Description

The Horn Concerto by the now unjustly forgotten Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg was frequently performed in the years following its premiere, especially in …Sweden. The soloist of the premiere, Axel Malm, for whom Atterberg had written the virtuoso solo part, participated in many of these concerts. Among other things, the soloist is required to play bravura passages in the high register. Stylistically, the work is a melting pot of Nordic mysticism, jazz touches and a traditional concerto form, with Atterberg always remaining unmistakable behind all stylistic excursions. The concerto opens with a sonata movement in which horn idiomaticism comes to the fore, for example, with characteristic horn signals. This is followed by an adagio in three-part song form with long melodies. The finale is a dance-like rondo.