Lars-Erik Larsson


Lars-Erik Larsson was a Swedish composer.

Biography

Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson was born in Åkarp in 1908, the son of a factory worker and a nurse. He studied with Ellberg at the Stockholm Conservatory and with Alban Berg and Fritz Reuter in Vienna and Leipzig, then worked for Swedish Radio and taught at the Stockholm Conservatory and Uppsala University where he held the position as Director musices.
His style as a composer is eclectic, ranging from the late Romantic to techniques derived from Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-note system, but original in method. He was the first Swede to write serial music. Yet other works of that period are post-Sibelian or neo-classical, and his output generally is characterized by variety of style.
He wrote for the theatre, cinema and broadcasting, in addition to the more traditional forms of symphony, concerto, chamber and vocal music.
He died of diabetes complications in Helsingborg in 1986, aged 78.

Works

Larsson wrote two of the most popular works in Swedish art music:
Larsson's most important symphonic works are his three symphonies for full orchestra:
Other works for orchestra:
Larsson also wrote a Sinfonietta for string orchestra and a popular Little Serenade for the same medium.
He wrote a series of 12 concertinos for solo instruments: flute, saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano.
Larsson's Concerto for alto saxophone, written for Sigurd Raschèr in 1934, is one of the first major works for saxophone to utilize ideas of non-standard tonality.
The Violin Concerto, Op. 42 is another important work, as is the opera Prinsessan av Cypern.

Chronological worklist