This
is a disc of wind music arrangements of pieces from the composer's
cycle of piano solos Frösöblomster (in the original
best experienced in the hands of Noriko Ogawa on Bis) as well
as from a variety of stage works and other piano albums. They
stand in the company of Macdowell and Grieg. These are interspersed
with like-minded tracks with violin and cello solos accompanied
by wind orchestra. The music has clearly been selected for easy
grace and serenade-like pleasure rather than symphonic exertion
and epic effort. Purist issues such as whether movement extracts
from larger works should be played separately seem somehow quite
irrelevant in this undemanding company.
Teutonic
manners are the order of the day at first - more sartorial Vienna
than Stockholm svelte. Vid kejsar Cadigans hov, Menuett,
På fjället i regn and Danslek are in
the sprightly wind serenade tradition running from Mozart to Richard
Strauss. The Prinsessan Epinée and Till Eros
(the latest work here) are cooler - more clearly Scandinavian
in their light melancholia - but still noticeably serenade movements.
The
softly rounded contours of the thoughtful Jamtland describe
a moorland scene in which loneliness and the warm attributes of
human conversation meet. The game in Lawn Tennis must have
been the least competitive of sets for it is more graceful than
energetic. If you are looking for contrast to the poetic and reflective
then I skymningen should satisfy in its Nordic Rossinian
japes although even these are exorcised in favour of a sauntering
wander at 00.43. På gräset under lindarna suggests
folk-style holidays but with nothing crude or unmannered intruding
- the crinoline is pristine, no nettles and no painful emotions.
Till rosorna with its prominent flute and oboe parts continues
the mood. Om många år is deeper with some regret
mixed in but not enough to raise a tear; only sufficient to prompt
a moment's backward look.
The
Romans for violin and orchestra breaks the mould and is
noticeably lighter, lifted by the easy grace of the solo part.
The arrangement of the andante from the Violin Sonata No.
2 is of a piece with the general mood - more Dvořák and early
Suk than anything heaven-storming. The title track, Dedikation
for cello solo is of similar warmly coaxed type as is the Berceuse,
also a cello solo.
The
arrangements are largely by Lennart Hedwall with a few the handiwork
of Ola Karlsson and Nils Holmstedt. The notes are only in Swedish.
There
is nothing here to hector or even mildly perturb the listener.
This is music that can be overheard, a pleasing backdrop to conversation
on a mellow Scandinavian night in good company.
Rob
Barnett
Karl-Ove Mannberg
(violin) 
