Wilhelm Peterson-Berger

American Dance

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942) has become one of Swedens most beloved composers through his piano collections 'Flowers of Frösö 1-3'. He looked at his five symphonies and five operas as his main works himself, but it's the smaller piano pieces and songs that are mostly performed today. In addition to his composing, he was also a music critic in the paper 'Dagens Nyheter' and feard by many for his sharp pen.

American Dance from 1924 are included in the collection 'Three tone poems for piano' and was originally entitled Digestion Americaine. As a composer, Peterson-Berger was very conservative and did not appreciated the new american entertainment music at all. Therefore, one might assume that this piece is an ironic interpretation of what he calls 'idiotic jazz'. American Dance is a slow, but still dance-like piece which differ from other pieces in the same genre by several key changes. Maybe it it his great knowledge about the music of Richard Wagner that shines through.