Andreas Hallén

Swedish Romantic Composer and Conductor

Andreas Hallén (born December 22, 1846 in Gothenburg, † March 11, 1925 in Stockholm) was a Swedish composer, conductor, music educator and professor. He received most of his education in Germany, including at the Leipzig Conservatory and through private studies for Joseph Rheinberger. In Swedish concert life, Hallén has been important, not least through his organizational efforts. In 1884 he was elected to the Royal Academy of Music. In Gothenburg he reconstructed the Göteborgs Musikförening, in Stockholm he founded the Filharmoniska sällskapet i Stockholm, which during his conducting time there, 1885–1895, among other things, introduced Bach's Matthew Passion in Sweden. He also founded in 1902 and for a few years led the Sydsvenska filharmoniska föreningen in Malmö. He was occasionally active as a music critic, for a time he was conductor at the Royal Opera, and in 1909–1919 he taught composition at the Conservatory of Music in Stockholm.