Allan Pettersson, Symphony No 9, Sergiu Comissiona

People are repeatedly drawn back to Pettersson's scores because of their redemptive power and the composer's ability to draw a tearful serene epiphany out of exhaustion and a battered spirit. The music is fraught with tension and anxiety, turbulent, distraught, grievously wounded, yet sometimes singing with hard-won hope. This speaks to the experience of many a person in the current world crisis.
Pettersson succeeded more than any other composer of the 20th Century, in rendering audible his involvement in the cause of humanity and the humane with his artistic identification with the oppressed. His music conveys an interior and very personal world.
His own suffering arose from his paralyzing illness, his meagre financial circumstances, and the neglect of his music.
The score of the 9th symphony bears the completion date of 1st July 1970. The premiere took place in February the following year by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under it's then principal conductor Sergiu Comissiona, and it is their recording of 1978 which is offered here.
There has been considerable debate about the tempi specified for this single movement work. We are informed that the metronome markings indicate a duration of about 70 minutes. But Comissiona takes all of 85 minutes! In my personal opinion, this is a more appropriate timing, being more consistent with the preceding 4 symphonies (compare, for instance, the start of the 6th, or the conclusion of the 7th). The score of the 9th is described as a wandering towards the light through all the circles of an inferno. The emotions in this adventure are lost if the performance is too quick. This is especially apparent in the concluding 7 minutes, where the struggle seems to be given up, leaving only a sublime view of the Universe seen spread out in a clear desert sky. Here is a well earned rest for the weary soul. To rush through this is to downgrade a spiritual experience into a mathematically perfect academic exercise. We must remember that Pettersson was present during Comissiona's interpretations. Surely the conductor might have revised his tempi if the composer was not satisfied. Pettersson also dedicated this work to Comissiona.
During the writing of this symphony, Pettersson had cause to fear for his life. He was suffering from a kidney ailment, perhaps a complication resulting from the polyarthritis medication he needed to take, and there was a possibility that he might never complete his work. The number "nine" was also a problem for Gustav Mahler and for Beethoven.
I have always associated this music with the traversing of a desert. Barren plains are followed by formidable mountain ranges. There is the continual struggle to survive against adversity. This I believe is symbolic of many of our own lives, and for that reason I have chosen desertscapes for this video. They tend to change whenever there is some kind of turning point in the course of the music.
This single file replaces my earlier rendition of 2 parts, with improvements in volumes, a few less vinyl clicks, and pictures extensively revised.

[@sanramondublin]

Thanks for your efforts and written rendition. Ever since I came to know the Pettersson, It seems I can not stop coming back to his music; and I am not depressed. Thanks again from California

[@SvenKruckenberg]

Having been the orchestra's general manager and also the producer of this recording, I can confirm that Pettersson very much liked Comissiona's broad tempi. The 1971 premiere made a deep impression on those present in the hall (as well as many who heard it on the radio), which resulted in a demand to program it again. So during the 1970s it was played in no less than three seasons. Unusual for a new and such a complex work. The first two performances were somewhat faster than the recording, yet only to a small degree. I remember that Comissiona several times consulted Pettersson over the telephone, so I assume the recording is close to what the composer wanted. The 9th was a commission for the Gothenburg Symphony. Before the last performance it was decided to make a commercial recording, which was realized in June 1977 and the following year issued by Philips on two LPs. Unfortunately it seems never to have been reissued on CD. This is a shame, not least because Pettersson himself told me, during a visit to his home not long before his passing away, that Sergiu Comissiona was, in his opinion, the most sympathetic interpreter of his music. After I had in the late 1970s suggested to the conductor the 4th symphony to be done in Gothenburg, he was for the rest of his life to be a devoted champion of the composer, eager to play his music in various countries. With his Baltimore Symphony he made a CD recording of the 8th.. Performances of the 7th and the 14th were issued on LP, and in 1982 he premiered the 15th on TV - all of them in Stockholm. Throughout the 1970s, in additions to Comissiona's various contributions, the Gothenburg orchestra with other conductors also played the 5th, 6th and 7th symphonies. As you will understand, Pettersson was during this period a houshold name, beloved by the audience. Unfortunately he could never be personally present, due to his grave illness. He had to be content with radio transmissions and some tape recordings I sent him. I am happy that, thanks to your excellent transfer, the magnificient 9th is now awailable worldwide in a rendition close to what the author must have imagined!

