Contains much of what would be elaborated later.

Yes, all the (future) Bergman trademarks are there.

I very much liked the movie, and I simply loved the "falling in love" sequences of the two main protagonists. They warmed my heart.

And as to Maj-Britt Nilsson, "Bravo"

The ballet scenes, straightforward as they were, were nicely woven into the film, I thought.

A fine movie scoring 9/10 from me.

Don't forget the "Summer" element!

I always thought that Bergman had some sort of "Summer Lover" in his youth. He has that element in various of his works..

And the Priest plays chess with "death". (Henrik's dying aunt - the Priest says he comes to get to know death.)

Henrik's death may be banal within the larger scheme of the world but to his close ones his death was tragic. There is a portent of his death when Marie hears the cry of the eagle owl only some moments before.

Keep silent unless what you are going to say is more important than silence.

I'm a decade behind you with this revelation, but I'm came here just to say all that. I've been a Bergman film for nearly 15 years now. However, I'm for the first time watching all of his films in chronological order. To me, this is Bergman's first "mature" film, or in the very least, the beginning of his classic era.

To add to your lists of motifs, I'd say it's also his first truly fleshed out female lead, as in we spend so much time with her and getting to know her idiosyncrasies through action.

EDIT: And the breaking of the fourth wall. Unless I overlooked it during my marathon thus far, this is the first film in which a character looks directly into the camera as a different character is mid-monologue. (Marie's reaction during Erland's drunk rambling at the piano.)