Ture Rangström

Anders Johan Ture Rangström (30 November 1884 – 11 May 1947)[1] belonged to a new generation of Swedish composers who, in the first decade of the 20th century, introduced modernism to their compositions.

After this he worked freelance and spent the summers on the island of Törnsholmen which he had been given by the people of Sweden who raised the money to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.

[2] He was grandfather of a playwright, also named Ture Rangström [sv] (born in 1944) the artistic director of Strindbergs Intima Teater (since its re-opening in 2003), and uncle of author Lars Gyllensten.

Many of his early works took the form of symphonic poems, including Dityramb (Dithyramb) (1909), Ett midsommarstycke (A midsummer piece) and En höstsång (An autumn song).

The orchestration of Gilgamesj was completed by the composer John Fernström, and it was premièred in November 1952 at the Royal Swedish Opera with Erik Saedén in the title role and Herbert Sandberg conducting.