# DLP #4: Hugo Alfven's Symphony 3 in E Major



## Robert Gamble (Dec 18, 2016)

Deep Listening Project - Week #4: Submitted by yours truly.

Getting this in a few hours early because tomorrow might be a busy one for me.

I really have no starting comments other than that in my spreadsheet I gave this symphony a 9.5 out of 10. The recording I have is conducted by Neeme Jarvi, but this is the recording I found online for others to listen to:


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I don’t recall ever listening to this symphony, but I have his Symphony No, 2. There are some interesting chord changes in the first and last movement, I wonder if it’s the Swedish folk style. The 2nd movement is nice, conjures up some nice imagery and sounds. Sometimes I think late/post Romanticism has the best of both worlds, less rigid form, while still traditionally structured.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I bought this set once in a charity shop, still on the to do list, thanks yor for your advice!


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## Robert Gamble (Dec 18, 2016)

So I listened both to the Jarvi recording (from the set that Pugg posted) and then the Willen performance I linked to in the first post. Both are highly regarded by one review book I have (Third Ear).

Notes from my listening:

1st movement: Takes awhile to get going.. Starts with momentum, stops, gets going again, repeats a few times. I do like the first theme a lot. It seems a bit more coherent and less fragmented in the Willen although the sound seems a bit muddier. 

2nd Movement: Just a lovely slow movement. 

3rd Movement: A bit more of the soft/louder, stop/start type feel with a repeated theme. 

4th Movement: Love the horns in the beginning. Almost seems to have a bit of a quote from the famous theme in the Guillame Tell overture by Rossini. And then I pick up a bit of what sounds like the Lois Lane theme from Superman by John Williams (who is a somewhat notorious borrower of motifs/themes/melodies for his movies). And then something that sounds a lot like Williams does in his Star Wars incidental music. A lot of the alternating tempos/loudness again which seems to be a major characteristic throughout this symphony. The finale is fun though. Lots of forward momentum though a touch of 'stutter' at the end when the trumpets come back in.

After giving this the 'deep listen' treatment, it probably maintains a 9.5 as background due to the 'catchy' themes which I enjoy, but the repetition within each movement gets a touch boring after a bit and the changes in tempo are just a bit too often for me to really enjoy like I do, other symphonies.

Overall I drop the Symphony to a 7.5 - 8.0 when listening fully to it.. Still means I would enjoy hearing it once in awhile, but is certainly not the 'desert island' disk my original rating seems to suggest.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

The Third Ear companion guide is an interesting book. I don’t always agree with it, but it is the most comprehensive book for most of the recordings available, other than Penguin, but more in-depth in terms of the approach in the recordings than Penguin.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

After never having listened to any Alfven (to my knowledge), I dug into his 3rd, 4th & 5th symphonies and, so far, the 3rd is the only one which resonates with me. I'll wait a few days and give them another try.


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

I very much like Alfven's 3rd Symphony, especially the first two movements. The first movement is filled with bounding, joyous energy and memorable tunes, and the slow movement is absolutely gorgeous with a haunting cor anglais solo in the spirit of Dvorak's 9th. The final two movements contains some parts that are rather banal to my ears, but certainly have their enjoyable moments.


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## Robert Gamble (Dec 18, 2016)

I think my favorite of Alfven's symphonies is the 2nd but I'm glad I was able to listen to this one more closely. I agree with kyjo, the first two movements are the best.


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