
• Op. 24 Bäckahästen (1923–24)
• Op. 35 Fanal (1929–32)
• Op. 43 Aladdin (1936–41)
• Op. 49 Stormen “The Storm” (1946–47)

Ballets

• Op. 9 Per Svinaherde (1914–15)
• Ballettskizzen (1919)
• Op. 17 De fåvitska jungfrurna (1920)

Music for the theater

• Jefta (1913)
• Mats und Petter (1915)
• Schwester Beatrice (1917)
• Op. 13 Perseus och vidundret “Persus and the wonder” (1918)
• Turandot (1920)
• Op. 18 Der Sturm “The Storm” 1921)
• Die drei Tanten (1923)
• Ein Wintermärchen (1923)
• Hassan (1925)
• Antonius und Kleopatra (1926)

Vocal

• Op. 5 Det är sabbatsdag i bygden for baryton and orchestra (text of Olof Thunman) (1911/13)
• Svarta svanor song for baryton or soprano and orchestra (text of Carl Johan Gustaf Snoilsky) (1913/14)
• Ave maris stella for chorus (1917)
• Op. 8 Requiem for soloists, chorus and orchestra (text of van Gustav Schlyter) (1914)
• Op. 16 Järnbäraland for soloists, chorus and orchestra (text of van Hugo Tigerschiöld) (1919)
• Op. 25 Das Lied for soloists (chœur ad. lib.) and orchestra (1925)
• Op. 32 Sångens land “The Land of Song” for soloists (chœur ad. lib.) and orchestra (text of Ture Rangström) (1928)

Chamber music

String quartets

• Op. 2 String quartet No. 1 in D Major (1909)
• Op. 11 String quartet No. 2 (1918)
• Op. 39 String quartet No. 3 in D major (1937)

Other chamber

• Reverence à Bach for two cellos (1905)
• Op. 19,2 Suite No. 4 “Suite chinoise” for string quartet (1920)
• Op. 22 bis Bergslags-serenad for string quartet or string orchestra (published ca. 1950)
• Op. 27b Sonata for violin/cello/horn and piano in B-minor (1925)
• Op. 31a Piano quintet in C Major adaption from Symphony No. 6 (1928/1942)
• Op. 46 Variations and fugues — over a text of Bellman for sting quartet (1944)
• Sorgmarch “Funeral march” in memoriam his majesty Gustav V for horn quartet (1950)
• Op. 53a Symphony for strings — version for string quintet of Sinfonia Op. 53 (1953)
• Op 57a Trio concerto for violin, cello and harp — chamber version (1959/60, rev. 1965)

Instrumental

Piano

• Syster Beatrice — Valse “Fantôme” of Maeterlinck (1917)
• Op. 15 2 Höstballader “Autumn Ballads” (1918)
• Op. 26 Rondeau rétrospectif for piano four hands

Organ

• Bröllopsmarsch “Wedding March” for organ (1916)
• Preludium and fugue for organ (1917)

Arrangements

• Brahms, String sextet No. 2 for string orchestra, Op. 36 (1939)

Kurt Atterberg is best known for his symphonies, operas and ballets. Atterberg once said that: “The Russians, Brahms, Reger were my ideals.” His music combines their influences with Swedish folk tunes.

Atterberg was born in Gothenburg. He studied cello and would later occasionally play the cello in orchestras. He published his first work, a Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 1, in 1908. In 1910 he sent the Rhapsody and an incomplete version of the Symphony No. 1 in B minor, soon published as Op. 3, to the Stockholm Conservatory for admission. He studied composition and orchestration with Andreas Hallén there while simultaneously receiving instruction at the Royal Institute of Technology, earning a masters’ degree in engineering in 1911.

His Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 7 was premiered by the Australian violinist Alma Moodie on 6 November 1919, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Max von Schillings.

From 1912 to 1968 Atterberg worked at the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, becoming head of a division there in 1937. In 1912, he made his conducting debut conducting his own Symphony No. 1. In 1916 he was appointed to Maestro of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, a position he held until 1922. From 1919 to 1957, he was a music critic for the Stockholmstidningen.

In 1924, Atterberg helped found the Society of Swedish Composers and the Swedish Performing Rights Society (an organization similar to ASCAP in America). In 1926 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and was secretary of that organization from 1940 to 1953.

While composing an opera about the Vikings, Härvard Harpolekare, Atterberg also wrote a “Sinfonia Piccola” (Symphony No. 4 in G minor, Op. 14) inspired by an anthology of Swedish folk tunes published in 1875.

For the Schubert centenary in 1928, the Columbia Gramophone Company sponsored a competition for a symphony completing or inspired by Schubert’s Unfinished, and Atterberg won the first prize of $10,000 with his Symphony No. 6. The symphony was recorded by Sir Thomas Beecham and Arturo Toscanini, and Atterberg also recorded it himself.

Atterberg died in Stockholm on 15 February 1974.

(Contribution by Ismael Alvarez Leon <ufmcoleccionistagmail.com>.)

<JimBodkinsyahoo.com> writes: [Kurt Atterberg] was thought to have missed the turn to modern classical — unlike Stravinsky. Personally, I disagree. I hear in his music the voice of the Baltic. I wouldnt place him in the same category as Sibelius, but I would consider him at least similar.

Kurt Atterberg is one of Sweden´s most productive composers. He was also an engineer. For many years he was a newspaper music critic and occupied representative positions in musical organizations. His international fame is chiefly associated with two of his works: Symphony No. 6, which won the Schubert prize in 1928, and his Värmland Rhapsody, written for Selma Lagerlöf´s birthday.

(Contribution by Raúl Izaguirre Avila <rizaguiyahoo.com>.)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Atterberg