12 Facts About Franz Berwald

Franz Adolf Berwald was a Swedish Romantic composer.

Franz Berwald made his living as an orthopedist and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory, and became more appreciated as a composer after his death than he had been in his lifetime.

In 1809, Karl XIII came to power and reinstated the Royal Chapel; the following year Franz Berwald started working there, as well as playing the violin in the court orchestra and the opera, receiving lessons from Edouard du Puy, and started composing.

In 1818 Franz Berwald started publishing the Musikalisk journal, later renamed Journal de musique, a periodical with easy piano pieces and songs by various composers as well as some of his own original work.

Franz Berwald's family got into dire economic circumstances after the death of his father in 1825.

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Franz Berwald tried to get several scholarships, but only got one from the King, which enabled him to study in Berlin, where he worked hard on operas despite not having any chance to put them on the stage.

Franz Berwald stopped composing during his time in Berlin, resuming only in 1841 with a move to Vienna and marriage to Mathilde Scherer.

Franz Berwald's music was not recognised favourably in Sweden during his lifetime, even drawing hostile newspaper reviews, but fared a little better in Germany and Austria.

When Franz Berwald returned to Sweden in 1849, he managed a glass works at Sando in Angermanland owned by Ludvig Petre, an amateur violinist.

In 1866, Franz Berwald received the Swedish Order of the Polar Star, in recognition of his musical achievements.

Franz Berwald died in Stockholm in 1868 of pneumonia and was interred there in the Norra begravningsplatsen .

However, despite these musicians' efforts, it took a while before Franz Berwald was recognized as, to quote composer-critic Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, writing in the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's "most original and modern composer".