Ingvar Lidholm facts for kids
Ingvar Natanael Lidholm (born February 24, 1921 – died October 17, 2017) was a famous Swedish composer. He wrote many different kinds of music, from pieces for orchestras to songs for choirs. Lidholm's music often explored new sounds and ideas, making him an important figure in modern classical music.
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Ingvar's Early Musical Journey (1921–1940)
Ingvar Lidholm was born in Jönköping, Sweden. His family lived in Nässjö, a town nearby. Even though his parents were not musicians, they loved music. Ingvar was the youngest of four children, and everyone in the family enjoyed playing music at home.
The Lidholm family had a piano, and Ingvar started exploring music when he was very young. When he was eleven, his family moved to Södertälje, south of Stockholm. Here, he quickly became better at playing music and writing his own songs.
By age twelve, Ingvar was already writing romantic-sounding songs. Soon, he was creating bigger pieces, even for a full orchestra! He also studied how to arrange music for orchestras with a teacher named Natanael Berg in Stockholm.
Ingvar loved playing string instruments like the violin and viola. In high school, he played viola and contrabass in the school orchestra. He kept writing music throughout his school years. In 1940, he finished a piece called Elegisk svit (meaning "Elegiac Suite") for string quartet. Some songs he wrote that summer became his first published works.
University Life and New Friends (1940–1947)
In 1940, Ingvar Lidholm went to the Musikhögskolan (Royal College of Music) in Stockholm. There, he met two other students who also became important composers: Sven-Erik Bäck and Karl-Birger Blomdahl. These three friends later held important jobs at Swedish Radio and the Musikhögskola. They helped teach and inspire many younger Swedish musicians.
Lidholm, Bäck, and Blomdahl often met on Mondays to talk about music. Other students and teachers joined them. They would discuss new music and even perform modern pieces. Hilding Rosenberg, who taught Lidholm how to compose, was very important. He helped them learn about composers like Paul Hindemith and Igor Stravinsky. This group became known as the Måndagsgrupp (Monday Group).
Under Rosenberg's teaching, Lidholm wrote more music. This included music for a play, a lullaby called Madonnas vaggvisa, and children's piano pieces called På kungens slott ("At the King’s Castle").
In 1944, Lidholm finished Toccata e Canto for a small orchestra. This piece quickly caught the attention of musicians in Sweden. The next year, he wrote a Concerto for string orchestra. In 1946, he composed a Sonata for solo flute.
In 1946-1947, Lidholm traveled abroad with a scholarship. He met new people, shared ideas, and planned new music. While in Norway, he wrote a Sonata for piano. In 1947, he became the musical director for the Örebro Orchestral Society, a job he held for nine years.
Exploring New Music Styles (1947–1956)
Between 1947 and 1948, Ingvar Lidholm wrote several new piano pieces. A very important work from this time was Laudi for a choir without instruments (a cappella). This piece was very different from traditional Swedish choir music.
The conductor Eric Ericson said that when they first rehearsed Laudi, it felt like a "high wall" because it was so difficult. But they kept trying, and it helped them learn many new things about music. Laudi was the first of Lidholm's works to be performed at a big international music event in Brussels in 1950.
In 1949, Lidholm went to music workshops in Germany. He learned about new techniques, like the twelve-tone technique. After returning, he wrote a piano piece called Klavierstück 1949. He also used the twelve-tone technique in a free way in his Fyra körer ("Four choruses") in 1953.
In 1953, Lidholm studied with Mátyás Seiber in London. During this time, he met other famous composers like Olivier Messiaen and Luigi Dallapiccola. After returning to Sweden, Lidholm wrote a cello and piano piece that honored Dallapiccola.
In 1955, Lidholm created his first large orchestral work, Ritornell. This piece made him known around the world. He said he wanted to try writing for a bigger group of instruments after working mostly with chamber music. Ritornell used big, strong chords and lots of percussion.
Becoming Internationally Known (1956–1960)
In 1956, Ingvar Lidholm left his conducting job to lead the Chamber Music Department at Swedish Radio. He helped start a music magazine called Nutida musik ("Contemporary Music"). This is also when he started working with electronic music.
In 1957, he visited an electronic music studio in Milan. By 1959, he had created his first electronic piece for his ballet, Riter. The electronic sounds were played on tape and added to the orchestra's music. He later helped set up an electronic music lab at the Musikhögskola.
His piece Skaldens natt (The Poet's Night) from 1957 won first prize in an international music competition in Rome.
