Pergament, Moses
Pergament, Moses
Pergament, Moses , Finnish-born Swedish music critic and composer; b. Helsinki, Sept. 21, 1893; d. Gustavsberg, near Stockholm, March 5, 1977. He studied violin at the St. Petersburg Cons, and conducting at Berlin’s Stern Cons. In 1915 he settled in Sweden and became a naturalized Swedish citizen (1918); from 1923 to 1966 he was active as a music critic in Swedish newspapers; he publ. 4 books on music. His musical style was initially circumscribed by Russian paradigms; later he was influenced by Sibelius; still later he adopted some modernistic procedures. Several of his compositions reflect an ancestral strain of Jewish melos.
Works
dramatic: Opera: Himlens hemlighet (The Secret of Heaven), chamber opera (1952); Eli, radio opera (1958; Swedish Radio, March 19, 1959); Abrams Erwachen, opera-oratorio (1970–73). ballet:Krelantems and Eldeling (1920–28); Vision (1923). Also incidental music and film scores. orch.:Romance for Violin and Orch. (1914); Adagio for Clarinet and Strings (1915); Rapsodia ebraica (1935); Concerto romantico for Strings (1935); Dibbuk, fantasy for Violin and Orch. (1935); Almquistiana, 2 suites (1936, 1938); Swedish Rhapsody (1941); Violin Concerto (1948); Kol Nidre for Cello and Orch. (1949); Piano Concerto (1951); Concerto for 2 Violins and Orch. (1954); Cello Concerto (1955); Canto lirico for Violin and Orch. (1956); Pezzo intimo for 16 Solo Cellos (1957); Viola Concerto (1964–65); Fantasia differente for Cello and Strings (1970); Sonatina for Flute and Strings (1973). chamber: Piano Trio (1912–13; rev. 1940); Violin Sonata (1918–20); 3 string quartets (1922, 1952, 1956); Sonata for Solo Violin (1961); Flute Sonata (1968); Little Suite for Woodwinds (1970). vocal:Nedan-förmänskliga visor (Subhuman Songs) for Narrator, Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1936); Den judiska sangen (The Jewish Song), choral sym. (1944); De sju dödssynderna (The 7 Deadly Sins), oratorio (1963); 4 Poems by Edith Södergran for Soprano and Orch. (1965–66); Årstider, 4 songs for Baritone and Orch. (1968); Drö;mmen om mullen och vindarna (The Dream of the Earth and the Winds) for Baritone and Orch. (1969); Biblical Cantata for Chorus and Orch. (1974); over 100 solo songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire