Development of art music in the Scandinavian peninsula

Of course there was musical contagion, it's just that the Swedish court was "peripheral". The greatest Scandinavian Baroque composer was this one: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Helmich_Roman

Furthermore, for Sweden you can take a look at this list: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoria:Compositori_svedesi

For Norway, before Grieg there is Ole Bull: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Bull

P.S. Keep in mind that Norway did not exist: first Danish and then Swedish, it obtained independence only in 1905.

Your question certainly deserves an in-depth look; let's say that within the period known as "the young national schools," in the Scandinavian area—Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland—a musical current linked to national folklore developed during the second half of the nineteenth century.

In Denmark, the musician Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) stands out, author of the cantata "The Elf King's Daughter" (1854), which is rich in folk themes.
Carl August Nielsen (1865-1931), on the other hand, is a composer of piano, chamber, concerto, and symphonic music that presents a new language close to the new musical trends of twentieth-century Europe.

In Sweden, Franz Berwald (1796-1868) asserts himself as the author of four symphonies written between 1842 and 1845, which demonstrate a sensitivity to certain orchestral effects.

In Norway, the most significant personality is Edvard Grieg (1843-1907); with a German musical education from studies at the Leipzig Conservatory, he shows a keen interest in the musical folklore of his own country and, following his encounter with the great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), writes the incidental music for Peer Gynt (pronounced Gunt).
His production ranges from Lieder (150) for piano and voice to numerous short pieces for piano included in ten collections of lyric pieces (1867-1901).
Characteristics: a language rich in melodic spontaneity, refined harmonies with the evident influence of folk melodies and Norwegian dance rhythms (see Norwegian Dances op. 72), the piano concerto in A minor (1868), and sonatas for violin and piano.

In Finland, the greatest musical exponent of that period is Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). His compositions feature Nordic folk themes and melodic ideas of folk derivation. The most significant compositions are symphonic poems such as "A Saga" (1892), Karelia (1895), "Finlandia" (1899), and seven symphonies written between 1899 and 1924.

But what are the national schools?

With the revaluation of folk song and national identities, musicians operating during the nineteenth century increasingly turned their attention to the heritage of folk traditions and utilized the expressive resources typical of this repertoire, assimilating them with "art" music. Romantic nationalism, therefore, while preserving the substantial musical structure of the Western tradition, carries out a profound renewal whose effects, at the turn of the century, would produce radical changes. In the Romantic era, the search for and expression of national identity played a determining role in artistic development, especially in those European countries that had established links with the Italian-French-German musical culture.
This occurred in a particular way in Russia where, following the victory over the Napoleonic armies, patriotism and the valorization of the cultural traditions of Slavic peoples were consolidated.
The awakening of national consciousness consequently favored the emancipation of music from Western imported forms through the revaluation of folk heritage and the enhancement of diverse historical/musical traditions. In opera theater, all national characters manifest themselves through the choice of historical/folk, epic/legendary, or fantastic subjects. In instrumental, symphonic, and chamber music, exotic and folkloric elements, folk motifs, and folk dance rhythms are inserted. Even harmonic/modal archaisms and refined, exuberant orchestral effects confer a particular "local color" to the music. Thus, a style is created that is capable of elevating the nation's music and folk song to an art musical language by infusing them with new elements and an authentic "national character." All this happens, however, in respect for and following the formal and stylistic models established by Western musical culture, while grafting onto them all those elements typical of individual realities and folk traditions.

Therefore, there was a great folklore first before that.

Among the living, Saariaho and Rautavaara (Finland) come to mind, and then Norgard and Steen Andersen (Denmark)

Thanks for the answers, I managed to listen to them and discovered very interesting and musically beautiful pieces; I would like to add a few other names I discovered for completeness:

- Kurt Atterberg, whose symphony no. 6 I found interesting

- Adolf Wiklund with his piano concerto no. 1

- Wilhelm Peterson-Berger with his collection of small piano pieces "Frosoblomster"

I particularly appreciated the symphonies of Berwald (third in C major) and Nielsen (second and fourth); I still have to listen to the others, but I am sure they will be just as valid!

Thanks for the answers!

Christian IV of Denmark, King of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway which included, indeed, Denmark, Norway, but also Iceland and the Faroe Islands, was one of the initiators of a sort of Scandinavian musical "renaissance". We are between the late 1500s and the early 1600s. At his court stayed for a few years John Dowland, the most famous lutenist and composer of songs of the Elizabethan period, but above all, one of the most particular things of the musical renaissance occurred: some Danish instrumentalists were chosen and sent more or less officially to study with Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice. Among those chosen was Mogens Pedersøn, of whom madrigals, masses, psalms, and motets remain

e this is a Lutheran psalm and, therefore, in DANISH :-)

Open content (youtube)

http://ettoregarzia.blogspot.it/2010/05/la-musica-classica-nordica.html

I recommend reading the article linked above. It brings to light a musical center that rests primarily in the Scandinavian countries. These are composers who, throughout the twentieth century, would develop a very precise and recognizable language. All of this is rooted in the nineteenth century when the first Scandinavian composers brought innovations to late Romantic music, innovations that would mark the beginning of a school.

There was a true emancipation of Scandinavian composers from German and French ones. So much so that both atonality and serialism will be applied within a pre-existing compositional structure.

That is to say, these composers will use series for broader purposes. Atonality (and therefore also the use of series) becomes a sort of technique that must serve a higher purpose.
These are not experiments for their own sake, but compositions that utilize new compositional techniques.

We can say that Scandinavian composers incorporate atonality (including serialism) within a pre-existing and broader project.

I think that the (systematic) listening to these composers, starting from Grieg and passing through Sibelius, can lead to the listening of contemporary music.
There is a linearity and a parallel evolution that can be felt when listening to these composers who follow one another in time, up to today.
In this way, the twentieth century no longer appears as a fragmented century but as something complete.

Just as one starts from Bach, Scarlatti, Vivaldi to arrive at Beethoven, in the same way one can start from Grieg, Sibelius to arrive at Kalevi Aho and others.

The twentieth century has just concluded, and only today, with the right distance, can we understand those developments that were successful.
It is thus a twentieth century that should be listened to with pleasure, and not just a twentieth century that must be read about only to then listen to and reject.

Many of those who reject the twentieth century do so because they have not had the fortune of approaching Scandinavian composers, but rather the usual Ravel, Debussy, Schoenberg, etc.
Therefore, I recommend to all those who need to "listen with pleasure" to the twentieth century, these Scandinavian composers who pass down compositional techniques and aesthetics seamlessly, reaching up to our present day.