notable for its quality rather than quantity, and a number of his works were refused opus numbers or withdrawn. He once commented that his first desire was to entertain and please, and compose listener-friendly "modern" music. He was reluctant to write for the voice (in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest entry, Alf Henrikson wrote the lyrics after Wirén had composed the music). Neoclassical pieces from Wirén's early Parisian period, including the Piano Trio (1933) and the Sinfonietta (1933–34), are melodically and rhythmically entertaining. Upon his return to Sweden, he composed his first two symphonies and his most famous work, the Serenade for Strings (1937); the spirit of this serenade may also be found in the finale of his second symphony (1939). Wirén went on to compose five symphonies, concertos and other orchestral works, including music for the stage and film scores, as well as instrumental and chamber music, including a series of string quartets. His musical style on return from Paris remained broadly neoclassical; melodic, energetic and with high spirits. Towards the mid-1940s Wirén became more serious in style, perhaps under the influence of Jean Sibelius. Wirén also developed a personal technique, first used in the third string quartet (1941–45), of gradual motivic transformation, avoiding repetition (metamorphosis technique). He pursued this approach in his third symphony (1944), where the first motif in the first movement, based on a step-wise Dorian mode progression, is transformed during the movement and then echoed in the last three movements. Motivic tautness also characterizes the deeply expressive fourth symphony (1952), as well as his rather cooler later works, including the fifth symphony (1964) and fifth string quartet (1970). Recordings As conductor Wirén recorded his Sinfonietta in May 1948 for Cupol, reissued on Phono Suecia PSCD 79, 1995. References External links A list of Wirén autographs with some information about dates Broadcast from 1960 of Wirén's Violin Concerto Op. 23 (British Library) 1905 births 1986 deaths 20th-century classical composers Litteris et Artibus recipients Swedish opera composers Male opera composers Royal College of Music, Stockholm alumni People from Nora Municipality Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers Swedish classical pianists Male classical pianists Swedish film score composers Male film score composers Swedish music critics 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians