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Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 &ndash; November 20, 1927), was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist. <p>Stenhammar was born in Stockholm and his musical education first took place there. He then went to Berlin to further his studies in music. He became a glowing admirer of German music, particularly that of Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. Stenhammar himself described the style of his First Symphony in F major as "idyllic Bruckner". He subsequently sought to emancipate himself and write in a more "Nordic" style, looking to Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius for guidance. The latter's Symphony No. 2, especially, had a great effect on him, leading him to change his style and refuse to refer to his First Symphony as anything but a trivial piece, while only acknowledging having written his Second Symphony in G minor. <p>From 1906 to 1922 he was Artistic Director and chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony, the first full-time professional orchestra in Sweden. In this...