A Post-Romanic Seascape from Gösta Nystroem

The sea held a powerful attraction for Swedish composer Gösta Nystroem (1890-1966); fittingly his most famous work is the "Sinfonia del mare" of 1949. Today's post contains the first recording of that work, recorded for the American Dial label in 1950. I've added a song by the composer as a bonus.

Gösta Nystroem

Sinfonia del mare

The LP comes to us courtesy of my friend Maris Kristapsons, who previously sent a gift of the Symphony No. 3 by Nystroem's contemporary Hilding Rosenberg. Both symphonies are performed by the Stockholm Concert Society Orchestra conducted by Tor Mann. As with the Rosenberg, the Nystroem reading is impressive in its concentration and impact.

Ebba Lindqvist

Also like the Rosenberg symphony, Nystroem's work has a literary inspiration: the "Sinfonia del mare" includes a vocal setting of the poem "Det enda" ("The only") by the contemporary Swedish writer Ebba Lindqvist. The poet admits that she would leave her current life behind "for one single breath / of the wind from the sea." Nystroem too was enchanted by the sea and preferred to live on the seashore. I can well appreciate this, having grown up a few steps away from one of the Great Lakes. I still often walk along the shore.

The vocalist in the symphony is Ingrid Eksell, who sang in the 1949 premiere of the work. Sources differ on who led that performance (one says Mann, the other Sixten Eckerberg). Eksell also was known for her performances of Nystroem's songs.

Tor Mann

As with Rosenberg's symphony, Nystroem's composition is in a post-Romantic mode; tonal with a somewhat similar sound world as other conservative modernists. In its austerity, it is reminiscent of Sibelius, but it also bears some resemblance to the late works of Bela Bartók. The symphony is deeply felt and very beautiful. As with Rosenberg, the American critics could be dismissive, however: Arthur Berger in the Saturday Review called the composition "a grave disappointment, grandiose music with all the clichés." (I could not disagree more.) Berger was a composer himself, more inclined to Schoenberg and Stravinsky, although he wrote in several styles during his career. The New York Times critic was more kind to Nystroem; both reviews are in the download.

Nystroem was a painter as well as a composer until he was in his 30s. One of his works is below; the download includes several other examples along with an early portrait of Nystroem by Kurt Jungstedt.

Vårvinterlandskap (Spring-Winter Landscape) - 1916

The production probably originated with Swedish Metronome, with whom Dial had a licensing arrangement, per reseacher D.J. Hoek. Metronome itself issued the symphony on five 78s and LP. The Lindqvist poem is sung in an English translation, which seems odd if the recording had originated with Metronome. (The download contains the Swedish text and the singing translation used on the record.)

David Stone Martin with an Art Tatum cover

The record was the 11th in a series of 18 contemporary classical recordings issued by Dial in 1949-51. Eleven of the 18 came featured works by the Second Viennese School composers. Otherwise, those represented were Bartók, Stravinsky, Alan Hovhaness, Olivier Messiaen and Nystroem. The series concluded with a double LP of John Cage's music. All but the Cage records utilized the David Stone Martin artwork shown at the top of this article. Martin was known for designing cover art for jazz albums, and in fact Dial had begun as a jazz label in the mid-1940s. Producer Ross Russell issued important records by Charlie Parker and other bop musicians, later adding the classical productions for a short but eventful few years.

A Nystroem Song

Manja Povlsen

I was able to turn up one example of Nystroem's songs, although not one performed by Ingrid Eksell. That work is "Forårsnat" (Spring Night), sung by Danish cabaret artist Manja Povlsen accompanied by piano and a string ensemble. The song is a setting of a poem by Mogens Lorentzen, another Swedish writer whose works were adopted by several composers. Like Nystroem, Lorentzen was a painter in his youth, before becoming primarily known for his other artistic accomplishments. I haven't found a text of the poem, so know nothing of its subject except the title.

This 78, issued by the Danish Tono label, likely comes from the 1947-50 period. It was the flip side of Povlsen's cover version of "La vie en rose," the Edith Piaf song that was a 1947 hit in France and a 1950 favorite in the US.

My thanks again to Maris for his generosity in providing the LP. The 78 is courtesy of the Internet Archive.