It is a sign of the esteem in which Ture Rangström was held by the people
of his native Sweden that in celebration of his fiftieth birthday, a national
fund resulted in him being given the island of Törnsholmen off the
south-east coast of the country. It was here that he was to spend the last
ten summers or so of his life writing. His public profile must indeed have
been high by this time for in addition to his compositional activities he
enjoyed a period as principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
and was also well known as a critic, working for several Stockholm newspapers.
Rangström's music as presented here, is marked by an economy, even at
times sparseness of means, his reputation in the early 1900s when he came
to prominence, being that of an outright modernist. In reality this is a
rather extreme perception of his compositional language although he was not
averse to the use of gentle dissonance when it suited and the formal construction
of his music could often be unconventional in its episodic, collage-like
style.
The two most substantial works on this disc impress in different ways.
Rangström's only String Quartet, Ein Nachtstück, was written
in response to a suggestion by Carl Nielsen, its thirteen minute duration
taking the form of a single movement which is entirely based around the clearly
Nordic sounding theme heard at the outset. The rhapsodic variations and fugue
that follow encompass a gamut of emotions and styles yet are skilfully woven
into an impressively cohesive and satisfying whole. The excellent performance
given here by the Holmen Quartet is both stylistically characteristic and
highly committed. The Three Legends for Piano, Mälarlegender,
inhabit a different world, forming incidental music to an epic poem which
tells the tale of an organist who sailed to Stockholm on one of the boats
of Lake Mälaren to collect a new piano. Nocturne, the first movement,
atmospherically captures the motion of the boat as it glides through the
water on a clear Midsummer Eve whilst the joyous central movement depicts
brightly coloured stalls at the Spring Fair. The final movement is a tranquil
pastoral, "high summer calm in air and greenery, on the water and on the
ground". Once again the performance is sympathetic, the delicate outer movements
being particularly affecting.
The remaining works are mainly short, though attractive miniatures. I was
particularly struck by the hauntingly beautiful Arioso for violin
and piano which under its original title of The Phantom's Arioso,
formed part of Rangström's incidental music for Shakespeare's Hamlet
(one of many plays by the Bard for which he provided scores). Its achingly
poignant yet simple melody and accompaniment are one of the real highlights
of the disc. Rangström experimented with old forms on numerous occasions
and the two baroque modelled Suites for violin and piano (sub-titled In antique
style and In baroque style respectively) make for enjoyable, undemanding
listening. The Improvisata for piano is particularly characteristic
of Rangström's mature style in its use of contrasting episodic like
paragraphs.
There is much to enjoy on this disc, the performances both committed and
fresh, the recorded sound natural and with admirable clarity. Well worth
a try for aficionados and newcomers alike.
Christopher Thomas
Mats Jansson (piano) Tale
Olsson (violin)
