Kurt Atterberg (1887-1974) : Piano Concerto in B flat minor (1927-36) **MUST HEAR**

[@perhagenas1546]

Possible the best piano concerto ever written. Magic, transcendental!!

[@vexator19]

One of my favorite piano concertos. It's quite surprising that this composer is not more well-known.

[@charlierumoleboi3578]

Maxime Laterreur listen to Herbert Howells piano concerto No.2. If you love the Atterberg you will enjoy Howells.

[@PieInTheSky9]

@@charlierumoleboi3578 Thanks for the suggestion, I had never heard of this concerto!

[@magnusjakopsohn7824]

Without any doubt, this is the greatest of the Swedish Piano Concertos. It's a mindblowing majestic piece, that one could pare up any time with Tchaikowskys 1:st one. I Think it really challenges Grieg's concerto as THE NO 1 of the Nordic Piano concertos. It really fits in the same Company as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Brahms when it comes to emotional and pianistic qualitys. I really don't agree at all with the comment that you must compose in the style that is ruling for the day, that is nonsense. If that was the case we would just have a bunch of Prokofiev and Schostakowitch styled pieces from this period. In the period of 1900-40 the Swedish National romantic period was still in full bloom, and Swedish Composers has always used the folkloric themes in different kinds of ways, rather than catching up on what was right or wrong during that time. So here we have a concerto that is really emotinal, romantic and in the same way cold and icy, just like the Swedish Winter, while it sometimes blooms out in springlike feelings. You may not see all that, but when you like me, is currently playing this concerto, there is a lot of things hidden in the sheet, that you just dont see while watching this clip, and that really brings all the details together. With that said, this is one of the Worlds absolutely greatest concertos.

[@asjadsiddiqui6611]

It also reminded me of the Busoni concerto!

[@MichaSchlechtriem]

Absolutely agree! I love this concerto so much. The other swedish piano concerti I love are the Stenhammar 2nd and the Bo Linde 2nd.

[@warpzonenerd0]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/opOzp62Mg6ygqq8 - Adolf Wiklund's Piano Concerto no 1 is comparable if not better, but this one is really nice as well.

[@helgeevju]

I might recommend to you the piano concerto in D major by Norwegian Eyvind Alnæs (1872-1932). It echoes the Brahms D minor at times, but also has lighter touches, notably in the quick-waltz finale, where he entertainingly pre-echoes the famous 18th variation in Rachmaninov's later-written Paganini Rhapsody!

[@pabloscar7835]

Es un hermoso concierto, pero no le llega a los tobillos al concierto de Grieg. igualmente acuerdo muy profundamente con tu lógica de que no necesariamente se debe componer en el estilo de la época. Creo que los grandes compositores muchas veces hacen de su musica una combinación de épocas.

[@annefojut6810]

One of the most beautiful concerts I heard.

[@medviation]

I don't care if Atterberg copied from a lot of other composers but this is what I would consider a masterpiece. He created something incredibly beautiful out of it and that's what is important to me.

[@nightscape94]

20:23 through 21:37. Amazing.

[@6onthetop]

+nightscape94 Same... that was the part that caught me!

[@bluedutch01]

Stunningly beautiful, rich and glorious sounds here!.... Excellent pianist also.

[@keiththomas795]

A wonderful concerto, never having heard it before I persevered and was rewarded in great measure. I note the comparisons made with other, possibly more famous concertos but my conclusion, as with his symphonies, is that I am hearing the music of Atterberg, pure and simple. A great composer, let’s tell everyone about him!

[@asjadsiddiqui6611]

Very good music. I am familiar with the Atterberg Symphonies, but this Concerto is mind boggling. Strong muscular music, with beautifully tender moments.Full marks to the soloist for doing full justice to the piano part!

[@void.defender]

I can't count how often i had to replay the part from 1:43-1:50, so beauteously done.

