A Winter's Tale (Larsson)
| A Winter's Tale | |
|---|---|
| by Lars-Erik Larsson | |
 The composer | |
| Native name | En vintersaga |
| Opus | 18 |
| Composed | 1938 |
| Publisher | Gehrmans Musikförlag (1945) |
| Duration | Approx. 9 minutes[1] |
| Movements | 4 |
A Winter's Tale (in Swedish: En vintersaga; subtitled: Four Vignettes after Shakespeare (Fyra vinjetter till Shakespeares)), Op. 18, is a four-movement suite for orchestra written from 1937 to 1938 by Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson. The Epilogue (No. 4) is often performed and recorded as a stand-alone concert piece.
Background
Beginning in 1937, the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation—the country's national, publicly funded radio—employed Larsson as a composer-in-residence, music producer, and conductor;[2] his main task was to write music to accompany various radio programs.[3] One of Larsson's colleagues was the Swedish poet Hjalmar Gullberg, who had joined Swedish Radio the year before and headed its drama division.[4] Together, the two men developed a genre of popular entertainment they called the "lyrical suite",[a] which alternated recited poetry with musical interludes.[5][4][6] Larsson's first commission of this type was to compose four orchestral vignettes to accompany the 1938 radio recitation of a Swedish-language translation Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale; he subsequently published these as A Winter's Tale.
Structure
A Winter's Tale, which lasts about 9 to 10 minutes, is in four movements. They are as follows:[1]
- Siciliana: Andantino
- Intermezzo: Allegro leggiero
- Pastoral: Allegretto pastorale
- Epilogue (Epilog): Andante
Instrumentation
A Winter's Tale is scored the following instruments:[1]
- Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B♭), and 2 bassoons
- Brass: 2 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in C), and trombone
- Percussion: timpani
- Strings: violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and harp
Gehrmans Musikförlag published the suite in 1945.[1]
Recordings
The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of A Winter's Tale:
| No. | Conductor | Orchestra | Rec.[b] | Time | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stig Westerberg | Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | 1977 | 10:19 | Stockholm Concert Hall | Swedish Society Discofil | |
| 2 | Jan-Olav Wedin | Stockholm Sinfonietta | 1980 | 10:24 | Cirkus | BIS | |
| 3 | Mario Bernardi | CBC Vancouver Orchestra | 1992 | 10:02 | Orpheum | CBC Records | |
| 4 | Dorrit Matson | New York Scandia Symphony | 2001 | 10:53 | Trinity Church | Centaur | |
| 5 | Christopher Warren-Green | Jönköping Sinfonietta | 2002 | 9:51 | Jönköping Concert Hall | Intim Musik | |
| 6 | Alexander Hanson | Norrköping Symphony Orchestra | 2009 | 10:51 | De Geerhallen | Naxos | |
| 7 | Andrew Manze | Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra | 2011 | 10:19 | Helsingborg Concert Hall | cpo |
Notes, references, and sources
- Notes
- ^ The original Swedish is "lyrisk svit".
- ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
- ^ S. Westerberg–Swedish Society (SCD 1051) 1997
- ^ J. Wedin–BIS (CD–165) 1988
- ^ M. Bernardi–CBC (SMCD5157) 1996
- ^ D. Matson–Centaur (CRC2607) 2002
- ^ C. Warren-Green–Intim Musik (IMCD 082) 2003
- ^ A. Hanson–Naxos (8.572339) 2009
- ^ A. Manze–cpo (777 671–2) 2014
- References
- ^ a b c d Gehrmans Musikförlag.
- ^ Schlüren 2014, p. 14.
- ^ Nyström 1993, p. 6.
- ^ a b Skans 1989, p. 2.
- ^ Schlüren 2014, p. 15.
- ^ Lundin 2002, p. 2.
- Sources
- "En vintersaga: Fyra vinjetter" [The Winter's Tale: Four vignettes]. gehrmans.se. Gehrmans Musikförlag. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- Lundin, Peter (2002). Lars-Erik Larsson: God in Disguise / Little Serenade, Op. 12 / Winter's Tale, Op. 18 / Pastoral Suite, Op. 19 (CD booklet). Translated by Schenck, Linda. Christopher Warren-Green & Jönköping Sinfonietta. Intim musik. p. 2–3. IMCD 082. OCLC 53054794
- Nyström, Martin (1993). Lars-Erik Larsson: Förklädd Gud (God in Disguise) / Pastoral Suite / Violin Concerto (CD booklet). Esa-Pekka Salonen & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Sony Classical. p. 6–7. SK 64140. OCLC 34697048
- Schlüren, Christoph (2014). Lars-Erik Larsson: Symphony No. 1 / Music for Orchestra / Lyric Fantasy (CD booklet). Translated by Robinson, J. Bradford. Andrew Manze & Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. cpo. p. 13–17. 777 671–2. OCLC 880851753
- Skans, Per (1989). Lars-Erik Larsson: Förklädd Gud (God in Disguise), Op. 24 / Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 34 (CD booklet). Sten Frykberg & Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. BIS. p. 2–4. CD–96. OCLC 21568279
