Hugo Alfvén was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 1, 1872. His music
study took place at the Stockholm Conservatory and, on government
stipends, with César Thomson in Brussels, and in Germany and France.
From 1910 to 1939 he was musical director and conductor of the student
chorus at the Uppsala University. Alfvén was a nationalist composer of
Romantic tendencies who wrote five symphonies together with a
considerable amount of orchestral and choral music. He died in Faluns,
Sweden, on May 8, 1960.
_Midsummer Vigil_ (_Midsommarvaka_), op. 19 (1904), a Swedish rhapsody
for orchestra, is his best known composition. It was produced as a
ballet, _La Nuit de Saint-Jean_, in Paris on October 25, 1925, where it
proved so successful that it was given more than 250 performances within
four years. As a work for symphony orchestra it has received universal
acclaim for its attractive deployment of national Swedish folk song
idioms and dance rhythms. The music describes a revel held in small
Swedish towns during the St. John’s Eve festival. The work opens with a
gay tune for clarinet over plucked strings. This is followed by a
burlesque subject for bassoon. Muted strings and English horns then
offer a broad, stately, and emotional folk song. Repeated by the French
horns, this song is soon amplified by the strings. The tempo now
quickens, and a rustic dance theme is given softly by the violins. The
mood gradually becomes frenetic. The violins offer a passionate subject
over a pedal point. A climax is finally reached as the revelry becomes
unconfined.