Franz Adolf Berwald - Violin Concerto in C sharp minor, Op. 2, Tobias Ringborg (violin), Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Niklas Willén (conductor)
I. Allegro moderato - 00:00
II. Adagio - 12:15 ---- III. Rondo. Allegretto - 14:40
Franz Adolf Berwald (born in Stockholm on July 23, 1796 and died there on April 3, 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer who was generally ignored during his lifetime and had to make his living as an orthopedic surgeon and, later, as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory. He is now considered the finest Swedish composer of the 19th century, indeed probably the finest Swedish composer of any century.
Berwald came from a family with four generations of musicians; his father, a violinist in the Royal Opera Orchestra, taught young Berwald the violin from an early age. He soon appeared in concerts. In 1811, Karl XIII (brother of Gustavus III) came to power and reinstated the Royal Chapel; the following year Berwald started working there, as well as playing the violin in the court orchestra and the opera, receiving lessons from Edouard du Puy. He also started composing. The summers were off-season for the orchestra, and Berwald travelled around Scandinavia, Finland and Russia.
His early compositions were not well received, with a critic writing, “It seems as if Herr Berwald’s hunt for originality and his constant striving to impress with great effects has deliberately banished all melodiousness from his compositions.” Berwald’s reply was equally blunt, and he basically managed to alienate the entire musical establishment of Stockholm. As such he applied for a grant from the king to travel to Germany in 1822. After several unsuccessful applications, Berwald finally managed to depart for Berlin in 1829 and met with Felix Mendelssohn. However, a number of operatic projects failed to reach fruition, and as his funding dried up he decided to make a living by founding an orthopedic institute in 1835. His foray into bone setting turned out to be rather successful, and apparently, some of the orthopedic devices he invented were still in use decades after his death. He also ran a saw-mill and a glass works. Once, when he was asked if he was a composer his reply was "No, I'm a glassblower". Financially more stable, Berwald sold his business and moved to Vienna in 1841 to resume his compositional career.
In 1866, Berwald received the Swedish Order of the Polar Star, in recognition of his musical achievements. The following year, the Board of the Royal Musical Academy appointed Berwald professor of musical composition at the Stockholm Conservatory, only to have the Conservatory Board reverse the decision a few days later, and appoint another. The royal family stepped in, and Berwald got the post. At around that time he was also given many important commissions, but he did not live to fulfill them all.
Berwald died in Stockholm in 1868 of pneumonia and was interred there in the Norra begravningsplatsen (Northern Cemetery). The second movement of the Symphony No. 1 was played at his funeral.
„Both the man and his music were often misunderstood. We now appreciate his musical legacy, particularly his symphonies and opera overtures, his tone poems and his music for violin. But relatively little of his music was performed in his own lifetime - and that which was performed was sometimes badly received and reviewed. A reputation for arrogance and reserve probably didn't help either and he was outspoken in his criticism of the Swedish musical establishment. Yet he was also capable of great generosity to friends, students, and even to complete strangers.”
Almost completely forgotten, it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Berwald’s music became a reference point for a younger generation of Swedish composers. Carl Nielsen wrote in 1911, “Neither the media, money nor power can damage or benefit good Art. It will always find some simple, decent artists who forge ahead and produce and stand up for their works. In Sweden, you have the finest example of this: Berwald.”