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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
John Fernström
Person · male · Sweden · Yichang · born 1897 · died 1961 · recording since 1985
Swedish conductor and composer (1897–1961)
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Also known as 约翰·费恩斯特伦
Timeline
10 events▣ Album 6◦ Birth 1✦ Award 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1890s
1950s
1960s
1980s
· Debut release
Debut release: John Fernström: String Quartet no. 5 / String Quartet no. 8 / Hans Söderberg: String Quartet no. 1
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
· Album
Album: John Fernström: String Quartet no. 5 / String Quartet no. 8 / Hans Söderberg: String Quartet no. 1
Album
source: musicbrainz
1990s
· Album
Album: Symfoni no. 6 / Concertino, op. 52 / Den kapriciöse trubaduren
Album
source: musicbrainz
2000s
Biography
English biography246 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1324801464
Biography
John Fernström (6 December 1897 – 19 October 1961) was a Swedish composer. He was the founder of the Nordic Youth Orchestra.
Early life and education
Fernström was born in Yichang, China, where he also spent most part of the first ten years of his life at the mission his father directed, except for a couple of years in Sweden. He resided permanently in the Swedish province of Skåne from 1907 and started to study the violin at the conservatory in Malmö.
Career
He was with the symphony orchestra of Helsingborg from 1916 until 1932, with some interruptions for studies; first as a violinist, later as one of its leading conductors. From 1941 he conducted the Lund Women's Student Choir at Lund University and took part in restructuring it, in 1948, into a mixed ensemble named Lund Academic Choir (Lunds akademiska kör). Later the same year Fernström left the choir when he was appointed director of the municipal music school in the city of Lund.
In 1951 he founded the Nordic Youth Orchestra, which still today is an almost compulsory step for all young Scandinavian musicians on their way to become professional musicians. In 1953, he was elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
Death and legacy
Fernström died in Lund. He had written twelve symphonies, eight string quartets, many other chamber music pieces, concertos (among which two violin concertos, a bassoon concerto and a clarinet concerto), two operas (Echnaton and Isissystrarnas bröllop), and a large number of songs and choral pieces.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 1 | 89th |
| Timeline events | 10 | 86.7th |
| Recording span (years) | -24 | 7.9th |
| Genres | 5 | 88.3th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (7 release groups · 6 studio albums)
Albums · 6
John Fernström: String Quartet no. 5 / String Quartet no. 8 / Hans Söderberg: String Quartet no. 1
1985 · studio album
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Tracklist · 13 tracks · 50:54
1String Quartet no. 5, op. 81: 1. Improvisation. Allegro moderato6:212String Quartet no. 5, op. 81: 2. Ostinato6:373String Quartet no. 5, op. 81: 3. Burlesk. Allegro molto4:184String Quartet no. 5, op. 81: 4. Finale6:335String Quartet no. 8, op. 93: 1. Andante1:596String Quartet no. 8, op. 93: 2. Allegro non troppo2:567String Quartet no. 8, op. 93: 3. Andante un poco sostenuto4:138String Quartet no. 8, op. 93: 4. Allegro moderato3:439String Quartet no. 1: 1. Allegro energico2:5310String Quartet no. 1: 2. Intermezzo. Larghetto2:0211String Quartet no. 1: 3. Allegro vivo1:2112String Quartet no. 1: 4. Lento5:0213String Quartet no. 1: 5. Allegro con brio2:56Symphonic Prologue / Symphony no. 6 / Intimate Miniatures
1997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 59:56
1Symfonisk prolog, op. 8810:342Symphony no. 6, op. 40: I. Adagio - Moderato - Allegro vivo - Affrettando - Tempo primo10:073Symphony no. 6, op. 40: II. Adagio cantabile - Andante10:554Symphony no. 6, op. 40: III. Scherzo. Vivace6:285Symphony no. 6, op. 40: IV. Finale: Maestoso - Poco più mosso - Poco più con moto - Più allegro - Animando - Tempo precedente ma un poco più vivo - Presto9:396Intima miniatyrer för stråkorkester, op. 2: Preludium. Molto lento2:097Intima miniatyrer för stråkorkester, op. 2: Intermezzo. Vivo1:428Intima miniatyrer för stråkorkester, op. 2: Lamento3:589Intima miniatyrer för stråkorkester, op. 2: Rondino. Moderato grazioso4:241997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 59:22
