# TC Listening Club Part 4: Symphony No. 3 (Rangström)



## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

AKA "Sång under stjärnorna" ("Song under the stars") and chosen by violadude.

PURCHASE OPTIONS

There are not many available recordings of this that I can find, but here are the ones available on Amazon. Any additions to this list welcome:

Rangström: Symphonies 1 & 3 (Furst, Helsingborg Sym. Orch) (Sterling)
Rangström: Complete Symphonies (Jurowski, Norrkoping Sym. Orch.) (CPO)
Rangström: Symphonies 3 & 4 (Jurowski, Norrkoping Sym. Orch.) (CPO)

YouTube LINK

For those who require it:






OTHER INFORMATION

Since this is a lesser known composer, I have gathered a collection of information about him and his works:

(The following taken from the All Music Guide and written by Erik Erikson)

One of Sweden's most favored composers of song, Ture Rangström left a number of works for voice and piano figuring prominently in the recital performances of celebrated Swedish singers. From Jussi Björling, Nicolai Gedda, Elisabeth Söderström, Kerstin Meyer, and Birgit Nilsson to later artists such as Anne-Sofie von Otter, Håkan Hagegård, Birgitta Svendén, and Solveig Kringelborn, Scandinavian singers brought Rangström's works before an international public. Aside from his important song literature, other aspects of the composer's career also demand attention: Rangström was a respected conductor, a critic of no small influence, and-as founder of the Swedish Society of Composers in 1924-a capable organizer. After studying composition and taking beginning voice lessons in his native country, Rangström underwent further training as a composer and singer in Berlin. There he was also instructed in composition by Hans Pfitzner. He continued to study singing in Munich, gaining a technical grounding that made his songs vocally effective and also afforded him an ongoing part-time career as a singing teacher. To supplement his income further, he worked as a critic for four publications between 1907 and 1943. Rangström made his podium debut in 1915 and was thereafter regarded as a reliable conductor. For three years, beginning in 1922, he was principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. From 1930 to 1936, he served the Royal Swedish Opera in what would later be known as public relations. Although he had felt the pull of Impressionism, Rangström drew most heavily on Romanticism as it was manifested in his native Sweden. His early orchestral works, appearing after 1910, were in the form of symphonic poems (Dityramb, Ett midsommerstycke, and En höstsång). Later, he turned to symphonies, four in all, produced between 1914 and 1936. Aside from his songs, Rangström completed some other miscellaneous orchestral pieces, a few chamber works, some cantatas, and two operas, Kronbrüden (The Crown Bride) in 1915 and Medeltida (Middle Ages), completed in 1921. In his songs, however, Rangström is most truly himself. Whether he was influenced by theories positing that song arises from speech, or simply accepted them as confirmation of his own inner beliefs, the composer wrote songs of long-spanned melody placed comfortably on the text and pleasing, never tortured, harmonic movement.

There is also the Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ture_Rangström

Some brief words concerning the Third Symphony, taken from the following review:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/oct00/rangstrom.htm

Rangström during his day was considered to belong to the young generation of Swedish composers of around 1910 who tried to introduce modernism into their music, and something of this spirit of discovery lies within these pieces. His music comes as something of a revelation: powerful, sweeping and ecstatic are all words that could be used to describe it. Sibelius considered Rangström 'head and shoulders above any other Swedish composer' and, on the evidence of this CPO set, one can see why...

...I have deliberately given the Third Symphony the last word in this review. It is the only of Rangström's symphonies in one movement, and this seems to free his imagination to heights only hinted at in the other pieces in this set. The atmosphere is fantastical and expressionistic, both in harmonic direction and in instrumentation. At times explosive, sometimes just plain manic, always striving towards a Wagnerian scale of intent, its content belies its 22-minute duration and leaves the most powerful of impressions. A stunning piece.


----------



## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

UPCOMING

The schedule for the next four Listening Club sessions will be:

PART 5: A Faust Symphony (Liszt) chosen by crmoorhead starting 09/07/12
PART 6: TBC by MMSBLS before 08/07/12 and starting 16/07/12
PART 7: TBC by Clementine before 15/07/12 and starting 23/07/12
PART 8: Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major (Beethoven) chosen by CarterJohnsonPiano and starting 30/07/12

OTHER THREADS

You can still participate in past Listening Club threads here:

http://www.talkclassical.com/19793-tc-listening-club-week.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/19883-tc-listening-club-week.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/19986-tc-listening-club-part.html

NOMINATIONS

To sign up and nominate pieces for listening, use the following thread or PM crmoorhead.

http://www.talkclassical.com/19752-listening-club.html

If a member does not nominate a piece before the deadline in the schedule, a piece will be selected at random from the list of pieces nominated by other members. Members will be given a reminder a few days before the deadline for their selection passes.


----------



## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Wow! Incredible piece, this! Very colourful. My highlights: The ostinato at 6:56 (and recurring over the next few minutes), the mysterious passage for brass starting at 9:18(which reminds me of the coda to the finale of Mahler 6), and the xylophone part at 13:16.

Another great choice for this club, which I think is doing brilliantly overall. Introducing me to works I'm not familiar with (this one) and works I probably should be familiar with (Beethoven SQ15). Long may it live!


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

This might be the first one I'm unable to participate in.... I'll try though.


----------



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Woken up by a storm a haf hour before my alarm... time to check this one out!


----------



## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

I might not participate in this one soon ... I don't have an international internet bank account and I can't easily find the physical version.


----------



## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

I prefer this youtube thread (with max volume ):





I wonder if this is the corresponding CD, even though youtube details suggest something else :


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I have the complete symphonies from CPO. Listened to it once so far, giving myself some time to sink it in. It was enjoyable but not "over the moon" at the time of first listening last year. Post Romanticism stuff.


----------



## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

What a great couple of hours catching up on the "club" listening.
Again a composer I've not come across before (can't help being a newboy)
It opens with what feels like a storm, quite dramatic
Overall I enjoyed it, perhaps not as much as the Nielsen, but still good.
I'll give it 6.5 out of 10


----------

