Scope and arrangement
These noncommercial spoken word and music recordings concerning Scandinavia were collected under the auspices of the American-Scandinavian FoundationMost of the spoken word recordings consist of panel discussions in English hosted by William Kennedy and Vernon BrooksTopics of these programs include Swedish film, Danish ballet, and a discussion of the music of Harald SaeverudAdditional spoken word recordings include an interview with Ana'is Nin.
The music recordings feature Scandinavian performers as well as composersOrchestral music is predominant, with a smaller representation of chamber and vocal musicOrchestras appearing in the collection are the Helsinki Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic, Musikselskabet "Harmonien" (Bergen, Norway), Statsradiofoniens symfoniorkester (Copenhagen), and the Swedish Radio Symphony OrchestraConductors include Herbert Blomstedt, Sixten Ehrling, Carl Garaguly, and Harald SseverudSoloists for orchestral and chamber music performances include Gosta Bjorling, Holger Gilbert-Jespersen, Kabi Laretei, Anders Naslund, and Tore Westlund.
The most prominently represented composers in the collection are Hugo Alfven, Sven Erik Beck, Niels Viggo Bentzon, Karl Birger Blomdahl, Klaus Egge, Edvard Grieg, Vagn Holmboe, Ludwig Irgens Jensen, Lars-Erik Larsson, Jón Leifs, Ingvar Lidholm, Leevi Antti Madetoja, Aarre Merikanto, Carl Nielsen, Knut Nystedt, Selim Palmgren, Ture Rangstrom, Hilding Rosenberg, Harald Saeverud, Jean Sibelius, Svend Erik Tarp, Geirr Tveitt, and Fartein Valen.