BERWALD, Franz
b Stockholm, 23 July 1796
d Stockholm, 3 April 1868, aged seventy-one

He had no formal education, but studied violin with his father. An astute business man, he set up an orthopaedic institute in Vienna, managed and partowned a glass works and launched a saw-mill. Most of his musical output was written in the ten years after he sold the orthopaedic institute in 1841. He had some success as a composer in Vienna, but his native Sweden would not accept his rather advanced musical thinking, and few of his works were performed there - though he was made a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 1864 and professor of composition in 1867. Many of his works were unperformed in his lifetime and some are now lost. Only in the twentieth century has his work been rediscovered and his worth accepted.
1816 (20)
Theme and Variations for violin and orchestra
1817 (21)
Double Concerto for two violins and orchestra (now lost)
Septet for violin, viola, cello, clarinet, bassoon, horn and double-bass
1819 (23)
Quartet for piano, clarinet, bassoon and horn
1820 (24)
Symphony No 1
Violin Concerto in C# minor
1825 (29)
Serenade for tenor and six instruments
1827 (31)
Gustav Wasa, opera
Concertstucke for bassoon and orchestra
1842 (46)
Symphony No 2, Sérieuse
Symphony No 3
(Symphony No 4 is lost)
1844 (48)
A Country Wedding, for organ (four hands)
1845 (49)
Symphony No 5, Singulière
Symphony No 6
Five Piano Trios
1852 (56-8)
Three Piano Trios
1855 (59)
Piano Concerto in D major
1858 (61-2)
Two Piano Quintets (possibly 1853)
1859 (63)
p Cello Sonata
1862 (66)
Estrella de Soria, opera
Berwald also composed Violin Sonata in E flat. His String Quartet in E flat major and String Quartet in A minor were performed posthumously in 1887 and 1905 respectively.