Eric Gustaf Ericson (26 October 1918 – 16 February 2013) was a Swedish choral conductor and influential choral teacher.

Life and career

He graduated from the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

(''Kungl. Musikhögskolan'') in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1943 and went on to complete his studies abroad, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis,

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, and in

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, and the

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. Renowned for his innovative teaching methods and the wide-ranging nature of his repertoire, Ericson was the principal conductor of the Orphei Drängar choir at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

from 1951 until 1991, and choirmaster until 1982 of the Swedish Radio Choir which was established on his initiative in 1951. Also in 1951, he began his teaching career at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he became a legendary and inspirational figure, and he was appointed to the

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of choral conducting there in 1968. In 1983 Ericson received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Humanities at

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1995, and in 1997 Ericson shared the Polar Music Prize with

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: the citation was for "pioneering achievements as a conductor, teacher, artistic originator and inspirer in Swedish and international choral music". On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1998, Swedbank of Sweden endowed an "Eric Ericson Chair in Choral Directing" at Uppsala University. He founded the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, and worked as a guest conductor for many ensembles and choirs including Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble (Bach's Passions), Netherlands Chamber Choir (Poulenc), Chœur de chambre Accentus, Paris (Finnish works). His conducting for the 1975 Bergman film ''

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'' was described as "impressive" in its balance of "levity and solemnity", and the reviewer noted that Ericson was "a Mozartian to be reckoned with".Evidon, Richard. Bergman and 'The Magic Flute'. ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'', Vol. 117, No. 1596 (February 1976), pp. 130-131.

Awards

* Litteris et Artibus (1968) * Léonie Sonning Music Prize (1991;

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) * Nordic Council Music Prize (1995, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland) * Polar Music Prize (1997, Sweden) * Illis quorum (1988) * KTH Great Prize

Selected recordings

*Compositions by Ingvar Lidholm, Sven-David Sandström, Tomas Jennefelt, Jorgen Jersild - Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Caprice CAP21461 2002. * ''Skandinavien'' - Choir de Chambre Accentus, FCM (2000)

References

External links

Prizewinners of 1997
– Polar Music Prize

- Interview with Eric Ericson from 1997 in The Art Bin Magazine * Eric Ericsonat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Life and career

Awards

Selected recordings

References

External links

See also