He provided soundtracks for the Astrid Lindgren films
Composer Georg Riedel dies at the age of 90
Unfortunately, not only every Swedish child knows: Georg Riedel.
© imago/TT
The Swedish composer Georg Riedel, who provided musical accompaniment to the adventures of Astrid Lindgren’s popular characters, has died.
The Swedish jazz musician and film composer Georg Riedel has died at the age of 90. He fell asleep on Sunday evening (February 25th) after a long illness and in the presence of his family, reports the Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT), quoting the musician’s relatives.
Almost everyone in this country has probably come into contact with some of his compositions: Riedel provided the background music for various film adaptations of popular Astrid Lindgren stories. The theme tune for “Karlsson vom Dach” was written by him, and he also gave the intro music to the famous blonde rascal “Michel aus Lönneberga”. Fans of a certain Pippilotta Viktualia Rollgardina Schokominza Efraim’s Daughter “Pippi” Longstocking heard Riedel’s creations thanks to the series of the same name from the 1960s.
Every Swedish child still looks forward to hearing one of his songs
Georg Riedel was born in 1934 in the former Czechoslovakia. His parents fled the Nazis with him towards Sweden when Riedel was four years old. He later studied music there in Stockholm. Even today, every Swedish child knows his songs; “Idas sommarvisa,” for example, rings in the summer holidays every year in the lower school classes.