A day with Dag Wirén

Lars Berglund from the Institution of Musicology gave a lecture about Wirén’s from being a cheerful and humorous composer to a more serious and thoughtful after the 2nd world war. At the same time he kept his humour also in the more serious music that he composed later in life. Per-Henning Olsson from the same institution gave a lecture called “Tradition and traditionalism” and meant that the old division of the composers “composers of the 20s”, “composers of the 30s” etc.  depending on their debut was not good.  Nor is the division of traditionalists and modernists particularly useful, Olsson thought. Where is Wirén to be placed in those subdivisions?, he wondered, and played examples of Karl-Birger Blomdahl's music from the late 40s and a Wirén composition from the same year.  Blomdahl did not sound more “modern” than Wirén at the same time and in spite of that Blomdahl is labeled modernist and Wirén traditionalist.

After these musicological perspectives musicianship took over.  Five ensembles with a total of 14 students from the music colleges in Gothenburg, Piteå and Stockholm had studied some works of Wirén.  It was Sonatina for cello and piano, Piano Trios No. 1 and No. 2 and String Quartet No. 2. Teachers in these master classes were the professors Stefan Bojsten and Torleif Thedéen.  These two have played and toured a lot together, but this was the first time they gave master classes together.  They gave the students their views both concerning interpretation and in performing technology.

Annika Wirén told at the end of the day, a few personal memories of her father.  An important period in his life was the years in Paris in the early 1930s with lots of memories that he often returned to later in life.  It was also in Paris where he met his future wife, Noel, who was a cellist.  Annika quoted a letter from the Paris period from Dag writing to his family in Fjugesta and he seems to have lived a comfortable life with good dinners with at least as good drinks.  She also told about the summers on the island Björkö in the Stockholm archipelago, where Dag forbade his wife and daughter each morning to be in the house so that he could get some quietness to compose at the piano.

In the concluding panel discussion the participants returned to Wirén’s a bit subtle joke humour.  Several students said they did not know Wirén at all before, but thought after having played his music that it is of international standard and should be performed more.

In other words, a very successful day with many interesting features as part of keeping Wirén’s music alive and promoting the performance of his music.

Roland Sandberg