Moses Pergament

Finnish-Swedish composer, conductor, music critic, violinist and writer Moses Pergament was born on 21 September 1893 into a very musical Orthodox Lithuanian Jewish family in Helsinki, during Finland's Russian period. His studies included periods in St Petersburg, Stockholm and Berlin.

He moved to Sweden in 1915, became a Swedish citizen in 1918, worked for a while as a conductor in Berlin, wrote musical criticism for Stockholm's Svenska Dagbladet (a Swedish daily newspaper), and very gradually began to get commissions to compose.

His output includes The Jewish Song for soloists, choir and orchestra, plus two piano concertos, a violin concerto, four string quartets, choral works and film music.

Moses Pergament died in Stockholm on 5 March 1977, aged eighty-three.

 

A selection of articles about Moses Pergament

Spotlight. Strikingly Individual - Keith Bramich finds the music of Moses Pergament haunting, strange and sad. 'All the performances here are excellent.'