Composer. He was the most important Swedish composer of the 19th Century and Scandinavia's first great symphonist. His original style combined Romantic imagination with a certain Nordic flavor and color. Berwald was born in Stockholm into a family of musicians. He played violin in the Chapel Royal Orchestra of Karl XIII and launched a short-lived magazine, the "Musical Journal," in 1818. Most of his career was spent in creative isolation. The audience laughed at his Violin Concerto (1821), and his attempts to secure a teaching post at the Stockholm Conservatory were repeatedly rejected. The Symphony No. 1 in G Minor ("Serieuse," 1841) was the only one of his four symphonies to be performed during his lifetime. Unable to make a living at music, he ran an orthopedic clinic in Berlin and later managed a glassworks. Berwald gained some notoriety in Germany and Austria, but it was not until the premiere of his opera "Estrella de Soria" (1862), when he was 66, that he was recognized in his homeland. In 1866 he was awarded the Order of the North Star and in 1867 was finally appointed professor of composition at Stockholm Conservatory. A few months later he died of pneumonia. Berwald's Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major ("Naive") was first performed in 1878, but the Symphony No. 2 in D Major ("Capriceuse") and Symphony No. 3 in C Major ("Singuliere") had to wait until the 20th Century to be heard. Stockholm's Swedish Radio Concert Hall, built in 1979, is named the "Berwald-Haller" in his honor.
Composer. He was the most important Swedish composer of the 19th Century and Scandinavia's first great symphonist. His original style combined Romantic imagination with a certain Nordic flavor and color. Berwald was born in Stockholm into a family of musicians. He played violin in the Chapel Royal Orchestra of Karl XIII and launched a short-lived magazine, the "Musical Journal," in 1818. Most of his career was spent in creative isolation. The audience laughed at his Violin Concerto (1821), and his attempts to secure a teaching post at the Stockholm Conservatory were repeatedly rejected. The Symphony No. 1 in G Minor ("Serieuse," 1841) was the only one of his four symphonies to be performed during his lifetime. Unable to make a living at music, he ran an orthopedic clinic in Berlin and later managed a glassworks. Berwald gained some notoriety in Germany and Austria, but it was not until the premiere of his opera "Estrella de Soria" (1862), when he was 66, that he was recognized in his homeland. In 1866 he was awarded the Order of the North Star and in 1867 was finally appointed professor of composition at Stockholm Conservatory. A few months later he died of pneumonia. Berwald's Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major ("Naive") was first performed in 1878, but the Symphony No. 2 in D Major ("Capriceuse") and Symphony No. 3 in C Major ("Singuliere") had to wait until the 20th Century to be heard. Stockholm's Swedish Radio Concert Hall, built in 1979, is named the "Berwald-Haller" in his honor.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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