En symfonisk särling : En studie i Allan Petterssons symfonikomponerande

Sammanfattning: This thesis is concerned with the symphonies of the Swedish composer Allan Pettersson (1911–80). The aim of the thesis is to promote understanding of Pettersson’s music and compositional processes, through analyses of a selection of his symphonies. The thesis will also increase understanding of Pettersson’s view of music. My analytical point of departure is a reconstructed compositional problem built on Pettersson’s view of music; the analysed symphonies are regarded as solutions to the reconstructed compositional problem. Questions related to how these problems are solved in the symphonies are the main focus of the analyses.The analyses in this thesis suggest that Pettersson consciously worked with contrasts between the tonal and non-tonal. This is supported by the composer’s descriptions of his music. The contrasts in Pettersson’s music between the tonal and non-tonal are in most cases carefully integrated into his symphonies. These contrasts appear as parts of an organic whole and are central in the formation of this whole. The analyses suggest that the contrast non-tonal/tonal functions as tension and relaxation between larger and smaller sections, and between motifs. There are connections between the contrasts on different levels, which seems like a clear structural idea in Pettersson’s organic form. The analyses emphasis the multiple functions of tonality in Pettersson’s music.The analyses also propose that the contrast between tonal and non-tonal appears as a means of articulating contrasts between different themes and motifs. The analyses further show how Pettersson used carefully constructed systems of great complexity in his music.