Program Notes

by Betty Herten

Symphony No.2 in B flat Major

By Johan Severin Svendsen

Johan Severin Svendsen (Born September 30, 1840, in Christiana, now Oslo, Norway; died June 14, 1911, in Copenhagen, Denmark) was the son of a military band leader who instructed his son in violin, flute, and clarinet. As a boy he performed in a regimental band and dance orchestras. He also composed music for both ensembles. At age 15 he was drafted into the army as a soldier but was quickly moved into the army band. During this time he was very active in musical life in Christiana. He became the first violinist in the Norwegian Theatre Orchestra, where he had occasion to perform music of Beethoven and which stirred his interest in symphonic music. He studied the masters through lessons with Carl Arnold. He was recognized for his talents and granted a royal stipend to study at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1863 to 1867. He studied with the violin virtuoso Ferdinand David but realized he had a physical limitation with his left hand, and then he concentrated his efforts on composing and conducting. He studied with Hauptman, Richter, and Reinecke, (as had Grieg. They were at the Leipzig Conservatory at the same time.) While a conservatory student Svendsen composed his Octet for Strings and Symphony No. 1.

Svendsen traveled to Paris in 1868, where he gave a rousing performance of Grieg’s Second Violin Concerto. From there he went to London, then Weimar, where he met Franz Liszt. He became friends with the Wagners, staying with them and performing in the orchestra at Bayreuth. From 1872 to 1877 he joined Grieg at the Harmonic Society in Christiana, Norway, as a co-conductor and music teacher. He was dissatisfied with the lack of financial recognition in Norway so he took a position as the director of the Royal Danish Theater in Copenhagen. He had his work cut out for him as a conductor there, bringing the orchestra members in line and making them more serious professionals. He was a very successful director and held this position for 25 years. He was also a very famous conductor, giving performances in all the major capitals in Europe. In 1898 Svendsen was invited to become musical director of both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. He did not wish to risk his secure position in Copenhagen for an uncertain future in a foreign environment. Besides, he had a bad experience with an American wife, who had thrown his completed transcript for his third symphony into the fireplace.

Svendsen’s list of compositions includes two symphonies, such orchestral masterworks as the four Norwegian Rhapsodies, Carnival in Paris, Festival Polonaise, Zorahayda, Norwegian Artists’ Carnival, and the famous Romance for Violin and Orchestra. Until 1890 Svendsen was the Nordic composer whose works were performed most frequently outside Scandinavia. As a conductor he was also instrumental in launching the careers of his contemporaries, Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius. His musical style belongs to the late romantic period; while some of his music has Norwegian themes, his style is heavily influenced by Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Wagner.

Symphony No.2 in B flat major, Opus 15, was written in 1874 while Svendsen was in Norway with Grieg at the Harmonic Society and premiered there on October 14, 1876.