I ran this piece several years ago, via my old site. It has since disappeared, but I thought I would run it again, with improved sound. This was part of a series of recordings made under the auspices of the Norwegian Office Of Cultural Relations by way of Norwegian Radio and were intended to be used to promote the cause of Musical Culture in Norway to the rest of the world after the War.
They issued primarily 78’s, and whether this series extended into the lp era, I don’t really know. But suffice to say, the series of 78s they did issue (around 1946-1948) were fascinating documents of works by composers not all that well known outside their native Norway.
One of those composers whose works were getting promoted was Johan Svendsen; a contemporary of Edvard Grieg and also a close friend of the German composer Richard Wagner. Prolific and highly admired during his lifetime, he sadly lost some popularity after his death and his works eventually vanished from the concert hall (certainly in the U.S.), save for his Violin Romance, written in 1881.
Here is the Symphony Number 2, as performed in this Norwegian Radio session by The Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by music director Odd Grüne-Hegge from around 1948.
