Synnøve of Solbakken is a sort of Village Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending. It was a Swedish-Norwegian joint production and Alfvén uses Norwegian folk tunes in the score as well as excerpts from his own ballet The Mountain King. From this he fashioned a six-movement suite. Sunday Morning in the Forest appears first here but was not originally the opening of the film, yet it serves this function well. Young Love is a demure episode, appealing rather than passionate, but with sumptuous orchestration, including harps and piano. The second half has some interesting development that one would not have predicted when the piece started. The third section of the suite Poignant Grief-Pastorale is quite effective with its Norwegian fiddle sounds contrasting with material from the first two sections of the suite. Torbjörn and Synnøve continues in the vein of the second section. Langtan is the most effective movement in the suite, with a haunting violin solo. I Solbakken was the music actually played for the opening credits of the film, but it’s Norwegian dances do just as well for the end of the suite. All of the above is recorded rather closely, but in an unobtrusive way that emphasizes both the emotions of the score and the playing of the orchestra. Willén conducts in a less sentimental fashion than Alfvén sometimes receives and it is perfect for this film music. He also has an excellent sense of tempo.

More serious is the six-movement suite from the second and later film score En Bygdesaga. In spite of the seemingly-benign name this is the story of Märit, married to Påvel, but in love with Håkan. The suite concentrates on the music associated with the characters and the important emotions that propel the film’s action. The Introduction immediately and almost violently sets the emotional tone with resplendent brass chords giving way to a more gentle section, still informed by the feelings of the opening. Dreams deals with the musical ideas associated with the main characters and with certain objects that have symbolic value in the course of the film. Alfvén takes this material into increasing tense, and for him, dissonant territory, before reaching a quiet ending. Guilty love is even more violent as it uses the lower notes of the orchestra to portray the feelings of the two main characters. This music is developed into a chorale section with the upper strings playing other material. An excellent example of the composer’s orchestral and contrapuntal skill. As if the previous section were not intense enough, Jealousy shows us the feelings of Påvel - equally intense, though different in kind. This does not last long, changing into a pastoral section, but one in which the tension is not totally dissipated. The composer uses the strings to make this transition in his usual accomplished manner. After the previous sections, the Funeral March makes a good contrast and it is solemn enough, though not totally convincing. The title of the final section, Baying of Wolves, refers to the social ostracism Håkan and Märit will face as they run off together. This is true music of flight, with elements of the joy of freedom mixed in. Again, Willén and Norköpping handle every aspect of this complicated music with aplomb.

The Elégie is actually a tone poem written in memory of Emil Sjögren, the great composer of lieder. It was originally published for piano and then later orchestrated before being used in some incidental music Alfvén wrote for a play called We, finally becoming a part of the Gustav II Adolph Suite (op. 49) taken from the incidental music. Harmonically and emotionally it is one of the strongest of his shorter orchestral works. In his development of the first theme Alfvén maintains some emotional distance, as if writing for a beloved public figure, while the second theme seems more appropriate for a friend or colleague. The opening of the piece with its appropriately scored hollow chords and the magical final notes frame a truly moving experience. The string playing by the Norköpping players is wonderful throughout and Willén ably brings out the various emotional shades of the work.

The major competition on CD to this disc would be Sterling Gramofon CDS 1012, released in 1996. This contains the two film suites, but not the Elegie and was recorded by two different conductors and orchestras, one of them Norköpping. It is an estimable production but lacks both the comprehensiveness of Willén’s outlook on the music and the intimate but impressive recording quality of the Naxos disc. Given the low price and the fact that that many listeners will already have previous volumes by Willén in the Naxos Alfvén series, this disc is a must for Alfvén fans and, due to the specific qualities of the music, even those who do not otherwise warm to him.

Synnove... is set in Norway, so consequently it’s not surprising that much of the music is based on Norwegian folk melodies, and comes off sounding more than a little like Edvard Grieg. Highpoints include a gorgeous waltz melody that signifies young love and permeates the whole piece, plus a jovial finale, which finds Alfven at his most appealing (shades of his three Swedish rhapsodies).

A Country Tale is a much more serious sounding affair that begins with angst and foreboding. The second and third movements are a lovely dream and love scene respectively featuring some delightful melodies that may well have been folk inspired. Things then turn rather solemn for the remaining three movements, which feature a musical portrait of jealousy, a funeral march and an anxiety-ridden finale with hunting calls and lupine associations (see the album notes).

The program closes with an elegy (c. 1918) that Alfven wrote in memory of another Swedish composer, Emil Sjogren, who died in 1918. In essence it’s a small tone poem lasting just over twelve minutes. A rather funereal sounding opening theme is contrasted with another of solace and consolation. The piece ends leaving the listener with a feeling of reconciliation and divine closure. The performances by the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra under Niklas Willen are excellent and the recorded sound is good, making this a highly desirable follow-on to the previous disc referred to above.

Synnøve [of] Solbakken is the name of the heroine, lover of Torbjörn who gets injured in a fight with a rival. The opening Sunday Morning in the Forest is lush and punctuated by cuckoo calls. Synnøve then contemplates her love on the mountain pasture before Poignant grief intervenes but the atmosphere is hardly less pastoral. The fourth movement is called Torbjörn and Synnøve and they seem to be dancing. Yearning is followed by a return to Solbakken – the name of the village rather than a surname – where no doubt they all lived happily ever after. If my summary makes it sound perfunctory, the music is actually quite delightful and obviously Scandinavian, clearly deriving much from Grieg.

En Bygdesaga means “A Country Tale” and is rather sterner stuff. Certainly the introduction has some drama but Dreams and some moments in Guilty Love – Anguish remind us that this is set deep in the heart of the Swedish countryside. The fourth movement is called Jealousy but soon leads to a Pastorale. The fifth movement is a funeral march but the lovers have survived to escape across the fields in a finale called Baying of Wolves.

The Swedish organist and composer Emil Sjögren died in 1918 and his funeral inspired this powerful and extended elegy. The booklet tells us that this “tribute is a tone poem that often anticipates the Fourth Symphony on which he was soon to embark”. There is also an obvious direct reference to an anguished theme which eventually found its way into the much later Fifth Symphony.

This disc seems to be by way of a follow-up to the recently issued recording of Alfvén’s Fifth Symphony from the same forces in Norrköping (see review). That has already become a potential disc of the year for me – wonderfully committed playing which outshines rivals from the capital under Neeme Järvi. Here the orchestra are less taxed but there is much sensitive playing on offer. Once again they are very well recorded.

The elegy is a work of substance but the two suites are programme music based on programmes which lack just that. Nevertheless it is good that Alfvén’s music is being rescued from oblivion and it will be enjoyed by anyone who warms to the Midsummer Vigil.