Herdsmaiden's Dance

Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén (1872—1960) was born in Stockholm and studied at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 to 1891. The “Herdsmaiden’s Dance” (“Vallflickans Dans”) is part of the music from his three-act ballet “Bergakungen,” which was premiered in 1923. The idea for the story behind this ballet can be traced back to his friendship with Swedish illustrator John Bauer. In 1915, Bauer presented Alfvén with the idea to compose a ballet based around the character of the herdsmaiden. As a result, “Bergakungen” was created, and from that ballet, we have this delightful dance, arranged here for solo flute and clarinet choir.