Allan Petterson - Allan Petterson

Allan Pettersson�s Symphony No. 15 is characterized by a high degree of tension right from the striking opening: brief, emphatic chords from horns and trombones above the tremolo of a side drum. Soon an expressive melodic subject is heard from the first violins, followed by contrasting rapid scales � at which point Pettersson has presented the greater part of the symphony�s building blocks. Like so many of the composer�s symphonies, the 15th is in one movement, but with clearly defined sections. It was completed in 1978, two years before Pettersson�s death, and was followed in 1979, by the sixteenth symphony, the last work that the composer submitted for performance.