[@michaelberridge1934]

Thank you very much for your comments Sven. I am delighted by what you say, You offer valuable information not readily available to the general public. I would like to incorporate some of what you say in my general introduction, with your permission.

[@SvenKruckenberg]

@@michaelberridge1934 Hello Michael! Of course it's ok to include some of my information. I take this opportunity to make a small correction: my suggestion to Comissiona of the 4th symphony took place in the late 1960s, not 1970s as I happened to write.

[@klausburger1958]

i want to thank You for the informations about this composer! In the middle-european offroad-trip out of tonality and universal respect in the last 70 years there will be not so much left, maybe Henze, Zimmer, Zimmermann, Nono, Morricone

[@user-yo9pv1ni6t]

I LOve Henze and have every cd avaliable on this incredible composer.

[@user-yo9pv1ni6t]

YT deletes my comments, Here goes again, Both CPO and BIS have recorded this sym, The CPO /Fraicis is the better recording. Both labels have it at 70 minutes, This **version** as you note is 85 minutes, Conductor for BIS, Lindberg gave me a message on a YT video when I ask the community why the dif in timings,, Lindberg stated the reason for the added 15 minutes was due to the orchestra wishing to **take breaks during the last section of this symphony and these breaks caused a more SUBLIME slower EXTENDED tempo** Can not recall exactly what Lindberg told me, I am guessing , only know he did say the orch demanded breaks,, anyway the Goteborg had it correct. The added lenght raises this sym into a much higher sublimity than the CPO version. My guess is some members within the Goteborg sym could see the higher potential; of the last sections of this sym, other than what the composer intended. You can find it on LP, and there was a classical cd site that actually offered in on bootleg CD copies, Which I have. Its most likely my fav sym from Pettersson as the final dirge is the dirge of all dirges. This sym is almost biographical on my life., and hope to hear it at my last rites ceremony.

[@johkkarkalis8860]

Shattering! This is one of those times I wish I could read an orchestral score, to appreciate both the visual and aural architecture of the 9th. How appropriate that the final image is that of Andromeda, our neighbor, more than 2 million light years distant. The light we see today having left that island universe at a time when home sapiens was but a proto species. Pettersson allows for the mind's free range.

[@chuckwagnermusic]

Sergiu Comissiona was a truly great conductor. The Baltimore Symphony benefitted greatly from his long residency with them.

[@digitalmaestrorich]

I listened to this record back in 1980 in the S.U. Music Library and have never been able to find it. You are 100% correct: this tempo works, I do not understand why the later versions are all too fast, unless it was just to fit the whole continuous work on one CD. In any case thank you for posting and restoring my first experience with this incredible work. And thank you for editing the "four sides' together. This made my day!

[@piniella]

Terrific! Thank you, Mr. Berridge

[@billyjoedopesmoker]

Thank you very much for the detailed information, excellent sound, and appropriate imagery. muchas gracias y saludos desde Tokio.

[@enricoghidoni3240]

very interesting work, thanks for providing diffusion; I will explore other works by this composer

[@alanhill4957]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your informative and emotionally moving description of Pettersson's work. I have had experiences in desertscapes like you depict. Pettersson takes it to a whole new level. Thank you for your hard and insightful work in creating this video.

[@BertoldBR74Roux]

Thanks Michael!

[@Senatedefender]

There's a monster in this symphony.

[@marcelolasta3228]

El final es más maravilloso y dantesco que la 15 de Shostakovich,es un ritual de galaxias mutiladas pero insobornables ante el Vacío cósmico...

[@felixgomez6167]

Excelente, aunque algo lenta y romántica. me gusta mas la version de alun francis en cpo, es más aspera pero muy intensa, aunque sigo escuchando