Allan Pettersson / Symphony 12

Various Artists

The Caprice Composer Series presents Allan Pettersson’s Konsert nr. 1 för stråkorkester (concerto no. 1 for violin and string quartet) och Symfoni nr. 12 De Döda På Torget (symphony no. 12The Dead on the Square). Allan Pettersson composed a total of sixteen symphonies. His music moves from totally tonal, to episodes of pervasive dissonance.

Pettersson began sketching his first string concerto in 1949, before he started his composition studies in Paris. In the concerto he uses the same sort of rhythmic sounds one hears in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, a work that, in 1949, had not yet been performed in Sweden. The string concerto anticipates the sounds of compact ”clusters” that Ligeti and Penderecki later used in the 1960s.

Symfoni nr. 12 “De Döda På Torget”, for mixed choir and orchestra, is built upon the Chilean poet, Pablo Naruda’s poem of the same name. The poem concerns concrete events; outbreaks of oppression, cruelty, and brutality. As in earlier symphonies, Allan Pettersson builds his work in one long, single movement, which is almost an hour long. The music is intense, highly charged, and intensely involved.

Read more
Show playlist
    • Concerto No.1
      • 1.
        I Allegro + II Andante Music: Allan Pettersson
        13'29
      • 2.
        III Largamente
        7'37
      • Symphony No.12 The Dead in the Square
        • 3.
          I The Dead In The Square Music: Allan Pettersson Text: Neruda, Pablo
          10'31
        • 4.
          II The Massacre
          8'20
        • 5.
          III The Men Of Nitrate
          5'09
        • 6.
          IV Death
          4'42
        • 7.
          V How The Flags were Born
          1'20
        • 8.
          VI I Call Upon Them
          6'08
        • 9.
          VII The Enemies
          6'36
        • 10.
          VIII They Are Here
          3'16
        • 11.
          IX Always
          8'00
      • Total playtime 75'15

      Compact Disc // CAP 21369 // Caprice Composer Series // Classical/Contemporary // Releasedate: 1 January, 1988