Hugo Alfvén spent much of his life in the Dalecarlian region of his native Sweden, an area with a rich and evocative history. Its folk music informs the familiar strand of Alfvén's output in works like his "Midsommarvaka" (Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 19), the Herdsmaiden's Dance, and the ballet score The Prodigal Son, written in 1957, just three years before Alfvén's death at the age of 88. As Sven Kruckenberg suggested, "It is extrovert and uncomplicated, without the belligerence that characterized the symphonies and many other works by Alfvén." This five-act ballet was his second such work; Bergakungen (The Mountain King), in three acts, had earned him considerable success much earlier in his career, though its composition extended between the years 1916-1923. The idea for The Prodigal Son was proposed by choreographer Ivo Cramér in 1956, and the first production was planned to coincide with Alfvén's 85th birthday the following year. As the title suggests, the basic inspiration came from the parable contained in Luke's Gospel. This familiar scenario (in which a repentant young man comes home after wasting his money on worldly pursuits) has always been prominent in folk traditions of many countries, having been re-interpreted according to local traditions. It had long figured in Dalecarlian folk art, and five new pictures by Rune Lindstrom were commissioned as stage backdrops. But Alfvén doubted whether he could undertake a major new work; poor eyesight made it hard to get ideas down on paper, though he agreed to base the score on a mix of folk melodies from the region and fragments of earlier works with assistance from Herbert Sandberg, who also conducted the premiere on April 27, 1957. Most of the score, therefore, is made up of regional dances and folk song themes, but linking these are sections drawn from some of Alfvén's most important earlier works. Interestingly, one idea used—a chorale-like theme originally employed in Alfvén's Symphony No. 2, Op. 11 (1897-1898)—had, he remarked, "followed me around for most of my life." In the ballet, it is associated with the figure of death in a scene where the Prodigal Son laments his self-induced impoverishment. Other prominent inclusions from Alfvén's previous compositions include portions taken from Bergakungen and from the Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, Alfvén's most popular orchestral composition.

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