Lars Johan Werle
Lars Johan Werle (23 June 1926 – 3 August 2001) was a Swedish modernist composer.
Lars Johan Werle
- Born
- 1926 · Gävle.
- Died
- 2001
- Nationality
- Sweden
- Occupation
- composer
- Fields
- opera
- Education
- Uppsala University
- Teachers
- Sven-Erik Bäck · Carl-Allan Moberg
- Known for
- Animalen
- Honours
- Litteris et Artibus · Hugo Alfvén Award · Kurt Atterberg Prize · Nordic Council Music Prize
- Languages
- Swedish
In this article
Life and career
Lars Johan Werle studied at Uppsala University. Training under Sven-Erik Bäck and Carl-Allan Moberg is recorded. Zbigniew Karkowski is recorded as having studied under Lars Johan Werle. The recorded working language is Swedish. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Employment is recorded with Sveriges Radio. Works named in the authority record are Animalen. Distinctions recorded are Litteris et Artibus, Hugo Alfvén Award, Kurt Atterberg Prize and Nordic Council Music Prize.
Werle was born in Gävle, Sweden, and taught himself how to compose, before going on to study musicology at the University of Uppsala from 1948 to 1950, and then counterpoint with Sven-Erik Bäck from 1949 to 1952 He sang in the chorus Bel Canto, was active as a jazz musician, and worked as a producer for Swedish Radio from 1958 to 1970, after which he took a professorship at the National Music Drama School, and then at the Gothenburg Music Academy starting in 1977. Werle was known for his avant-gardist, post-Webernian composition Pentagram for string quartet that won first prize at the Gaudeamus Festival in Bilthoven in 1960. He became known for his vocal and choral music, as well as his operas, such as Drömmen om Thérèse and "Resan", the latter of which he made with psychedelic rock group Mecki Mark Men. Werle also scored the films of Ingmar Bergman Persona and Hour of the Wolf.
Orchestra
• Sinfonia da camera (1961) • Summer Music for piano and strings (1965) • Zodiac, ballet score (1966) • Vaggsång för jorden (Lullaby for the Earth) (1977)
Chamber
• Pentagram for string quartet (1960)
Vocal
• Nattjakt (Night Hunt) for soprano and orchestra (1973) • Smultronvisa for voice, flute and strings (1976)
Opera
• Drömmen om Thérèse (Dreaming about Thérèse) (1964) • Resan (The Journey) with Mecki Mark Men (1969) • Tintomara (1973)
Licensing
Text attribution
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Lars Johan Werle, revision 1326865888 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Citations
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 28 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
41,929 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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