Blomdahl conducts Blomdahl

Karl-Birger Blomdahl

The composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl (1916–68) actually wanted to become a conductor. The musicologist Carl-Gunnar Åhlén now wants to show this this by presenting to us the conductor Blomdahl on the 10th volume in the  Collector´s Classics series.

The CD, entitled Blomdahl Conducts Blomdahl, contains the legendary but never before released recording from the New Music concert on November 18th, 1962, in its entirety. On this date, Karl-Birger Blomdahl conducted the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program consisting of his third symphony, Facetter (Facets), the Chamber Concerto for piano, woodwinds, and percussion, and the oratorio I speglarnas sal (In the Hall of Mirrors).

Among the performing artists were Hans Leygraf, piano; the opera singers Margareta Hallin, Barbro Ericson, Sven-Erik Vikström, Erik Saedén, and Anders Näslund; the Royal Opera Chorus; and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The CD includes a 110-page booklet containing, among other things, a full list of all of Blomdahl’s concerts as a conductor, along with comments by Blomdahl himself, Hans Leygraf, Christina Tobeck, and Carl-Gunnar Åhlén.

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Show playlist
    • Symphony No. 3 ”Facettes” (1950) Music: Karl-Birger Blomdahl
      • 1.
        Largamente
        3'24
      • 2.
        Tranquillo, ma fluente
        7'23
      • 3.
        Prestissimo
        5'07
      • 4.
        Allegro, molto deciso e ritmico
        5'09
      • 5.
        Largamente
        3'15
    • Chamber concert for piano, woodwind and percussion (1953) Music: Karl-Birger Blomdahl
      • 6.
        Lento, maestoso e pesante
        3'43
      • 7.
        Allegro, molto deciso e ritmico
        3'28
      • 8.
        Adagio
        5'30
      • 9.
        Presto
        4'35
    • In the Hall of Mirrors- Nine sonettes from ”The Man Without a Way” Music: Karl Birger Blomdahl Text: Erik Lindegren
      • 10.
        ”i speglarnas sal”
        4'22
      • 11.
        ”här i denna tystnad”
        3'36
      • 12.
        ”i den urholkade dimman”
        5'29
      • 13.
        ”men först måste ett hungertorn”
        5'27
      • 14.
        ”o önskekramp med swingmusik”
        2'21
      • 15.
        ”vad skakar då döden ur ärmen”
        3'44
      • 16.
        ”stilla som en brunn”
        5'14
      • 17.
        ”vid mardrömmens mål”
        2'35
      • 18.
        ”jag drömmer om minnet”
        4'57
  • Total playtime 81'28

Compact Disc // CAP 21697 // Collector’s Classics // Classical/Contemporary // Releasedate: 27 September, 2003