Stenhammar, Wilhelm

Wilhelm Stenhammar – Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 23 (1907)

(b. Stockholm, Feb 7, 1871 – d. Stockholm, Nov 20, 1927)

Moderato, recitando – Allegro molto energico p.3
Molto vivace p.49
Adagio p.57
Tempo moderato p.69

Preface
It is unfortunate, but perhaps inevitable, that discussions of Wilhelm Stenhammar’s music are quicker to identify the style of other composers than his own. This is partly due perhaps to the range of figures whose influence has been suggested – Brahms, Wagner, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Saint-Saëns and Fauré, to select a few. Furthermore, despite being at the forefront of Swedish composition in the early-twentieth century, he did not carve out the same international status as did Jean Sibelius in Finland, Edward Grieg in Norway, or Carl Nielsen in Denmark.

An understanding of Stenhammar the composer is impossible to separate from an understanding of Stenhammar the musician. An extremely proficient pianist and conductor, he had great influence in the Swedish classical music scene. Stenhammar’s music originates in the Scandinavian, late-Romantic style which looked to Germanic models, upon which Stenhammar’s position gave him a particular perspective. His First Symphony and First Piano Concerto seem to continue this line of influence, but Scandinavian composers were also self-consciously aware of introducing a “Nordic” flavour. This “Nordic Tone”, on one level, is identified in the way Stenhammar was to draw on the idioms found in the rich heritage of Swedish folk music traditions, a practice brought to mature realisation in works such as the Second Symphony. But another manifestation of the Nordic is found in a conscious intention to move away from Germanic Romanticism and arrive at a leaner, sober musical style standing in contrast to the rich chromaticism of the Wagnerian legacy. But in identifying such characteristics, it is important not to lose sight of the individual developments and outlooks of these composers, and Stenhammar presents a particularly intriguing case here. In light of his position and knowledge  as a performer, it is hardly surprising that his own music does not present any radical or consistent rejection of previous models. Stenhammar’s compositional path was a steady and complicated journey that responded to previous and contemporaneous music – his withdrawal of his First Symphony after hearing Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D major would be a case in point. …

Read English and German full preface > HERE