Lidholm also wrote many important pieces for a cappella choir during the late 1950s. One of these was Canto LXXXI in 1956, which used words from a poem by Ezra Pound. The musical ideas from Canto LXXXI were later used in other choir works to create a collection called A cappella-bok (A Cappella Book).
In 1960, Lidholm composed Motus-colores for a large chamber orchestra, with lots of percussion. After this piece, he took a break from composing for two years.
Later Works and Teaching (1963 and Beyond)
A new period in Lidholm's music began in 1963. He stopped using strict serial music rules in his works like Nausikaa ensam ("Nausicaa Alone") and Poesis. Poesis was written for the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. This piece used new ways of writing music on the page, called graphic notation.
In 1964, Lidholm became a professor of composition at the Musikhogskola. Because of his teaching, he wrote fewer pieces between 1965 and 1975. He also started writing opera, a type of musical play.
His first opera, Holländarn ("The Dutchman"), was made for television, not for a stage. It was the first TV opera by a Scandinavian composer. It won awards in 1968.
In 1973, he completed a choir piece called ...a riveder le stelle. This work focused on beautiful harmonies and melodies. It was very calm, unlike his next piece, Greetings from an old world (1976). This piece mixed old and new music styles, using a tune from the 1500s.
In 1978, Lidholm wrote another choir piece, Perserna ("The Persians"), based on an ancient Greek play. That same year, he composed Kontakion, which blended old Russian Orthodox choir music with modern sounds. His second opera, Ett drömspel (1992), was based on Strindberg's "A Dream Play."
In 1993, Ingvar Lidholm won the Rolf Schock Prize. He also played violin and viola, conducted orchestras, and served on music juries. Some of his notable students include Edward Applebaum and Anders Eliasson.
Lidholm was known for writing challenging but respected choir music throughout his career. Many of his later works, especially after he turned 70, included choir or solo voices.
Selected compositions
- På kungens slott for piano (1943)
- Toccata e Canto for chamber orchestra (1944)
- Concerto for string orchestra (1945)
- Sonata for solo flute (1946)
- Sonata for piano (1947)
- Sonatin for piano (1947)
- Laudi for mixed choir a cappella (1947)
- (10) minatyrer for piano (1948)
- Lätta pianostycken for piano (1948)
- Klavierstück for piano (1949)
- Sonatin for piano (1950)
- Musik för stråkar for string orchestra (1952)
- (4) körer for mixed choir a cappella (1953)
- Liten stråktrio for violin, viola and cello (1953)
- Concertino for flute, oboe, English horn, and cello (1954)
- Invention for two instruments or keyboard (1954)
- (4) Pezzi for cello and piano (1955)
- Ritornell for orchestra (1955)
- Canto LXXXI for mixed choir a cappella (1956)
- Skaldens natt for soprano, choir and orchestra (1957/81)
- Notturno-Canto (1958/2000)
- Mutanza for orchestra (1959/65)
- Motto for mixed choir a cappella (1959)
- (3) Strindbergsvisor for mixed choir a cappella (1959)
- Riter (Rites), ballet: for dancers, orchestra and electronic tape (1959)
- Motus-colores for orchestra (1960)
- Nausikaa ensam for soprano, chorus and orchestra (1963)
- Poesis for orchestra (1963)
- Holländarn (The Dutchman), opera for television, with electronic tape (1967)
- Stamp Music graphic composition for postage stamp (1971)
- Stamp Music I. realization of Stamp Music for soprano and tam-tam (1971)
- ...a riveder le stelle for mixed chorus a cappella (1971–73)
- Inga träd skall väcka digfor television, with solo soprano, mixed choir, string quartet, and electronic and concrete sounds (1973–74)
- Greetings from an Old World for orchestra (1974–76)
- Fantasia sopra 'Laudi' for solo cello (1977)
- Kontakion for orchestra (1978)
- Perserna (The Persians) for male choir, solo baritone, solo tenor, and speaker (1978)
- Amicizia for solo clarinet (1980)
- De Profundis for mixed choir a cappella (1983)
- Pastoral i skogen (Pastorale in the Forest) for flute, organ, and vibrafone (1988)
- Arabesque for soprano sax or oboe (1988)
- Ett drömspel (A Dream Play), opera for soloists, children's choir, mixed choir, and orchestra (1990)
- Inbillningens värld (The World of Imagination) for male choir (1990)
- Libera me requiem for mixed choir (1994)
- stund, när ditt inre for baritone and orchestra (1998)
- Aulos for oboe and English horn (2001)
- Grekisk gravrelief for mixed choir (2003)
See: List of music students by teacher: K to M#Ingvar Lidholm.
