There is a famous silent movie titled The Phantom Carriage, notable for its early special effects, and it exists around the same time Swedish actress Greta Garbo was making a move in acting. Much later on, Ingmar Bergman made his own mark on filmmaking, creating a solid tradition in the movie world.
The two film suites to which Hugo Alfvén composed music came from the 30s and 40s, and beautiful scores they are.
Synnøve of Solbakken maintains a sweet pastoral tone, occasionally breaking into Swedish folk dance. Winds are at the fore, with many instrumental solos coming and going throughout. Most notable for me was the cuckoo of the opening scene, where the bird call is given over to the French Horn instead of the much more common flute, clarinet, or oboe attached to it. This was memorable enough for Alfvén to bring it back at the end of the six-part suite.
A Country Tale is also rather pastoral sounding, but the six sections in this concert suite are more likely to burst into inter-personal dramatics. Generally speaking, both scores are rather beautiful, yet I daresay they become overly saccharine with all of the lush Swedish landscapes opulently described in musical terms. If I can mention the French Horn again, there is wonderful soaring line that I keep coming back to in A Country Tale, one which must have sounded ravishing alongside the film.
Do not mix up the Elegy from King Gustav II Adolf, op. 49 with the Elégie (At Emil Sjögren's Funeral), op. 38. The former is a beautiful three-minute orchestral ditty, whereas the latter, found on this Naxos program, is a twelve-minute tone poem. There is a funeral march and chorale towards the start of the work which certainly catches my ear, via some curious little harmonic flecks adding subtle interest to the proceedings. I found it odd for a funeral elegy to be programmed at the end of a film album, but it works remarkably well.
Swedish conductor Niklas Willén can be found on numerous recordings promoting the orchestral music of Nordic composers. On Naxos, he recorded all of Alfvén's symphonies, aside many of the composer's orchestral works, all collected on a 7CD set, of which this film music program under review is CD6. I don't own that set, but I was interested in what Alfvén contributed to film, so I purchased this single entry separately. The Sterling label also recorded these two same film scores, but the Synnøve of Solbakken suite is incomplete on that recording, although A Country Tale is brought in some 10-minute quicker.
I am not familiar with the Norrköpping Symphony Orchestra, but they are a lovely-sounding ensemble here. The Naxos engineering is equal to the task, where I don't have any sonic or performance qualms at all.
These film suites find Hugo Alfvén without any sharp edges, but I think many will find this music quite beautiful. I certainly do, yet the prevailing bucolic atmosphere can become oversweet after a while. Otherwise, there is much to enjoy.
Works
Synnøve of Solbakken: Suite, op. 50 (27.48)
A Country Tale: Suite, op. 53 (33.09)
Elégie (At Emil Sjögren's Funeral), op. 38 (12.15)
Performers
Norrköpping Symphony Orchestra
Niklas Willén, conductor
Label: Naxos
Year: 2007
Total Timing: 73.12
I would imagine those who want beautiful, Romantic film music will have a lot to enjoy here.
This is certainly Hugo Alfvén in full countryside mode, and rarely does he retreat from this approach in these film score suites. This ends up being almost too much of a good thing.
Regardless, these are lovely performances, straight from the homeland.
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