1Stråkkvartett nr. 3, op. 23: I. Moderato12:532Stråkkvartett nr. 3, op. 23: II. Andante6:493Stråkkvartett nr. 3, op. 23: III. Finale. Molto vivace e con brio6:484Stråkkvartett nr. 6, op. 81b: I. Allegro5:075Stråkkvartett nr. 6, op. 81b: II. Lento doloroso5:086Stråkkvartett nr. 6, op. 81b: III. Scherzo. Vivo2:047Stråkkvartett nr. 6, op. 81b: IV. Finale. Allegro5:158Stråkkvartett nr. 8, op. 93: I. Andante3:349Stråkkvartett nr. 8, op. 93: II. Allegro non troppo, deciso ed energico2:5110Stråkkvartett nr. 8, op. 93: III. Andante un poco sostenuto4:5311Stråkkvartett nr. 8, op. 93: IV. Allegro moderato4:00Songs of the Sea / Symphony no. 12 / Rao-Nai-Nai's Songs
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 1:01:16
1Songs of the Sea, op. 62: I. Break, break, break!4:372Songs of the Sea, op. 62: II. Lines written while sailing in a boat4:563Songs of the Sea, op. 62: III. The Isle3:474Songs of the Sea, op. 62: IV. Sail on, sail on3:075Symphony no. 12, op. 92: I. Introduction16:296Symphony no. 12, op. 92: II. Giga fantastica4:477Symphony no. 12, op. 92: III. Finale10:278Rao-Nai-Nai's Songs, op. 4313:06Symfoni no. 6 / Concertino, op. 52 / Den kapriciöse trubaduren
1999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:12:33
1Symphony no. 6: I.13:202Symphony no. 6: II.15:273Symphony no. 6: III. Scherzo7:484Symphony no. 6: IV. Finale11:275Concertino for Flute with Small Orchestra and Womens Choir, op. 5210:186The Capricious Troubadour, op. 21: I. Preludium4:427The Capricious Troubadour, op. 21: II. Cantabile4:508The Capricious Troubadour, op. 21: III. Giocoso1:329The Capricious Troubadour, op. 21: IV. Finale3:092000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 1:07:32
1String Quartet nr IV E-flat major, op. 54: Allegro molto vivace5:442String Quartet nr IV E-flat major, op. 54: Adagio cantabile4:133String Quartet nr IV E-flat major, op. 54: Final - Rondo allegro assai4:424String Quartet nr VI in the 7th gypsy key of G, op. 81b: Allegro5:075String Quartet nr VI in the 7th gypsy key of G, op. 81b: Lento doloroso4:306String Quartet nr VI in the 7th gypsy key of G, op. 81b: Scherzo vivo2:057String Quartet nr VI in the 7th gypsy key of G, op. 81b: Finale allegro5:238String Quartet nr VII, op. 91: Moderato7:049String Quartet nr VII, op. 91: Andante4:4210String Quartet nr VII, op. 91: Scherzo vivace5:0711String Quartet nr VII, op. 91: Finale allegro5:3712String Quartet nr VIII in Dorian mode, op. 93: Andante2:0513String Quartet nr VIII in Dorian mode, op. 93: Allegro non troppo, deciso ed energico2:3714String Quartet nr VIII in Dorian mode, op. 93: Andante un poco sostenuto4:4515String Quartet nr VIII in Dorian mode, op. 93: Allegro moderato3:51
Album · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Utan mask. John Fernström dirigerar symfoni 11 & 12Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 7 tracks · 1:06:461Symfoni nr 11 “Utan mask”, op. 77: I. Inför hämningar och komplex (Livsångest). Andante grave – Allegro15:17 2Symfoni nr 11 “Utan mask”, op. 77: II. Grubblaren i natten. Adagio espressivo8:17 3Symfoni nr 11 “Utan mask”, op. 77: III. Tokfan. Allegro con burla4:05 4Symfoni nr 11 “Utan mask”, op. 77: IV. Ljus dag. Allegro grazioso10:22 5Symfoni nr 12, op. 92: I. Introduktion, allegro och adagio12:08 6Symfoni nr 12, op. 92: II. Giga fantastica4:39 7Symfoni nr 12, op. 92: III. Finale. Grave – Allegro – Più mosso – Grave11:58 | Live | 1997 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put John Fernström head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 6 | 86.1th |
| Awards recorded | 1 | 89th |
| Timeline events | 10 | 86.7th |
| Recording span (years) | -24 | 7.9th |
| Genres | 5 | 88.3th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Medal for the advancement of the musical arts | won |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d963ccd3-e25a-4d81-a4c2-68dbcc62ecd5discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d963ccd3-e25a-4d81-a4c2-68dbcc62ecd5core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q955559genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q955559seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fernstr%C3%B6mbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fernstr%C3%B6m
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
- List of Swedish musicians
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q955559 · MusicBrainz: d963ccd3-e25a-4d81-a4c2-68dbcc62ecd5
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