Review: A Great Norwegian Classical Compilation

[@ronnyskaar3737]

Oh. Thanks for playing my neighborhood music! Especially Fartein Valen! While living on the island Mallorca, Spain, he read the poem by Paul Valéry Les Cemetiere Marin about the churchyard in Sete. Valen was reminded of the small churchyard with victims of colera, an epidemic that hit Western Norway hard in 1848, near his home in Valevåg. Many people consider Valen the greatest norwegian composer since Grieg, allthough as you suggest, his works are not easy. Next year will mark 70 years since Valen passed, and there are plans for the Bergen phil to come to Valevåg to play his music.

[@leonardo1021]

I rediscovered Norway In Music in my collection. (Bought during a holiday in Norway.) A 3 CD Naxos compilation (2000) with composers Svendsen, Halvorsen, Grieg, Sinding, Bull, Tveitt, Hanssen. Thank you for leading me into this music again. Great to hear there are more wonderful Norwegian composers. I go for it!

[@mickeytheviewmoo]

Great compilation of Norwegian Composers who rarely get an airing. I love these Unsung Guys. Maybe we could have Danish, Swedish, Finnish and Estonian soon. I know Dacapo, Sterling, Marco Polo recorded some really good compilations. You maybe able to play clips.

[@johnfowler7660]

Un Sung Guy was a Chinese composer.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

@@johnfowler7660 His mother was Chinese, his father was French, however.

[@rickbanales4031]

@@vinylarchaeologist ...so the pronounciation would be Un-Sung-Gee...

[@vinylarchaeologist]

@@rickbanales4031 Exactement.

[@Cesar_SM]

You mentioned Edvard Fliflet Braein, who also composed 3 wonderful symphonies and they can be found on a Simax release. They're sparkling and frolicsome, full of quirkiness. Very worth investigating.

[@edwinbaumgartner5045]

He wrote also an intersting opera, "Anne Pedersdotter", which reminds me on a mix of "Peter Grimes" and Floyds "Susannah".

[@jamescpotter]

Saeverud's opus is in 5/4 and what a delight to hear a composer successfully noodle with this time signature and have a gas doing it!

[@kylejohnson8877]

Great stuff, particularly that Halvorsen excerpt you played - what a riot! It reminded me of Alfvén’s colorful and sorely neglected ballet “Bergakungen (The Mountain King)”.

[@charlescoleman5509]

Wow! That Valen piece may have a base in atonality, but certain notes and harmonies stick out here and there, and act as a kind of anchor for the rest of the material. Kinda reminds me of the symphonies of Peter Maxwell Davies. Great stuff!

[@ewmbr1164]

Great video, Dave, as always! Saeverud's 'Mixed Company', the third piece of his Peer Gynt Music, is a raucuous fun to listen to - French and German national hyms mixed up and poked fun at. Marvelous! I imagine Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel dancing to Saeverud's tunes...:-))))

[@colinerswell7490]

Both cds are excellent, I have had then for a number of years it's great to hear unknown composers and at Naxos brilliant prices.

[@stradivariouspaul1232]

The only composer I am familiar with here is Halvorsen, I can recommend that Chandos four disc set, it's packed full of highly melodic orchestral works including symphonies and some very rustic sounding folk tunes. Try the suite from Mascarade or suite ancienne, very attractive! Staying in Scandinavia I've also discovered works of a similar quality by Alfven and Svendsen, all excellently conducted by Neeme Jarvi.

[@Bezart34]

Thanks Dave. I was totally enraptured by this presentation, and what fabulous music. All brand new, to me. By chance, over the weekend, I was listening to the Sibelius symphonies set with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. While not being the Rolls-Royce of the Vienna Phil, or the Bentley of the Berlin, what better way to traverse Sibelius than in a rugged, yet comfortable Landrover Defender. It's a set I would definitely recommend...

[@Listenerandlearner870]

Very fine. Just what's needed.

[@lars3302]

Hello Dave - once again thank You for enlightening us. In the same vein, also on Naxos, one of mi favourite CDs is a compiliation of works for violin and chamber orchestra by norwegian composers: “Norwegian violin Favourites”. The soloist is also one You have mentioned very favourably on Your Channel, Henning Kraggerud. Almost any of the tunes on this CD would/should be top drawers for Your series of Most Beatiful Melodies, and the playing of the sloist and even the Czech (!)pickup orchestra is idiomatic and really out of this world - great bravura when asked for, but especially the enormus care the musicians take over the many often folksong-like themes are utterly gripping and moving - I urge You to try it out, if that one also has been hiding in Your overflow room.. Thanks again for Your inspiration. Your Lars (Danish - not from Norway).

