A Swedish composer, conductor and violinist, Alfvén was born and had his musical training in Stockholm. He wrote a considerable amount of orchestral, choral, vocal and chamber music.

Orchestral Music

Alfvén is probably best known outside Sweden for his Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, Midsummer Vigil (Midsommarvaka); this was followed by two further Swedish Rhapsodies—Uppsala Rhapsody and Dalecarlian Rhapsody. His five symphonies (in common with his vocal and chamber music) are less widely known. He himself set particular store by his first four symphonies, written in 1897, 1897–98, 1905 and 1918–19 respectively. The third of these was written in Italy, and the fourth has the programmatic title ‘Från havsbandet’ (‘From the Outskirts of the Archipelago’). His fifth and final symphony was completed in 1953. His own close association with his native country is heard in his En skärgårdssägen (‘Legend of the Skerries’), the darker counterpart to his Midsummer Vigil.