[@steveegallo3384]

+Senshou Heiwa True, it's Huge! Reminds me a little of Scriabin.....and should be in the major repertoires

[@darrylschultz6479]

@@steveegallo3384 If not,in the major raspberries! We'll call it "The Ice cream Concerto"-mark my words,people will come to regard it as the coolest symphony of them all!

[@steveegallo3384]

@@darrylschultz6479 --”The pianos on the moon are so long, The pianist’s hand must be fifteen fingers strong. “The violins on the moon are so violent They have to be sunk in deep wells and then only seem to be silent. “The bassoons on the moon blow no notes But huge blue loons that flap slowly away with undulating throats. “Of a trumpet on the moon you can never hear enough, Because it puffs the trumpeter up like a balloon and he floats off. “Double basses on the moon are a risk, all right; At the first note, enormous black hands appear And carry away everything out of sight. “Even a triangle on the moon is risky: One ping and there’s your head- A half-bottle of Irish Whiskey. “On the whole it’s best to stick to the moon’s drums: Whatever damage they do is so far off in space The news never comes……”

[@MsVerlinden]

magnifique, un grand concerto

[@dmitrysofronov8624]

One of the concertos I've heard. This simple harmonies second movement! Loveable.

[@knownfact4905]

"Must Hear" is not kidding in this case -- what a knockout

[@andrewdaws7275]

A very strong work, unjustly neglected.

[@julianfwong]

Atterberg is one of my favourite late romantic composers. No matter on his symphonies or piano concertos, they are all of high quality. So much emotions. Thank you for uploading.

[@davidgriffiths7215]

Normally I avoid anything on KZbin which says **MUST HEAR** but I had autoplay on and didn't notice until later. For once I'm glad. The Concerto itself is a bit of an anachronism but no less enjoyable for that. The real glory is Love Derwinger's playing. He is the perfect pianist for this repertoire and if you don't know his recording of Stenhammar's First Concerto it's well worth seeking out.

[@darrylschultz9311]

David Griffiths Yeah,good thinking mate,when someone has added "MUST HEAR" to a music video,that certainly should be taken as a sign they're amongst the worst pieces you'll find on KZbin!"Huh?-WHAAAAAA'??!!"That's just bizarre-maybe you would regard videos with the words "MUST AVOID" as being more likely to be pieces worthy of your attention perhaps??

[@darrylschultz9311]

If as you say,you "normally avoid anything on You Tube which says "MUST HEAR",the reason why "for once you're glad" you heard such a piece can only be because you have no knowledge of what other pieces with "MUST HEAR" are like-NOT because those pieces have always disappointed you before you inadvertently heard this one.I mean,surely it's impossible to have been repeatedly disappointed by something you've always made a point of avoiding for heaven's sake!??

[@darrylschultz9311]

Trust me cob,in the unlikely event the person who put "MUST HEAR" on the video even notices your comment about it,they won't be bothered that you weren't tempted by their recommendation-be glad of the help it can often provide.Coz I've found "MUST HEAR",while no guarantee of a great musical journey,is at the very least a sign that you'll rarely feel you've wasted your time by checking it out-and with most people gems will be discovered more often than if they select pieces at random.Most music lovers aren't sports people trying to compete,they're mainly people with an appreciation of beauty who want to share it when they come across it.

[@darrylschultz9311]

You've given a "MUST HEAR" of your own with your last sentence telling us Stenhammar's 1st Concerto played by this pianist is well worth checking out-should we ignore it?

[@darrylschultz9311]

By the way,as you like Stenhammar's 1st Piano Concerto,I'm guessing you're familiar with his 2nd Piano Concerto as well?But in case you're not I think it's even better.A MUST HEAR of my own.

[@MyTroubadour]

Dans la lignée des grands concertos pour piano, celui de Kurt Atterberg a largement sa place. Dommage qu'il soit autant négligé des programmations des salles de concert parisiennes.

[@Bortki]

Christian Jacq Pas que parisiennes d'ailleurs...

