Wennerberg Gunnar
Wennerberg Gunnar
Wennerberg, Gunnar, Swedish writer, politician, and composer, uncle of Sara (Margarete Eugenia Euph-rosyne) Wennerberg-Reuter; b. Lidköping, Oct. 2,1817; d. Läckö, Aug. 22, 1901. He studied at the Univ. of Uppsala (Ph.D., 1845), and entered the Swedish Parliament in 1876. Although he was autodidact as a composer, he found a following as a composer of vocal music, becoming best known for his works for men’s voices, most notably Hor oss, Sveal (1853). He publ. a popular collection of vocal duets for men’s voices and piano as Giuntarne (1849-51) and 55 of the Psalms for solo voice or voices, chorus, and piano (1861-86). He attempted to write several major works, including a Stabat mater and a series of oratorios on the life of Christ, but only 2 of the latter were completed. His literary works were publ. in 4 vols. (1881-85).
Bibliography
S. Almquist, Om G. W.: Hans tid och hans gaming (Stockholm, 1917); C. Hennerberg, Förteckning over G. W.s Tonverk (Stockholm, 1918); G. Jeanson, G. W. som Musiker (Stockholm, 1929).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire