Wilhelm Stenhammar

Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1929) is best known outside Sweden for his Symphony No. 2 in G minor (1915), his Serenade for orchestra in F (1913) and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in minor (1907). During his lifetime, however, Stenhammar was regarded as an expert, well traveled pianist and versatile conductor within Sweden. Stenhammar was a self-taught composer who produced operas, cantatas, songs, piano music and other works in a characteristically Nordic and post-romantic blend. Late in his career, Stenhammar enrolled in counterpoint classes, and while his later music is more complex in texture it lost nothing of its Nordic flavor.