Kurt Atterberg

Kurt Magnus Atterberg (December 12 1887 – February 15 1974) was a Swedish composer. He is best known for his symphonies, operas and ballets.

Related Topics:
December 12 - 1887 - February 15 - 1974 - Swedish

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Atterberg was born in Gothenburg. He studied cello and would later on in life occasionally play the cello in orchestras. He published his first work, a Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, opus 1, in 1908. In 1910 he sent the Rhapsody and an incomplete version of the Symphony No. 1 in B minor, soon published as opus 3, to the Stockholm Conservatory for admission. He studied composition and orchestration with Hallén there while simultaneously receiving instruction at the Royal Institute of Technology, earning a Masters degree in engineering in 1911.

Related Topics:
Gothenburg - Royal Institute of Technology

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From 1912 to 1968 Atterberg worked at the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, becoming head of a division there in 1937. In 1912, he made his conducting debut conducting his own First Symphony. In 1916 he was appointed to Maestro of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, a position he held until 1922. From 1919 to 1957, he was a music critic for the Stockholmstidningen.

Related Topics:
Swedish Patent and Registration Office - Royal Dramatic Theatre - Stockholm - Stockholmstidningen

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In 1924, Atterberg helped found the Society of Swedish Composers and the Swedish Performing Rights Society (an organization similar to ASCAP in America). In 1926 he became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and was secretary of that organization from 1940 to 1953.

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While composing an opera about the Vikings, Härvard Harpolekare, Atterberg also wrote a "Sinfonia Piccola" (Symphony No. 4 in G minor, Opus 14) inspired by an anthology of Swedish folk tunes published in 1875.

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For the Schubert centenary in 1928, the Columbia Grammophone Company sponsored a competition for a symphony completing or inspired by Schubert's Unfinished, and Atterberg won the first prize of $10,000 with his Symphony No. 6. The symphony was recorded by Sir Thomas Beecham, and Atterberg later recorded it himself.

Related Topics:
Schubert - Unfinished - Thomas Beecham

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Atterberg died in Stockholm on February 15, 1974. He once said that: "The Russians, Brahms, Reger were my ideals." Atterberg's music combines their influences with Swedish folk tunes.

Related Topics:
February 15 - 1974 - Brahms - Reger

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See also: List of Swedes in music

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