Gunnar de Frumerie

Composer Gunnar de Frumerie joined 20th century neoclassicism to Swedish folk influences and other musical trends. He composed in genres ranging from opera to piano miniatures. Frumerie joined the faculty of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm as a piano instructor in 1945. By that time, Frumerie had already written an opera, Singoalla (1940), based on a novel by Viktor Rydberg. He was also a prolific composer of songs and wrote several major works for voice or chorus and orchestra. His chamber works include the nonet Musica per nove, Op. 75. A large collection of works in various genres played by Frumerie himself appeared in 1998 under the title Frumerie Plays Frumerie. A 2023 recording of his Clarinet Concerto and Concertino for piano by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester perhaps signaled a new interest outside Sweden in his elegant, often intricately constructed neoclassic works.