Franz Berwald Biography

Franz Berwald, descended from a family of Swedish musicians of remoter German origin, was the most important figure in Swedish music of the 19th century.

Orchestral Works

Of Berwald's four surviving symphonies the third, the Sinfonie singulière, remains the most popular. Like the symphonies of his Danish contemporary Carl Nielsen, Berwald's symphonies have idiosyncratic titles, the first known as Sinfonie sérieuse, the second Sinfonie capricieuse and the fourth originally as Sinfonie naïve.