Karl-Birger Blomdahl (19 October 1916 – 14 June 1968) was a Swedish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

born in

Växjö Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a Municipalities of Sweden, municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial ce ...

. He was educated in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

, but was primarily active in music and by his experimental compositions he became one of the big names in Swedish

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. His teachers included

Hilding Rosenberg Hilding Constantin Rosenberg (June 21, 1892 – May 18, 1985)Lyne Peter H. Rosenberg, Hilding (Constantin). In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. was a Swedish composer and conductor. He is commonly re ...

. He died in

Kungsängen Kungsängen () is a locality and the seat of Upplands-Bro Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It b ...

, Stockholm. His third

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, ''Facettes'' – a work in one subdivided movement"''Sisyphos'' – Chamber Concerto – Symphony No. 3 ''Facetter'' – Trio for clarinet, cello and piano"
review by Jonathan Woolf of Swedish Society Discofil SCD1037 recording, musicweb-international.com as a twelve-tone variation-form piece – from 1950 is a major contribution to the repertoire. In 1959 he composed the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'' Aniara'' based on the poem by

Harry Martinson Harry Martinson (6May 190411February 1978) was a Swedish writer, poet and former sailor. In 1949 he was elected into the Swedish Academy. He was awarded a joint 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow ...

. His output of compositions also includes

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s for violin and viola, a chamber concerto for piano, winds and percussion, at least one other opera (''Herr von Hancken''), and much

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, including a trio for clarinet, cello and piano.

Works

Stage

*(1958) '' Aniara'', (libretto by Erik Lindegren based on a poem by

)
Recorded and released by

Columbia Masterworks Columbia Masterworks was a record label started in 1924 by Columbia Records. In 1980, it was separated from the Columbia label and renamed CBS Masterworks. In 1990, it was revived as Sony Classical after its sale to the Sony Corporation. Histor ...

as a double-album in the mid-60s. An edited version of ''Aniara'' was also side 2 of Columbia Masterworks 1968

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

–

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

cover-version-album of music from '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''.) It was conducted by

Werner Janssen Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen;Herr von Hancken'' (libretto by Erik Lindegren based on a book novel by Hjalmar Bergman) *(1949) ''Agamemnon''

Ballet

*(1954) ''Sisyfos'' *(1957) ''Minotaurus'' *(1962) ''Spel för åtta''

Orchestra

*(1939) ''Symphonic Dances'' *(1943) Symphony No. 1 *(1947) Symphony No. 2 *(1948) ''Pastoralsvit'' *(1950) Symphony No. 3, ''Facetter'' *(1961) ''Forma Ferritonans''

Concerto

*(1941) Concerto for Viola and Orchestra *(1946) Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra *(1953) Chamber Concerto for Piano, Winds and Percussion

Choir

*(1951–52) ''I speglarnas sal'' (after a poem by Erik Lindegren)

Film music

*(1953) '' Gycklarnas afton'' *(1965) '' Så börjar livet''

Chamber music

*(1938) Trio for Brass *(1939) String Quartet No. 1 *(1945) Little Suite, for bassoon & piano *(1948) Dance Suite No. 1, for flute, percussion & string trio *(1951) Dance Suite No. 2, for clarinet, cello & percussion *(1955) Trio for clarinet, cello and piano

Songs

*(1966) ''... The Journey in This Night'' for soprano & string orchestra (on a poem by Erik Lindegren)

Electronic

*(1966) ''Altisonans''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blomdahl, Karl-Birger 1916 births 1968 deaths Swedish opera composers Swedish male opera composers Ballet composers People from Växjö KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century Swedish classical composers Twelve-tone and serial composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians