Adolf Fredrik Lindblad - Symphony No.2 in D major (1855), Gävleborg Symphony Orchestra, Mats Liljefors (conductor)
I. Maestoso - Allegro molto - 00:00
II. Poco Allegretto - 10:50
III. Scherzo, Allegro molto - 19:45
IV. Finale, Allegro - 27:43
Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1 February 1801, Skänninge - 23 August 1878, Linköping) was a Swedish composer from the Romantic era.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was little to boast about in Swedish music life. Even in the capital Stockholm it was of a very provincial character. A few currents from continental Europe to the south did however reach Stockholm. In the early 1780s Haydn's symphonies were beginning to be introduced there and towards the end of the decade a symphony by Mozart was performed. One of Beethoven's first two symphonies was performed in Stockholm for the first time in 1805, although the Eroica had to wait until 1816. There was hardly an indigenous symphonic tradition to speak of in Sweden. A few rather modest works bearing the title sinfonia had been composed during the eighteenth century, and several more by immigrant musicians, above all from Germany.
Lindblad learned to play the piano and flute, and at the age of fifteen had a flute concerto of his performed in Norrköping. Shortly after this, however, his well-intentioned foster-father sent him to learn a trade in Hamburg. On his retum he divided his time between office work and piano lessons, but when he moved to Uppsala in spring 1823 he had decided to devote himself entirely to music. He received lessons in harmony for a year or so from J. C. F. Haeffner. He also spend a year in Berlin, where he studied composition with Zelter and struck up a warm friendship with Zelter's star pupil, the seventeen-year-old Felix Mendelssohn.
Back in Sweden in 1827, Lindblad started a piano school in Stockholm, which he headed until 1861. For many years he was the favoured music-teacher to the Crown Prince, the future Oscar 1, and later to the King's musical children Prince Gustavus and Princess Eugenie.
By the end of the 1820s he was composing the songs, romanser, Lieder or simple folk-songs that made him hugely popular during his life, and for which he is especially remembered today.
In 1831 he completed a Symphony in C major. The first complete performance of the symphony took place at the Riddarhuset in Stockholm on 25th March 1832. Later, the Symphony was played at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig under Mendelssohn and received a very positive review from Robert Schumann in the leading German music journal.
After many years, another symphony, Symphony No. 2 in D major, was first performed on 6th May 1855 during a very long concert which also included, amongst other items, Beethoven's Ninth. It is perhaps not surprising that in such a context Lindblad's Second seemed somewhat pale and insignificant to the audience and that no publisher deemed it fit for publication. Artistically, however, Lindblad's Symphony No. 2 is in no way inferior to his First Symphony. It is very well constructed. The instrumentation is just as elegant, his mastery of form greater and the counterpoint more striking. The thematic material is carefully chosen.
There are a number of fairly obvious influences on this work. Perhaps it is almost inevitable that his hero Beethoven would have some stylistic input. And also it seems reasonable that his good friend Felix Bartholdy would have some bearing on the work. And then again it was composed in the same milieu as the great symphonic works of Franz Berwald (massively underrated composer and symphonist). But for all this seeming influence we have here a very fine work - if not a masterpiece. However, every work we hear does not have to be a masterpiece. Not even the great masters were able to produce consistently inspired works. Even Beethoven wrote some third rate music during his lifetime. (from Notes by Per Gösta Bergfors and from „Swedish musical heritage”)