LUDVIG NORMAN (1831-1885): Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 58, Concert Overture in E Flat, Op. 21, Overture to Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, Op. 57, Funeral March “To the Memory of August Söderman”, Op. 46.

Description: This album includes a large proportion of the orchestral works of Ludvig Norman (1831–1885), ‘The Swedish Brahms’, including his masterpiece, Symphony No. 3, performed by the Oulu Symphony Orchestra under Johannes Gustavsson. Ludvig Norman was a fascinating artist who inspired a generation of Swedish composers and was widely respected, although his 3rd Symphony was premièred only after the composer’s death. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Norman studied at the famous Leipzig Conservatory, where his teachers included Ignaz Moscheles (piano) and Julius Rietz (composition). He returned to Stockholm as a professional musician and composer deeply inspired by his impressions of musical life in Leipzig. Norman is often considered to be among Sweden’s premier symphonists after Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801-78) and Franz Berwald (1796–1868). His contribution to the Swedish orchestral repertoire comprises three symphonies, three overtures and a Funeral March. Stenhammar described the composer’s 3rd Symphony as “full of beauty” and even claimed that he valued it more than “any of Brahms’s symphonies”. Oulu Symphony Orchestra; Johannes Gustavsson.