Peterson-Berger: Frösöblomster

Introduction

Peterson-Berger's three sets of Frösöblomster, Flowers of Frösö, obviously seem to have Grieg's Lyrical Pieces as their model. Frösö is an island on a lake in northern Sweden (Jämtland) where Peterson-Berger had his summer house (and from 1930 his permanent residence). The first set was published in 1896 and contains eight charmingly atmospheric tone-pictures; in addition to Grieg, Schumann is an audible model but the music, while innocent and mostly idyllic, bears a certain personal stamp. There are no unqualified masterpieces here, to be sure, and nothing on the level of Grieg's Lyrical Pieces, yet the pieces are all attractive, colorful and well-crafted, if hardly profound. Highlights are probably the refined `Till rosorna' and the subtly reflective `Vid Frösö kyrka'.

The second volume of six pieces was published four years later. This set is slightly darker in tone and more emotionally complex, although the melodies are perhaps not so immediately memorable. It opens with a noble and tender `Solhälsing', but apart from the innocently tuneful `Vid Larsmess', the pieces, though atmospheric, have a sense of painful longing and farewell about them (not necessarily a bad thing, mind). The third book appeared in 1914 with seven new pieces; `Humoresques and Idylls', according to the composer. The mood in the third suite is less troubled, but Peterson-Berger's compositional techniques perhaps more sophisticated. There are touches of impressionistic coloring here, as in the superb, atmospheric `Landskap i aftonsol' - followed by the mischievously happy, minor-key `Folk Humor' - and the beautiful `Under Asparna' is probably one of the most immediately memorable pieces in any of the sets.