Moses Pergament (21 September 1893 – 5 March 1977) was a Finnish-Swedish composer, conductor, and music critic. He is largely seen as one of the most influential figures in the first generation of Swedish modernism.

Biography

Education

Pergament studied music at various locations across Europe during his youth, including at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty member ...

between 1908 and 1912. He then returned to Finland, studying at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, and later moved to Sweden and studied at the

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

in 1919, gaining Swedish citizenship a year prior. He studied at the Stern Conservatory of Berlin from 1921 to 1923.

Career

He was a composer of primarily classical music, having written four string quarters, a violin concerto, two piano concertos, and the choral symphony ''Den judiska sången'', as well as various a cappella choir compositions. He made his compositional debut in Finland in 1914. He has also composed compositions for various Swedish films, one of them being ''

Barabbas According to the New Testament, Barabbas () was a Jewish bandit and rabble-rouser who was imprisoned by the Judaea (Roman province), Roman occupation in Jerusalem, only to be chosen over Jesus by a crowd to be pardoned by Roman governor Pontius ...

'' in 1953. Pergament conducted both orchestras and choirs during his time as a composer. He was a music critic at the

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

in 1923. In the 1940s, the

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

choir would perform some of his a capella compositions during a tour in the United States. His symphony, ''Den judiska sången'', was a piece that became famous among European Jewry due to its basis in the ongoing

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in Europe at the time. The composition, along with others that he would write, held many influences of

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

language and culture. In 1952, he became a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

. In 1967, he received the .

Personal life

He married Ilse Maria Kutleb in 1923; she died in 1960. He died in Stockholm in 1977 at the age of 83. He is the brother of Finnish composer Simon Parmet as well as uncle to Finnish pianist Erna Tauro through his brother Isak.

Selected works

* ''Duo for violin and cello op. 28'' (1917) * Sonata for violin and piano (1920) * ''Krelantems och Eldeling'', ballet music for orchestra (1921) * ''String Quartet No. 1'' (1922) * ''Rapsodia ebraica'' (1935) * ''Swedish Rhapsody for orchestra'' (1941) * ''Den judiska sången'' ("Jewish song"), choral symphony for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1944) * ''Dibbuk'' (1948) * ''String Quartet No. 2; Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra'' (1952) * ''Cellokonzert'' (1954) * ''Concerto for cello and orchestra'' (1955) * ''Five sketches for string quartet'' (1956) * ''Concerto for viola and orchestra'' (1964) * ''String Quartet No. 3'' (1967) * ''Sonata for flute and piano'' (1968) * ''String Quartet No. 4; Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra'' (1975)

Film soundtracks

* '' They Staked Their Lives'' (1940) * '' The Girl and the Devil'' (1944) * ''

'' (1953)

References

External links

Recording of ''The Jewish Song'' (1944)
at YouTube
Recording of ''Dibbuk'' (1948)
at YouTube
Recording of ''Cellokonzert'' (1954)
at YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Pergament, Moses 1893 births 1977 deaths Finnish conductors (music) Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Finnish music critics University of Helsinki alumni Stockholm University alumni Jewish classical composers Finnish classical composers