Langgaard above Sibelius and Nielsen? That's a pretty damn high ranking.

 

A very well deserved one.... JMO...

 

I can´t make it less than 10, & subject to change, but - in no particular order:

Nielsen
Langgaard
Holmboe
Nørgård
Atterberg
Pettersson
Grieg
Valen
Sibelius
Saariaho

 

To avoid yet another "Scandinavia" definition discussion, let's say Nordic composers (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, iceland).

My pick:

1. Sibelius
2. Grieg
3. Rautavaara
4. Sallinen
5. Nielsen (Carl)

 

I have not listen to Sallinen... Your ranking makes me curious to listen to him....thanks.

 

1. Grieg
2. Sibelius
3. Leifs
4. Stenhammar
5. Nielsen

 

thanks.........................

 

Concerning Langgaard, I won´t miss the opportunity here to promote his symphonies 4, 6 and 10, especially in the Frandsen and Stupel recordings.

 

4 and 6 are actually the ones I enjoyed the most. And maybe 5. I think 4-6 is probably his best chunk of work as far as the symphonies are concerned.

Most of the other ones seem really big and sprawling without much interesting material to justify it. That's just how I've been hearing them though.

And this is just a small subjective beef I have, but for some reason it bugged the hell out of me that he began the 7th and 13th symphonies in the exact same way!

 

Such a list would not be complete without the great Alan Pettersson, IMO.

 

So where's the great Alan Petterson?

He is # 3 in my list after Langaard and Sibelius. Alan Pettersson is a remarkable composer whose music has not received the recognition it deserves. I would encourage everyone to listen to his symphonies. It is another world altogether.

 

1. Sibelius
2. Leifs
3. Saariaho
4. Roman
5. Berwald

Best regards, Dr

 

Did you include Berwald because he was a doctor? Just checking

 

Petersson's music really excites me. I can barely follow any of it yet. I love it!

 

His music has been described as the "lonely voice in the wilderness". Time for me to re-listen to his symphonies!

 

Pettersson´s 1st has just been released by BIS in Lindberg´s reconstruction.

 

Do you know how much of it is Pettersson's original?

 

I'd respond, but I'm terrified I'll misinterpret the term "Scandinavian."

 

Just follow Art Rock's guide for this thread.

 

I suppose this here 'great' doesn't give the pleasure-of-hearing element much advantage over quantity. Or is there another reason for Crusell not being in the listings?

 

Jón Þór Birgisson
Teitur Lassen

 

These are very rare names?

 

1)Sibelius
2)Nielsen
3)Berwald
4)Holmboe
5)Stenhammar

problem-this listing does not reflect how significant Sibelius is to me personally as he is my favourite composer fullstop!
Holboe is there as a result of a recent encounter with two of his impressive symphonies......

 

Sibelius over Grieg over everybody else, with Nielsen close to the bottom of the list.

 

Grieg I find disarming and charming. Sibelius, not!!!

 

Sibelius 7 is probably among my top 5 compositions of all time.

 

I have a taped performance of the Chicago Symphony doing the great Pettersson 7th live. Naturally I can't find it.
So I woke the folks up at Amazon and ordered a CD of it.

 

1. Grieg
2. Sibelius
3. Nielsen
4. Rautavaara
5. Per Nørgård (I was going to say Veljo Tormis... but he's Estonian)

 

I think the point is diverse opinions - that these composers continue to be discussed, looked upon and re-explored in new ways, yet still as points of reference.

 

1. Grieg
2. Sibelius
3. Nielsen
4. Rautavaara
5. Alfven

Just my opinion

 

Let me guess....If Glazunov was Scandinavian, he would be #1 Have you listened to Langgaard and/or Pettersson?

 

5 pages and only two people insisted on listing more than 5 for the sake of namedropping. Not bad, TC

For now, probably going with...

1) Sibelius
2) Grieg
3) Nielsen
4) Rautavaara
5) Norgard

 

5 pages and only two people insisted on listing more than 5 for the sake of namedropping. Not bad, TC

You know Arcane, name dropping is the name of the game!

It'll be even worse in the; Can You name 100 or more Favourite Scandinavian Composers thread!

/ptr

 

I don't even know enough Scandinavian composers to really participate in this (the last three I've heard at maximum two pieces from), but...

1) Sibelius
2) Grieg
3) Crusell
4) Halvorsen
5) Englund

 

I don't even know enough Scandinavian composers to really participate in this (the last three I've heard at maximum two pieces from), but...

1) Sibelius
2) Grieg
3) Crusell
4) Halvorsen
5) Englund

Dag yo, I forgot about Halvorsen. I love his Scenes from Norwegian Fairytales, sort of a compliment to Peer Gynt.

 

Sibelius above all because of his developmental-organic technique, form and orchestration. The themes grow from small motifs seeded at the beginning and reach their maximum glory when the brass takes over and the tempo accelerates in the strings. Also, he seems to have taken more care in the writing of his symphonies than
the bombastic Langgaard.

There are various paths into Sibelius: from the first symphony, from the tone poems like En Saga (for Grieg fans?), from the fourth symphony (for Mahler fans) and Kullervo (for Langaard fans?), from the cantatas like Oma maa, from the string quartet Voces Intimae, from the Violin Concerto, from the various bagatelles for piano and for orchestra like Spring Song. Grieg had talent for the piano, strings and programmatic stuff, but for the symphony we'll never know (that early symphony doesn't count).

 

1 Jean Sibelius
2 Carl Nielsen
3 Edvard Grieg
4 Ture Rangström
5 Kurt Atterberg

 

1 Sibelius
2 Nielsen
3 Grieg
4 Stenhammar
5 Rautavaara

But this exhausts my knowledge of Scandinavian composers I'm afraid to say. Really I should explore more Scandanavian music!

 

I can't do the top five (there's simply too much talent in that part of the world), but I'll list the top eleven or twelve (in no particular order):

Nielsen
Langgaard
Atterberg
Pettersson
Grieg
Sibelius
Merikanto (his opera "Juha" is a masterpiece!)
Rautavaara
Alfven
Berwald
Melartin
Stenhammar

Honorable mentions: Klami, Leevi Madetoja, Kallervo Tuukkanen, Gade, Toivo Kuula, Per Nørgård, Ludvig Irgens-Jensen.

Which reminds me that I probably should start the Estonian thread, for there are striking similarities between the music of Estonia and that of Scandinavia (Sweden, but especially Finland).