The two symphonies recorded here are dark, atmospheric works equally well conceived for full orchestra. While the expertise of his writing for stringed instruments in particular is undeniable, I have often found Nordgren's expressive purposes less compelling. The almost Icelandic spareness of texture, allied to trademark prevailing slow tempos, usually left me underwhelmed in the past (see my review of Violin Concerto No 4 and Cronaca, Ondine, 5/97). His Third Symphony (1993) is thoroughly characteristic, with only one movement (of six) - the scherzo-like fifth, 'Defiance' - quick, but the format and variety of textural palette provide the necessary contrasts. The symphony falls into three pairs of movements which, perhaps unintentionally, emulate sonata-form exposition, development and recapitulation. The first two consist of movements for full orchestra - respectively 'Lamentations' and 'Chorale', reminiscent somewhat of Pettersson in their thick, intense sonorities - succeeded by much briefer pieces, 'Postlude' and 'Interlude', scored for piano alone. The final pair are both orchestral, 'Defiance' - a second development - dovetailing via its culminating chord into an imposing 'Epilogue', the varied recapitulation for the whole work. Nordgren's Third may be essentially a set of symphonic studies, but it redistributes sonata elements between its movements more convincingly than does Sumera's Fourth (BIS, 9/95), though not Holmboe's Seventh or Eleventh (BIS, 6/93, 9/96).
Nordgren's Fifth Symphony (1998) is in a large single movement (as is No 4) and may owe something to the example of Rautavaara's Fifth (1986; Ondine). As much symphonic fantasia as symphony, it is none the less a gripping journey through an imaginatively conceived tonal landscape. Like its companion, it receives a fine, committed performance from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. Ondine's sound is of demonstration quality. Recommended.
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