Ludvig Norman's musical talent was already obvious as a young teenager. He studied music theory with the composer Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, and piano with the Dutch-born pianist Jan van Boom. The Concert piece for piano and orchestra was composed in 1850 while he was studying in Leipzig. One can certainly hear the influence of Robert Schumann on the 19 year old Norman, but we also meet a young, promising Swedish composer who is skilful at instrumentation with a sure sense of form.
 
Ture Rangström's music can be characterized as dramatic and suggestive with wide contrasts. He is without doubt one of the most original Swedish composers of all time. The Ballad for piano and orchestra was composed in 10 days in the original key of F minor but was never performed in this version. 28 years later he transposed it into E minor and made rather major alterations. Just how much we don't know, as the original score has not been found - perhaps destroyed by the composer himself.
 
Adolf Wiklund studied in Stockholm and got a degree as an organist and also took lessons in composition and piano. After some 9 years in Paris and Berlin he moved back to Stockholm where he became conductor of the Royal Opera. His Concert piece for piano and orchestra is his Opus 1 and was composed in his first year abroad. The detailed and virtuosic piano part with extensive cascades of chordal figurations disclose that Wiklund was himself a brilliant pianist.