Lidholm, Ingvar (Natanael)

Lidholm, Ingvar (Natanael), prominent Swedish composer; b. Jönköping, Feb. 24, 1921. He studied violin with Hermann Gramms and orchestration with Natanael Berg in Södertälje, then received violin training from Alex Ruunqvist and conducting lessons from Tor Mann at the Stockholm Musikhögskolan (1940–45); also studied composition with Hilding Rosenberg (1943–45). He was a violinist in the orch. of the Royal Theater in Stockholm (1943–47). He received a Jenny Lind fellowship and pursued his studies in France, Switzerland, and Italy (1947), and later studied in Darmstadt (summer, 1949) and with Seiber in England (1954). He served as director of music in Örebro (1947–56) and as director of chamber music for the Swedish Radio (1956–65). After holding the position of prof. of composition at the Stockholm Musikhögskolan (1965–75), he returned to the Swedish Radio as director of planning in its music dept. (1975). In 1960 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. He became active in Swedish avant-garde circles, contributing greatly to the formulation of methods and aims of contemporary music. In his works, he applies constructivist methods with various serial algorithms.

Works

dramatic: Cyrano de Bergerac, incidental music (1947); Riter, ballet (1959; Stockholm, March 26, 1960); Holländarn, television opera (Swedish TV, Dec. 10, 1967); Ett drbömspel, opera (1990). orch.:Toccata e canto for Chamber Orch. (1944); Concerto for Strings (1945); Music for Strings (1952); Ritornello (1955; Stockholm, Feb. 17, 1956); Mutanza (Örebro, Nov. 15, 1959); Motus Colores (Cologne, June 13, 1960); Poesis (1963; Stockholm, Jan. 14, 1964); Greetings (from an Old World) (N.Y., Nov. 10, 1976); Kontakion, hymn (1978; Moscow, Feb. 6, 1979). chamber: String Quartet (1945; Stockholm, March 9, 1946); Sonata for Solo Flute (1945); Little String Trio (1953); Concertino for Flute, Oboe, English Horn, and Cello (Stockholm, Oct. 16, 1954); Invention for Clarinet and Bass Clarinet, or Viola and Cello, or Piano (1954); 4 Pieces for Cello and Piano (Stockholm, May 16, 1955); Fanfare for 2 Trumpets, 2 to 4 Horns, and 2 Percussion (Stockholm, June 1956); Fantasia sopra Laudi for Cello (Swedish Radio, June 21, 1977); Amicizia for Clarinet (1980); Tre elegier-Epilog for String Quartet (1982–86; Stockholm, Oct. 23, 1986). keyboard: piano:Rosettas visa (1942); Sonata (Stockholm, Oct. 25, 1947); 2 sonatinas (1947, 1950); 10 Miniatures(1948); Klavierstück 1949 (1949). organ:Variazioni sopra Laudi (Stockholm, Oct. 27, 1982; in collaboration with K.-E. Welin). vocal:Laudi for Chorus (1947); Cantata for Baritone and Orch. (1949–50); Canto LXXXI for Chorus, after Ezra Pound (1956; Stockholm, Feb. 24, 1957); Skaldens natt (The Night of the Poet) for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1958; North German Radio, Hamburg, April 6, 1959; rev. version, Swedish Radio, Oct. 23, 1981); Nausikaa einsam (Nausikaa Alone) for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch., after a section of Eyvind Johnson’s novel Return to Ithaca (Ingesund, June 2, 1963); Stamp Music I for Soprano and Tam-tam (1971; score printed on a Swedish postage stamp) and II for Chorus and Piano (1971; score printed on a Swedish postage stamp); Och inga trād skall väcka dig for Soprano, Chorus, String Quartet, and Electronics (1973–74; Swedish TV, March 12, 1974); Verserna for Tenor, Baritone, Narrator, and Men’s Chorus (Uppsala, April 29, 1978); 2 Madrigals for Chorus (1981; Minneapolis, Sept. 12, 1982); De profundis for Chorus (Stockholm, Oct. 23, 1983); Inbillningens värld for Men’s Chorus (1990); other choral pieces; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire