Olof Åhlström

Olof Åhlström was a Swedish civil servant, composer, organist, music publisher, and arranger, born on 15 August 1756 in Vårdinge parish in Södermanland. He came from a peasant family and received his first musical instruction from the local parish organist. At the age of sixteen he left home to study at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, beginning the musical career with which he would remain associated throughout his life.

In 1777 Åhlström was appointed organist in the Maria Magdalena parish in Stockholm, and in 1792 he moved to the Jakob parish, where he continued to serve for the rest of his life. Alongside his musical work he also pursued a career in public administration, taking a clerk's post in the War College. In 1805 he attained the rank of krigsråd, or War Councillor. He retired from the War College in 1824 but remained organist in Jakob until his death on 11 August 1835.

As a composer, Åhlström wrote a substantial number of songs, including many settings of poems by his sister-in-law Anna Maria Lenngren. These appeared in several installments of the publication Skalde-stycken satte i musik issued between 1794 and 1823. His output also included chorales, a cantata, fourteen sonatas, and the opera Frigga from 1787.

Åhlström was also an important figure in Swedish music publishing. In 1788 he founded Musikaliska Tryckeriet, the first larger-scale music printing press in Sweden, and obtained a twenty-year royal privilege granting him exclusive rights to engrave and print sheet music. He introduced a cheaper printing method using types made of pewter with a small amount of lead, as an alternative to the copperplates previously used in Sweden. Although the new method reduced costs, it was criticized for producing dark and dirty impressions.

The output of his press included music by Johan Wikmanson, the collection Traditioner af swenska folk-dansar compiled from folk dances written down by Åhlström together with Arvid August Afzelius, and fifteen parts of Musikaliskt tidsfördrif, a compilation of popular pieces, mostly for piano or voice with piano accompaniment. He also played a notable role in the publication history of Carl Michael Bellman’s songs, issuing the first edition of Fredman’s Epistles in 1790 in collaboration with Bellman and Johan Henrik Kellgren, and following it in 1791 with Fredman’s Songs. For these editions Åhlström prepared piano arrangements, and his editorial contribution formed part of a complex relationship between author, editor, and publisher in the final printed versions.

Connections

This figure has 1 connection in the Music Lineage catalog.