[@MyTroubadour]

***** Hélas oui, d'accord avec vous. D'ailleurs c'est même l’œuvre entière d' Atterberg qui est bien négligée. Cordialement

[@arlettehellemans2117]

J'ai 81 ans. J'ai toujours écouté de la musique. Malheureusement la même! KZbin a fait trop tard son entrée dans ma vie. J'en veux terriblement à l'enseignement musical, à l'industrie musicale, aux organisateurs de concert, aux stations radio comme Radio Klara (Vlaamse Radio en Televisie). Terrible ce qu'ils m'ont volé...

[@MyTroubadour]

@@arlettehellemans2117 Je vous comprends, Arlette et je partage votre point de vue. Heureusement que KZbin nous a permis de découvrir des œuvres complètement méconnues. Les seules radios que j'écoute sont France Musique et Radio Classique et il faut le reconnaître les mêmes titres sont bien trop souvent programmés au détriment de ces perles rares. Et elles sont nombreuses, ces perles rares. Amicalement.

[@JAMESLEVEE]

The orchestra is the Hannover Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

[@bomcabedal]

To be precise, the NDR Radio Philharmonic of Hannover. Not to be confused with the Hannover Phil.

[@JAMESLEVEE]

Thank you, Señor Bom. :D

[@jefverstegen6344]

Like a Swedisch Rachmaninov! Tremendously beautiful!

[@alextomlinson1725]

A superb concerto which richly rewards repeated listening. Thank you for posting - a 20th Century masterwork.

[@paulescudero9973]

This is one of my favorite piano concertos. Kurt Atterberg was an incredible composer. His piano concerto is one of the very best. I've listened to Kurt Atterberg numerous times. Starting around the 20 second mark is one of the greatest melodies ever produced by a composer. Then at the 1:42 mark the passage is one of those which you want to remember while you were with your lover during a splendid transcendence into celestial feasts. This truly is 36 minutes of wonderful music.

[@sywedis4019]

From 25:57 to 26:25 into this recording is what I would call "Passing to the Other Side" music. Unreal and beautifully simple...

[@rr7firefly]

+Sy -- That phrase you used in your comment caught my attention. Some of us look for a transformative experience when we listen to music and the possibility that it could also be transcendent (going beyond the original condition or context of the listener) intrigues me. It is a rare thing to be moved that way. On my first listen to this concerto I feel that I may have stumbled onto something very special. Completely by accident. However I can do without everything after 26:42.

[@ericmoninpianocomposer5454]

Un des plus beaux concertos pour piano que j'ai jamais entendu! Merci pour ce partage! Atterberg est un compositeur de génie mais hélas jamais joué en concert et totalement inconnu du grand public...

[@KijiroBugboy]

Songs like these reflect the greatest accomplishments of the human race. #InMyHumbleOpinion

[@gwilson7663]

He was a nazi sympathizer. A gifted one.

[@charlieterry5357]

I hope to hear it one day with Yuja Wang playing. It is beautiful and my first time of hearing.

[@pmichael73]

Good piece; great playing!

[@bowerdw]

A terrific work.

[@freddoliveira]

Fantastic!

[@1lekhine]

Very nice Danke

[@PeterLunowPL]

shady "Germancollaborator or not?" This will haunt his reputation , it seems .But the man was a very gifted composer.This concerto is wonderful !

[@kjamespeace]

+Peter Lunow Almost imposible to live in a dictatorship as a musician and not be a colaborator.

[@felixmendelssohn991]

Knut Hamsun openly supported Nazi yet he's still considered to be a brilliant writer. There is no obvious evidence against Atterberg yet he's neglected. Weird.

[@davidgriffiths7215]

"Almost imposible to live in a dictatorship as a musician and not be a colaborator" (sic). Hendrik Andriessen refused to collaborate with the Nazis when they occupied the Netherlands. He was banned from public performance and held hostage for several months.

[@perhagenas1546]

He was not a collaborator! He is accused to be one but nothing is proven so.

[@alexstewart8097]

@@davidgriffiths7215 Sorry for being political on this music channel...but many have died rather than being complicit with murderous authoritarians from either extremes of the political spectrum...No music making is ever of greater significance than freedom itself... none!

