PETTERSSON: Complete Songs

Garben, Cord, Groop, Monica

CPO 999499

Allan Pettersson must surely be considered the great symphonist of this century: 16 virtually monolithic blocks of this genre bear eloquent witness to this. It is all the more astonishing that the compositional beginnings of this giant lie in the most intimate genre of all: the Lied. in 1935, under the most adverse circumstances in the slums of Stockholm, where Pettersson grew up as the son of a blacksmith, he wrote Six Songs, which revolve around resignation, death and despair: The theme of his life's work is already marked out here, right at the beginning.

Meanwhile better known than these six early songs is the large cycle of 24 Barefoot Songs from 1943 / 45, the title of which initially poses some riddles. The interpretation that makes the most sense is that Pettersson here pays homage to the last song of another great cycle - the organ grinder from Schubert's Winterreise, of whom it is said that he stands barefoot on the ice. Since the Barefoot Songs are something like the sounding autobiography of a composer from the slums, who surely also felt that no one liked to hear him, no one looked at him, this explanation of the title seems most plausible

We now present a new production of the complete song oeuvre - in the original Swedish language, of course - with the terrific mezzo-soprano Monica Groop and Cord Garben at the piano.

Works:

•Pettersson: Barfotasanger (24)
•Pettersson: Sanger (6)

CD x 1

CPO

11/10/06

761203949922