Allan Pettersson - Symphonies 3 & 15 (Leif Segerstam, Norrk ping SO)

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Allan Pettersson - Symphonies 3 & 15 (Leif Segerstam, Norrk ping SO)

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This disk contains two important works from Pettersson's early and late periods. Although the middle symphonies (Fifth through Ninth) are widely considered his greatest, this disk shows that Pettersson possessed the rare gift of musical genius throughout his whole career as a composer. Both the Third and the Fifteenth also show the manner by which his works fell into that dark and obscure world for which they were destined: The Third, dating from 1955, was ignored by the Stockholm Concert Society for about four years until they finally deigned to perform it in 1959. And the Fifteenth did not receive its initial premier until 1982, more than two years after the composer's death.

He long considered the Third to be his best work. The influence of Sibelius is obvious in spots, combined with P's enduring penchant for creating dark, somber soundscapes, oftentimes jarringly dissonant. Though it is in four movements, there is no actual break between the last three. The fourth movement is particularly impressive, as out of dark obscurity a beautiful lyric slowly begins to emerge on the flute at the conclusion of the work. The strings restate this gently haunting refrain in the face of several false endings. Finally the lower woodwinds speak up, ending the work on a curt three-note phrase, dark and cryptic.

The Fifteenth shows Pettersson still at the height of his powers, a master of the orchestral palette. It begins as a work of "hardened diction", abrasive, troubled, with ever-present militant snare-drum and clashing cymbals. Yet there is also a sense of mission. There seems to be an earnest desire to carve a meaning out of the darkness, and to move toward some redemptive inner vision. The work concludes with a prolonged chorale of raw beauty painted with long broad brushstrokes, mildly dissonant yet occasionally breaking into some really beautiful harmonics. Struggling toward some inner light, the work ends with an urgent and prolonged chord on the higher strings, as the light is finally seized, however briefly.

Daniel R. Greenfield @ Amazon.com