[@CorentinBoissier]

I agree with you, and I especially suggest you to listen to his wonderful Symphonies No. 3 "West Coast Pictures" (1916) and No. 5 "Sinfonia funebre" (1922), and also to his "Cello Concerto" (1922) and "Ballad without Words" for orchestra (1958). All these works are on KZbin.

[@robertcohn8858]

A magnificent, exciting work. At times it reminds me of a movie score from the 30's. It's just fun to listen to.

[@jorgesavarino7430]

Maravilloso concierto.No entiendo porque se lo escucha tan poco.Toda la musica de K.Atterberg es magnifica.

[@marsaeolus9248]

Absolutely beautiful concerto. However, the fact the theme is never clearly exposed in the last movement is frustrating!

[@paulescudero9973]

It's a very comforting piano concerto. I can totally unwind hearing it. Kurt Atterberg created that is up there with the very best. I've only played Brahms, Beethoven, Liszt, Saint Saens, and Dvorak as often as I've listened to this piano concerto.

[@johanneswilkki]

Mvt. I Pesante allegro 0:00 Mvt. II Andante 13:13 Mvt. III Furioso 26:42

[@ronaldbwoodall2628]

This is an ultra- Romantic, exhilarating Concerto that really touches the emotions in the same way as Rachmaninoff does for me.

[@snowcarriagechengcheng-hun3454]

Thanks for uploading!

[@TheJamesalden]

I believe that this fellow must have had a tremendous influence on Rachmaninoff and others...What a piece!...Thank You!...

[@bobbyorick2573]

The Rach rolled over in his grave when he heard the beginning of this piece.

[@davidluck1678]

the Great Master wouldn't have taken this piece at all seriously, Still, it's a fun listen for us lesser mortals.

[@andreauribe6454]

The best music is the romanticpiano concert....

[@jamesdeaville9731]

Powerful music in the first movement with passages that even sound like Mahler if Atterberg weren't, well you know (or should know).

[@nicholasndege2892]

This is not beginners music. I wonder how it would look on the score. Something of a chromatic drill on every bar. Ambivalent

[@giuseppedimarco8358]

Great! The begin sounds like! Grieg p.c.! Anyway still Great Piece!

[@canman5060]

Great Work. Who is he ?

[@TheJamesalden]

Oh how right you are when you say that this work must be heard...Indeed!, but then...isn't so much of his work is like that?

[@Cosmicprog2012]

Hannover Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

[@adyrsebastiaoferreira5572]

Lembra um pouco o Concerto em lá menor de Grieg.

[@alexgui4725]

So nice piece, but sorry, the sound quality is just horrible.

[@savitasharma-lu8qs]

SEHR SCHOENES KONZERT, WAR MIR UNBEKANNT "ES GIBT GENUG MUSIK FUER EIN LEBEN - ABER ZU WENIG LEBEN FUER DIE MUSIK" Sergej Rachmaninow p. a. Jaipur / Rajasthan

[@kuang-licheng402]

rare piece

[@BenjiOrthopedic]

Too bad nobody ever plays this...

[@SuperPeacebreaker]

11:33

[@domvlad]

Crescendo from 19.32

[@elisakhud.9679]

I love this concerto so much, this is my ultimate favorite but I hate how the piano part is being played. I wouldn't be surprised if the pianist is from a Nordic country because their piano playing level is awful, especially in Finland. It's a certain style they play there. I hear it from non-legato octaves and that's an issue there.

[@RamonQuinnRamirez]

A masterpiece. The problem is most take it for a backdrop to a melodramatic Hollywood Movie. What a shame. He borrows a hell of a lot. I wonder how beautiful his "Own" music or compositions might of been. Definitely a frustrated artist who worshiped Rachmaninoff and Liszt. Good for him. Exit stage left by Grand staircase then jump. Applause.

[@erlandschneck-holze4476]

Griedg und Rachmaninow standen sicherlich Pate, doch zeigt das Konzert viel, viel Eigenständiges. Sehr engagierte, verdienstvolle Einspielung. Atterberg gilt es wiederzuentdecken ...

