Allan Pettersson/Violin Concerto

Allan Pettersson’s Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra, written for Ida Haendel, and perhaps one of the most exacting violin concertos to have been written during the 20th century, makes enormous demands on the soloist’s technique, memorization capacity and powers of concentration. It is composed in a single long block – a form frequently employed in Allan Pettersson’s symphonies.

The first Barefoot Song in the choral suite – God Walks in the Meadow – with which this recording continues, is, in a manner of speaking, present in virtually every bar in the concerto, right from the beginning, where the song is alluded to by the double basses. The choral suite was arranged by Eskil Hemberg, at the composer’s request, in 1969.

Ida Haendel plays the solo violin, Margareta Dahström sings the soprano part. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Stockholm University Chorus are led by Herbert Blomstedt and Eskil Hemberg.