Ture Rangström

Biography

Anders Johan Ture Rangström (30 November 1884 – 11 May 1947) belonged to a new generation of Swedish composers who, in the first decade of the 20th century, introduced modernism to their compositions. In addition to composing, Rangström was also a musical critic and conductor.

Biography

Rangström was born in Stockholm, where in his late teens he started to write songs. His music teacher suggested that he should "vary the harmonies a bit more, make it a bit wilder!" He followed this advice and soon gained the nickname among his colleagues of "Sturm-und-Drangström". He travelled to Berlin where he studied under Hans Pfitzner for a while in 1905–6, and also studied singing with the Wagnerian Julius Hey, with whom he later went to Munich for further studies. His compositions at this time were chiefly for voice and piano.
Between 1907 and 1922 he taught singing and from 1922 to 1925 he was principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He founded the Swedish Society of Composers in 1918, and he was employed to promote the works of the Royal Swedish Opera from 1931 to 1936. After this he worked freelance and spent the summers on the island of Törnsholmen which he had been given by the people of Sweden who raised the money to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.
Rangström died at his home in Stockholm after a long illness caused by a throat disease; his funeral was held at Stockholm's Maria Magdalena Church and he is buried in the churchyard at Gryt, Valdemarsvik Municipality, Östergötland County, southeast Sweden. He was grandfather of a playwright, also named Ture Rangström (born in 1944) the artistic director of Strindbergs Intima Teater (since its re-opening in 2003), and uncle of author Lars Gyllensten.

Orchestral

Dithyramb, symphonic poem, 1909 (revised by Kurt Atterberg, 1948)
Ett midsommarstycke, symphonic poem, 1910
En höstsång, symphonic poem, 1911
Havet sjunger, symphonic poem, 1913
Symphony no. 1 in C-sharp minor, August Strindberg in memoriam, 1914
Intermezzo drammatico, suite, 1916–18
Divertimento elegiaco, suite for string orchestra, 1918
Två melodier, clarinet and strings, 1919
Symphony no. 2 in D minor, Mitt land, 1919
Två svenska folkmelodier, 1928
Symphony no. 3 in D flat Sång under stjärnorna, 1929
Partita for violin and orchestra in B minor, 1933
Symphony no. 4 in D minor Invocatio, 1935
Ballade for piano and orchestra, 1937
Vauxhall, suite 1937
Staden spelar, divertissement, 1940

Chamber music

String quartet in G minor, Ein Nachtstück in ETA Hoffmanns Manier, 1909 (rev. Edvin Kallstenius and Kurt Atterberg 1948)
Suite in modo antico, violin and piano, 1912
Suite in modo barocco, violin and piano, 1920–22

Piano

Fyra preludier, 1910–13
Mälarlegender, 1919
Sommarskyar, 1916–20
Improvisata, 1927
Sonatin, 1937
Spelmansvår, suite, 1943