[@dimitrijmaslov1209]

Reminds me of Ornstein, same un-Kitsch.

[@geraldolivieri]

Très beau Concerto qui n'est pas sans rappeler le Concerto en La de Grieg, ainsi que ceux de Rachmaninov en effet.

[@gerardbegni2806]

This concerto is very well written. However, its style is neoromantic, a bit like Rachmanainov - I would have rpreferred a more modern style

[@PieInTheSky9]

Ear candy!

[@davidluck1678]

weak last movement, typical of many late romantic concertos.....even some by first-rate composers. Overall a pretty good effort by a worthwhile composer. I often listen to Atterberg's 2nd, 3rd, and 5th symphonies which - unlike this piece - really do scale the heights.

[@buickcityslim]

Disappointed not to hear a single memorable theme in over 36 minutes of music. Wonderfully played, though.

[@towardthesea_]

Not a single memorable theme? The first few chords resonate in my head far stronger than those of the Grieg, and the opening of the second movement is stunningly beautiful.

[@DemirSezer]

howtf is the theme in 17:01 which the horns play not memorable???

[@hortamaciel]

all over the place.

[@darrylschultz9311]

Ricardo Maciel Maybe,but taking removing variation to its absolute limit would mean you'd have a piece in which the poor ol' pianist was just hitting middle C the whole time or something-yawn!People would be storming out after the first few bars-and HEADING for few bars to get over it!Surely it's variations that make a piece beautiful and interesting.

[@deanmansfield9238]

Sorry. Over dramatic fluff.

[@darrylschultz9311]

Dean Mansfield Gentle peaceful music that causes the listener to drift off into slumberland is certainly enjoyable-but mostly just late at night around beddy-bies time.At other times it's common for people to be in the mood for something more powerful(like this piece by Atterberg),to blast your tired brain into gear.Thank heaven's there's not just music for one or two kinds of moods.

[@darrylschultz9311]

It seems to me there are many people who when they listen to something like this that's easy to follow and enjoy straight away,will unconsciously equate that quick appreciation with poor quality.It's almost like they feel there hasn't been enough suffering to be deserving of reaping any rewards.When however,you've had to struggle through multiple listens of what initially seems more like random chaotic sounds than something you'd call 'music' before finally being able to go,"aah,I think I detected a passage that has started to sound quite agreeable",that effort itself often causes it to be seen as greater than the piece whose delights have come much more easily.It's not coz the piece itself was actually better ir more beguilin', but coz of the duration of the concentration required to extract anything.Course,it's fair enough and legitimate to value the pleasure obtained from realising a struggle hasn't been a complete waste of time,but people shouldn't confuse that with the pleasure derived from the beauty of the music itself I don't reckon.

[@Violedegambe]

Whoa c'est incroyablement nul

[@organman52]

Not bad, except it is about 60 years behind its time. In other words, bad.

[@organman52]

+William Huang I would say yes to that question. Beethoven did not write a cappella motets in the style of the 15th century, nor did Poulenc write sonatas in the style of Haydn. Traditional tonality was already used up by 1940. Is there something so terrible about the concept that everything written in the last 50 or so years is derivative of something else? The styles keep repeating, with the notes and other features changed around a little. It is not art music.

[@stephennielsen8722]

+organman52 Form over function, eh?

[@johnathanclark7212]

+organman52 Saying tonality was all used up by the 1940s sounds a bit like that time that one fellow around the turn of the century said they should shut down the U.S. Patent Office because everything meaningful had already been invented.

[@lawrencelemer6296]

+organman52 So music is not eternal but dated and obsolete even as it is written from the perspective of the future? Dohnanyi's Second Symphony, written five years after your cutoff date (1945) proves there is always something new to say in an old genre.

[@DrStabkill]

+organman52 the opening second movement is absolutely wonderful. the first and last, could be somewhat trite or maybe excessively derivative, but most importantly the music does at least sound genuine.

[@SuperPeacebreaker]

11:31