Stenhammar, Wilhelm

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

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

For more information about the piece: English and German preface of the full score:

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.

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