Franz Berwald was born in Stockholm, the son of a German violinist in the
royal orchestra. He was largely self-taught, although he did study music with
his father and composition with J.B.E. De Puy. He joined the orchestra as a
violinist at the age of 16 and apart from one brief period remained there until
1828, when he composed a Grand Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn and string
quartet.
However, the lack of enthusiasm in his home country for his highly
original style provoked Berwald to leave Sweden to try and make a career abroad.
Following a tour of Norway he spent time studying in Berlin, and then lived for
a period in Vienna, where his opera Estrella di Soria was performed. He
married in Vienna in 1841, and his works were staged to increasingly supportive audiences. In 1842 he wrote a symphony, La Sérieuse - the only one of his
symphonies that he saw performed in his lifetime. On his return to Sweden that
year, however, his reception was cool, and the Royal Opera's production of his
operetta Modehandlerskan in 1845 was a failure. Nonetheless Berwald
perserved and produced three more symphonies, including La Capricieuse and La
Singuliére. The latter in particular, which has only three movements instead of
the usual four, reveals his skill as an orchestrator, and is perhaps his finest
work.
Berwald spent a further three years traveling in Europe, where he met with
varying degrees of success. In Paris neither the Conservatoire nor the
Opéra-Comique showed interest, but in Vienna he did see a performance of his
opera Ein Landliches Verlobungsfest in Schweden ( A Swedish Country
Betrothal). Back in Sweden, however, he was disappointed in his efforts to
become musical director at Uppsala University, and was also denied the position
of court conductor.
Forced by his lack of musical success into a series of
jobs to earn his living, Berwald was manager of a Swedish glass factory in
Ångermanland from 1849 to 1859. Despite the demands made on his time by work, he
continued to teach and compose, his output including piano trios, piano quartets
and symphonic poems. In the early 1860s he published some of his chamber works
to encouraging reviews, and the Stockholm Royal Opera eventually performed
Estrella di Soria in 1862.
He completed one last opera in 1864,
Drottningen av Golconda (The Queen of Golconda), and was finally accepted
as a Fellow of the Swedish Academy, rising to the post of professor of
composition in 1867. This was the pinnacle of his career - but his success was short-lived. Within only a year of his appointment Berwald died of pneumonia.
Berwald-Complete Works for Piano Quintet
Berwald-Symphonies and Overtures
Memorable and Historic Swedish String Quartets (includes Berwald, Stenhammar, Atterberg et al)
Nobel Prize Ceremony Music [BOX SET] (includes works from Berwald, Alfven, Roman, Sibelius et al)
Swedish Romantic Violin Concertos (includes works from Berwald, Stenhammar)
Grand Septet
