Something cool you might have missed: Swedish Rhapsody no. 3 by Hugo Alfven

...will be played by Anthony Quinn...

In the last couple months, I’ve made references to the music of Hugo Alfven.  He cracked the top 10 of the Symphonies no. 3 countdown, which I’m sure thrilled the folks at the Alfven Society.  And I compared him to a non-BCS football team in a rhapsody showdown, implying he was the dark horse that could probably take the whole cake if given the opportunity.  And the piece with which he could achieve that victory is the Swedish Rhapsody no. 3, also known as the Dalecarlian Rhapsody.

10 Best: Symphonies no. 3

Continuing what has magically turned into a series that I didn’t intend to start, we’re counting down the 10 Best Symphonies no. 3.  The field is more crowded than ever, probably uncomfortably so.  I had a hell of a time sifting through all these amazing works, and some pieces that I really love got left off altogether.  The most interesting trend I noticed in compiling this list was the startling amount of quality Symphonies no. 3 by American composers; it is very clearly a lucky number.  Ives, Copland, Schuman, Rorem, Harris, Bernstein, Cowell, Diamond, Ward, Glass, Hanson, Hovhaness, Mennin, and Sessions all contributed strong entrants to the field (clearly I should have just made a list of Symphonies no. 3 by American dudes).  Which of these made the cut?  Here we go…