Wilhelm Stenhammar

A European modernist

Abstract

Wilhelm Stenhammar’s contributions to Swedish musical life around 1900 are widely acknowledged. But his activities stretched well beyond the Swedish borders. The present article approaches Stenhammar from a transnational perspective, placing him in the broader context of European musical modernism around 1900. Following a clarification of the use of the terms ‘modernity’ and ‘modernism’ in the light of recent research on modernism in music, Stenhammar’s identity as a European modernist is discussed with special focus on Copenhagen and Berlin. Stenhammar’s compositional strategies in the finale of his String Quartet no. 3 op. 18 in F major are then analysed in terms of musical self-reflection, offering a new perspective on his compositional agency with a wealth of musical traditions at his disposal. At a time when travelling across borders by steam train had become a common part of modern life, transcultural interconnectedness seems to be a common framework for musicians to identify as modern composers.

Keywords: Wilhelm Stenhammar, Henrik Hennings, Louis Glass, modernism, modernity, music analysis, self-reflection, European music historiography.