[@alasdairthomas5603]

How about a video (or maybe series of videos?) dedicated to Scandinavian composers beyond Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen? You could do Halvorsen, Tveitt, Sæverud, Svendsen, Sinding, Irgens Jensen, Alnæs, and Groven from Norway alone (my mother’s country, hence niche interest!). I’ve noticed you picking up on the likes of Groven and Halvorsen already in other videos, but it would be nice to have all your recommendations drawn together. Thanks for this video, by the way. Great to have such wonderful and relatively unknown music highlighted. 😊

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

And I've done Tveitt, and Irgens Jensen, and Rautavaara, and Madetoja, and Riisager, and Pettersson, and quite a few others.

[@alasdairthomas5603]

@@DavesClassicalGuide so I see! And thank you. To be be clear, what I was suggesting was a series that focused on a particular country’s music where that country happens to have one very famous composer, and a load of other really good composers who are much less well known. It works well with Norway, and would work reasonably well with Finland and Denmark too (albeit I accept they both have some quite well known modern composers). Obviously it would not work with Austria, or Germany, but there may be a few other countries out there that would fit the bill! Just a thought.

[@alasdairthomas5603]

A better concept might be “….off the beaten track”. A sort of musical travelogue that highlights unsung composing heroes around the world. I suggest this because I am a particular fan of your videos and reviews of unfamiliar composers!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@alasdairthomas5603 It would work with the UK. After Sullivan, who cares about the rest?

[@alasdairthomas5603]

@@DavesClassicalGuide well quite! Surely an opportunity for some delicious trolling of our illustrious English Musical Establishment, along the lines of your choice of the RSNO as the top British orchestra!

[@AlexMadorsky]

Delightful stuff! Both volumes of these Norwegian Favories are available on Qobuz to stream. Another excuse to listen to Ludwig Irgens Jensen is most welcome.

[@frgraybean]

I love compilation discs. A great way to dip your toe in the water of unknown music. Have you heard the new Kansas City Symphony/Michael Stern CD of one movement symphonies on Reference Recordings (Barber, Sibelius7 and Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy)? I continue to be impressed by this orchestra and conductor. And the Referene sound is grand.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes.

[@Sulsfort]

Quite charming program. As a fan of Glenn Gould I heard the 2nd piano sonata several times, which is a little bit dry, but not uninteresting. But this orchestral piece is quite atmospheric.

[@OctavinaPlayer]

Hi David, have you reviewed Henning Kraggerud's recording of Halvorsen's long lost Violin Concerto?

[@edwinbaumgartner5045]

Most of this stuff I have in other compilations on Aurora- and Simax-discs I bought in Norway. You're right, up there, they have some interesting composers. In my opinion, the "Cemetery" and "An die Hoffnung" are Valen's best works. His symphonies are rather hard to hear, interesting , but without the slightest attempt to create a beautiful sound, just th skeleton of 4-part-counterpoint of sort of 12-tone-lines. Saeverud is interesting. His "Kjaempeviseslatten" (Warsong-Ballad) has real power, his "Peer Gynt"-music is fabulous, and so is the 6th ("Dolorosa") of his 9 symphonies. Not included on the Naxos-discs seem to be the "Stabsarabesk" by Olav Anton Thommesen, which is in it's original version a funny piece for Wind Orchestra (with more than a hint of "Bolero") and the moody "Silence" vor Strings by Halvor Haug, a piece of real quietness. I like very much your expeditions in unknown regions of music!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thommesen is a real character. His Macro-fantasy on the Grieg Piano Concerto is a riot. I wish more of his music was available.

[@edwinbaumgartner5045]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Oh yes, that is great. I just had a longish search (my CDs build three rows...): Indeed, the CD of the "Glass Bead Game" (with the Makrofantasy) and the Synthesizer Concerto is my only pure Thommesen-CD; the one with the "Stabsarabesk" (in the full-orchestra-version "Barbaresk") is combined with John Persen.

[@luccharbonneau9382]

May be my suggestion seems weird, but I really love Hugo Alfven (swedish composer) Lots of his works are on naxos and very intersting, on my perspective Not sure if it is your taste

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

He's not Norwegian.

[@MrEye22tiger]

Great compelation...where would we be without naxos I was wondering why you can not use chandos samples because i thought i saw that naxos of america handles their catalog on youtube It would be wonderful if this were possible because you seem to have a good relationship with naxos

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

They have not given permission.