Allan Pettersson for Newbies

[mahler10th]

 

Allan Pettersson for Newbies

Have you ever heard Allans music?  Well, for me, it's a little like this...I insert the disc and the music autoplays. On this occassion I'm listening to his last Symphony, number 15, but it really doesn't matter which one I'm listening to.  Why?  Because there is no other composer out there who does this to me...

Just before the music starts, I am greeted by the grey bearded Pettersson who puts his hand on my shoulder and says "Please, listen to this John, it's all about life."  The music starts and that's it. I am sitting in a room alone with only a Pettersson Symphony for company. The Pettersson Symphony reveals unto me all manner of machinations, internal and external textures, a rolling series of events which paint a life of conflict and uncertainty (but underpinned with a power which Pettersson promises between the notes is already mine.)
Bizzare.  Pettersson has to be heard alone, in a room!

Anyway, I have a great reverence for this composer because he says so much and teaches so much in a style that is ALWAYS moving forward to resolution which is achieved more often than not through the synthesis of the whole work. Damn, his music is so often difficult to understand, but pay attention en voyage...his roads are as simple as a clear Motorway but as rich and complex as a busy spaghetti junction.  His music is very much 'in the moment', so you can't really contrast a passage with what comes later because...well...because his passages are like compressed statements and...er...action packed whirlygigs.

Recommendation:  Lock yourself in a room and allow Pettersson to talk to you through his music.  Start with Symphony Number 15.  In a few short seconds you will come to know that he's not messing about.  And in five minuites he will have taken you through the colourful matrix of two minds (his and yours) trying to come to terms with what the World is is all about by living through it.  By the end of the whole single movement 15th Symphony, the horrors of living will have been revealed, and you must proceed post-haste to peel yourself off the cieling whilst the last symphonic note draws out.  

Hmm.  I'm nuts.   I wrote this whilst listening to 15th.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

By the end of the whole single movement 15th Symphony, the horrors of living will have been revealed,

Definitely a composer who wrote the same symphony 16 times. Did he have any subject besides "the horrors of living"?

[The new erato]

Definitely a composer who wrote the same symphony 16 times. Did he have any subject besides "the horrors of living"?

Yes. The consolation of surviving.

[The new erato]

 Pettersson has to be heard alone, in a room!

Not necessarily. I've often shared Pettersson. But he HAS to be played reasonably loud, and with the extreme dynamics this means that all present have to be atuned to Pettersson. And I wouldn't start with no 15.

But otherwise extremely nicely put.

[Lethevich]

Definitely a composer who wrote the same symphony 16 times. Did he have any subject besides "the horrors of living"?

I haven't heard it for a while, but I found the 16th to be quite perky.

[71 dB]

Have you ever heard Allans music?

No.

[vandermolen]

His Violin Concerto No 2 is IMHO the greatest violin concerto of all time (I am not joking) - the last few minutes are unbearably moving. Some of the symphonies I find rather dense (but not nos 6-8), but he was a great composer.

ps Great post John 

[snyprrr]

I have been known to win hot babes over to the cause with Sym. No.8.

[Keemun]

Excellent thread, John.  My introduction to Pettersson was his 7th Symphony, which is my favorite (so far).  I've also listened to Symphonies Nos. 8 and 15 and Mesto for String Orchestra.  But Pettersson is not a composer I listen to frequently, or in large doses. 

[mahler10th]

...Pettersson is not a composer I listen to frequently, or in large doses. 

lol     Regardless, you have an appreciation for his music and he's in your collection.  I would hate to meet the person who overplays Pettersson.  I don't think they would be well.

(in response to "Have you heard Allans Music?"  I really laughed at this.  Nothing like brief honesty...

No.

By suggesting a listening of the 15th, it fits the Pettersson paradigm I'm promoting... ... ...

[Grazioso]

No.

You're missing one of the greats of the 20th century. You might want to start with the 7th and 8th symphonies, two of his most accessible and beautiful. Some of his other symphonies can be very dense, thorny, and hard to follow at first. And all his music is extremely intense and personal, as John describes. You have to be ready to receive it.

[Sergeant Rock]

I would hate to meet the person who overplays Pettersson.

You missed paulb then? Lucky you.

I don't think they would be well.

He wasn't.  

Sarge

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

I would hate to meet the person who overplays Pettersson.  I don't think they would be well.

Cause or implication or both?
My wife (birds, whistles, music for the moment, no dark valleys, please) is thinking the same about late romantic period listeners in general. Morbid souls. Taking a different point of view, e.g. African music, I would agree . The old story "we europeans had all the ups and downs, and wars and peace, the real depth, which is reflected by the european music"

Anyway, I like some Pettersson output. Syms 6,7,8,9. To me, the 6th is at least as accessible as 7 and 8. The ninth is harder to crack.

BTW.. As a composer of often dark and negative themes, he didn't make use of low/dark timpani noises, did he? Frrom what I remember.

[Grazioso]

BTW.. As a composer of often dark and negative themes, he didn't make use of low/dark timpani noises, did he? Frrom what I remember.

He probably uses snare drum rolls more than any 20 composers combined.

[Dr. Dread]

Okay, I'll bite. Which recording of the 15th? Oh, and V Cto #2?

[snyprrr]

Okay, I'll bite. Which recording of the 15th? Oh, and V Cto #2?

BIS 3/15 (why the 15th? I'd rather drift you to No.14 (Commissiona), though, of course, there's nothing wrong with the 15th)

Caprice /Vln Cto 2 w/Ida Haendel (Sym No.16, the saxophone symphony, is also cool)

or... sym No.5 and the Viola Cto on BIS...

NO ONE has mentioned the super hot mess, Sym No.13, the longest single mvmt sym in history! Super complex and messy, this has to be Pettersson's whatever-you-call-it. Roger Sessions, eat your heart out!

[71 dB]

You're missing one of the greats of the 20th century. You might want to start with the 7th and 8th symphonies, two of his most accessible and beautiful. Some of his other symphonies can be very dense, thorny, and hard to follow at first. And all his music is extremely intense and personal, as John describes. You have to be ready to receive it.

I did listen to the 7th (BIS) on Spotify some time ago. I did like it.  0:)

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

NO ONE has mentioned the super hot mess, Sym No.13, the longest single mvmt sym in history! Super complex and messy, this has to be Pettersson's whatever-you-call-it. Roger Sessions, eat your heart out!

I never understood No. 13. One day I'll try again... Here's a review from the old forum:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=605.msg57793#msg57793

[jlaurson]

The latest piece on WETA is about Pettersson--and about a recording that would strike me as rather suitable to a Pettersson Newbie.

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=780

[Sef]

Anyway, I like some Pettersson output. Syms 6,7,8,9. To me, the 6th is at least as accessible as 7 and 8. The ninth is harder to crack.

I've been wanting to listen to the 9th for a while now, but I've never seen it anywhere except to buy on CD,  and call me old fashioned but I'd rather know what I'm buying before I cough up much cash. In that tradition, #7 cost $1.99 from eclassical, 8 was from a link on the Pettersson thread if I remember correctly, and there is an mp3 recording of the Kamu 6th floating about somewhere that I snatched.

Anyway, found this a couple of days ago

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ixmh9x

The first 70 minutes of which is the 9th (complete with tiny annoying blips at each of the CD track changes!). I've only played it twice so far, and yes, I agree that it is a tougher nut to crack. Once I do I may be in the market for the box set.