Allan Pettersson, Symphony No 9, Sergiu Comissiona

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• published: 02 Mar 2015
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People are repeatedly drawn back to Pettersson's scores because of their redemptive power and the composer's ability to draw a tearful serene epiphany out of exhaustion and a battered spirit. The music is fraught with tension and anxiety, turbulent, distraught, grievously wounded, yet sometimes singing with hard-won hope. This speaks to the experience of many a person in the current world crisis. Pettersson succeeded more than any other composer of the 20th Century, in rendering audible his involvement in the cause of humanity and the humane with his artistic identification with the oppressed. His music conveys an interior and very personal world. His own suffering arose from his paralysing illness, his meagre family circumstances, and the neglect of his music. The score of the 9th symphony bears the completion date of 1st July 1970. The premiere took place in February the following year by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under it's then principal conductor Sergiu Comissiona, and it is their recording of 1978 which is offered here. There has been considerable debate about the tempi specified for this single movement work. We are informed that the metronome markings indicate a duration of about 70 minutes. But Comissiona takes all of 85 minutes! In my personal opinion, this is a more appropriate timing, being more consistent with the preceding 4 symphonies (compare, for instance, the start of the 6th, or the conclusion of the 7th). The score of the 9th is described as a wandering towards the light through all the circles of an inferno. The emotions in this adventure are lost if the performance is too quick. This is especially apparent in the concluding 7 minutes, where the struggle seems to be given up, leaving only a sublime view of the Universe seen spread out in a clear desert sky. Here is a well earned rest for the weary soul. To rush through this is to downgrade a spiritual experience into a mathematically perfect academic exercise. We must remember that Pettersson was present during Comissiona's interpretations. Surely the conductor might have revised his tempi if the composer was not satisfied. Pettersson also dedicated this work to Comissiona. During the writing of this symphony, Pettersson had cause to fear for his life. He was suffering from a kidney ailment, perhaps a complication resulting from the polyarthritis medication he needed to take, and there was a possibility that he might never complete his work. The number "nine" was also a problem for Gustav Mahler and for Beethoven. I have always associated this music with the traversing of a desert. Barren plains are followed by formidable mountain ranges. There is the continual struggle to survive against adversity. This I believe is symbolic of many of our own lives, and for that reason I have chosen desertscapes for this video. They tend to change whenever there is some kind of turning point in the course of the music. This single file replaces my earlier rendition of 2 parts, with improvements in volumes, a few less vinyl clicks, and pictures extensively revised.