Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson (15 May 190827 December 1986) was a Swedish composer, conductor, radio producer, and educator. He wrote three of the most popular works (each a suite) in Swedish

art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high culture, high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJa ...

: ''

A Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'' (; 1937–1938), the '' Pastoral Suite'' (; 1938), and '' God in Disguise'' (; 1940). Other notable works by Larsson include three symphonies, a sinfonietta, and numerous concertante works.

Biography

Larsson was born in

Åkarp Åkarp () is a locality situated in Burlöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 5,617 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated approximately 8 km northeast of Malmö and 13 km southwest of Lund. It has a railway station Rail tra ...

in 1908, the son of a factory worker and a nurse. He studied with Ellberg at the Stockholm Conservatory (1925–1929) and with

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

and Fritz Reuter in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

(1929–1930), then worked for Swedish Radio and taught at the Stockholm Conservatory (1947–1959) and

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 ...

, where he held the position as Director musices (1961–1966). One of his pupils was composer Hans Eklund. His style as a composer is eclectic, ranging from the late Romantic to techniques derived from

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's twelve-note system, but original in method. He was the first Swede to write serial music (1932). Yet other works of that period are post- Sibelian or neo-classical, and his output generally is characterized by variety of style. He wrote for the theatre, cinema and broadcasting, in addition to the more traditional forms of symphony, concerto, chamber and vocal music. He died of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

complications in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

in 1986, aged 78.

Works

Larsson wrote three of the most popular works in Swedish art music: *''

'' (), Op. 18 (1937–1938), four vignettes to ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'' by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

*'' Pastoral Suite'' (), for orchestra, Op. 19 (1938) *'' God in Disguise'' (), a non-religious

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

(officially "lyrical suite") for narrator, soprano, baritone, mixed choir, and orchestra, Op. 24 (1940) Larsson's most important symphonic works are his three symphonies for full orchestra: * Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 2 (1927–1928) * Symphony No. 2 in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: Changes ...

, Op. 17 (1937) * Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 34 (1944–1945) Larsson also wrote a Sinfonietta for string orchestra and a popular '' Little Serenade''. He wrote a series of '' Twelve Concertinos'' for solo instruments: flute, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, double bass, and piano. Larsson's Saxophone Concerto, written for Sigurd Raschèr in 1934, is one of the first major works for saxophone to utilize ideas of non-standard tonality. The

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

, Op. 42 (1952) is another important work, as is the opera '' Prinsessan av Cypern''.

References

Sources

HNH Page on LarssonClassical Composers page

External links

Larsson Music School
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Lars-Erik 1908 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Swedish classical composers Litteris et Artibus recipients Swedish opera composers Swedish male opera composers People from Burlöv Municipality Royal College of Music, Stockholm, alumni Academic staff of the Royal College of Music, Stockholm 20th-century Swedish musicians Pupils of Alban Berg Academic staff of Uppsala University 20th-century Swedish male musicians Swedish film score composers Swedish male film score composers Musicians from Skåne County