by the Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase

Wilhelm Stenhammar is one of Sweden's most famous and popular "late Romantic" composers. Alhough he died in 1927, his music remains almost stubbornly Romantic. If it is in this sense conservative... who cares, the music is lovely. During his time, Stenhammar was one of the great pianists of Scandinavia, premiering Brahms's First Piano Concerto when he himself made his concert début at age 21. The following year, 1893, he produced and premiered his own Piano Concerto No.1 - for Berlin, the concert was conducted by no less than Richard Strauss!

And yet, Stenhammar's solo piano output is pretty small. His largest works in this genre amount to only four, including the Three Fantasies, the Sensommarnätter and two piano sonatas. Nevertheless, as this disc demonstrates, the music, taken as essentially Romantic works, is absolutely delicious.

Left: "Femme assise sous les saules" by Claude Monet, 1880

The Three Fantasies (1895) opens with a powerful but thoroughly lyrical Molto appassionato, with a Brahmsian quality to it, and perhaps also a dash of Chopin. This is followed by a light-hearted Dolce scherzando ("sweet joke"?), playful and sunny, bringing to mind a summer trip to the park, complete with the sounds of children playing. The concluding Molto espressivo is a lovely work, comprising a meditative aria framing a brief central outburst. If this German forwardness combined with a more subtle "wintry"-introspective quality can perhaps be crudely called "Nordic", it seems well demonstrated here.

The Sensommarnätter, op.33 (1900-04), or "Late Summer Nights" opens melancholically, tranquillo e soave. The notes speak of the "autumn of life" mood of these works, composed by the then 33-year-old Stenhammar. The impression of contented resignation is beautifully protrayed here, and in the Piano - Non troppo lento. The music constantly feels understatedly dark, even in the martial heroism of the poco presto, or the scherzo-like but also flowing Presto agitato.

What I liked very much about the music is the way the composer never resorts to shouting even when writing powerfully. Beautiful episodes of quiet gestures are sprinkled throughout the pieces, like flitting fairies inhabiting the forests of the aforementioned Piano. The middle of the Presto agitato, for example, has some stern admonishments, but before you know it, it flows into a quiet sigh, ending beautifully with a scintillating caress. The last of the five pieces here is the Poco allegretto, playfully light and dancey, like walking back home after the evening stroll.

But the disc is only about halfway. For an interlude, we are given the luscious and very lovely Impromptu in G-flat major. Just under four minutes, it is serene and very easy on the ear. Apparently, it is an independent piece which Stenhammar wrote for publication in the piano albums of the time, or in "Christmas supplements of newspapers"(!). Indeed, it does have a playing-by-the-fire-on-a-winter-night feel, very soothing.

The mood continues into the Molto tranquillo, semplice of the Three Small Piano Pieces. Now it seems we turn to watch a loved one being rocked to sleep, so lullabic is this piece - gem alert! The following Allegro contrasts a loud utterance with soft answers. Finally, we have a little miniature Polska, serious in execution but somehow turning out again to be more playful in spirit than it might seem.

The disc ends with the four-movement Piano Sonata in G minor, the fourth that Stenhammar (right) composed, aged 19. It begins with an 8-minute Allegro vivace e passionato typical of the Romantics, with sections confident and lyrical. The dreamy Romanza is followed by a spirited Scherzo. The moods of the sonata are remarkably well-woven from one movement to the next. From the Scherzo, the Rondo finale begins quick-footed and virtuosic, but soon, something of the wistfully singing romanza quality returns, before all ends with a confident and assertive coda.

The notes indicate that this "sonata cannot have been fully developed, as it shows few personal traits". Whatever the case, to my ears, hearing this for the first time, this is a very well-crafted piece and the musical material is highly memorable, not to mention highly enjoyable.

Throughout, Swedish pianist Niklas Sivelöv's performance is winning and, I feel, very at home - he is playing his own culture's music. Sivelöv plays every line cleanly and with great human warmth; his musical kinship is infused in every phrase, creating many of the softest beautiful endings (try track 10, the first of the Three Small Pieces). The piano tone is liquid and bright at the top, soft but focussed at the bottom. The sound balance is wonderful, capturing the tiniest piannissomo wisps and giving the loud bits an unjangling ring that perhaps contributes to the way the music doesn't shout.

Revolutionists, stay away. Romantics, feast your ears.

The Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase's experiences of a winter fire and a walk in a summer garden are mostly imagined. But he does have a fairly good imagination.

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242: 12.7.1998 ©Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase [an error occurred while processing this directive]