The subsequent few editions of the Naxos weblog will provide a smörgåsbord of music from the Nordic nations, presenting examples from Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden (FINDS, my acronym) that could be unfamiliar but richly rewarding. This version showcases composers from Iceland and Sweden.
Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson
The music of Iceland’s first composer, Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (1847–1927), quite displays his character, described by his contemporaries as vivacious and affectionate however at instances temperamental. Sveinbjörnsson was born within the yr of Mendelssohn’s demise and have become a piano scholar of the latter’s good friend Reinecke in Leipzig between 1872 and 1873, so it’s maybe no coincidence that he was influenced by the music of the nice German composer.
Sveinbjörnsson’s profession as a musician wasn’t a given; he initially launched into research for the priesthood. However when he was inspired by the visiting Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen to review music overseas in 1867, he determined so as to add a yr of personal research in piano and concord with Vilhelm Carl Ravn in Copenhagen following his commencement as a priest in 1868. This choice finally directed him in direction of his true calling as a musician.
Sveinbjörnsson composed Iceland’s nationwide anthem, so let’s hear it. Perhaps you may detect an air of religiosity reflective of his priestly coaching?
Lofsongur (O God of our land)
Sveinbjörnsson’s Icelandic roots didn’t show a shackle. His profession was based mostly outdoors Iceland for many of his life: he composed, carried out and taught piano in Edinburgh between 1873 and 1919; in 1890 he married a Scottish lady, Eleanor, with whom he had two kids, Þórður and Helen, earlier than shifting to Canada in 1919; they then lived in Iceland between 1922 and 1924 and subsequently made their last residence in Copenhagen. To characterize Sveinbjörnsson’s output, I’ve chosen the third motion of his (undated) Piano Trio in A minor.
Piano Trio in A minor (8.570460)
Jón Leifs
Supply: Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0
Onward a technology now and to music by Jón Leifs (1899–1968) that occupies a radically totally different sound world. Leifs is one among Iceland’s greatest identified classical composers who wrote quite a lot of works about Icelandic nature. These included titles comparable to Hekla, Dettifoss and Geysir. I’ve chosen the ultimate part of Hekla, named after an lively stratovolcano within the south of Iceland, so you might wish to have the quantity management at hand.
Hekla (ODE894-2)
Finnur Karlsson
Supply: RÚV
Coming proper updated, I’m ending our journey to Iceland with two brief actions (there are seven altogether) from Finnur Karlsson’s Accordion Concerto. Karlsson was born in 1988; the concerto premiered in 2020. The primary motion (A Dream about Flying) ingeniously quotes two melodies which might be well-known in Iceland, though they’ve been slowed down and distorted to the purpose of being just about unrecognisable. The fifth motion (Bontempi’s Ghost) was impressed by Karlsson’s experiments with the report perform of his younger daughter’s Bontempi toy keyboard. He recorded a cluster, urgent as many keys as potential, then pressed ‘Play’, at which level the instrument rendered it as a sequence of pitches.
A Dream about Flying (8.226720)
Bontempi’s Ghost (8.226720)
Hugo Alfvén
© HNH Worldwide
And so to Sweden, the place it was because of composer Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960) that the nation obtained its very first recording label devoted purely to classical music. The bond of friendship that existed between him and the recording fanatic Hans Peter Kempe proved probably the most vital within the historical past of Sweden’s recording business. The Midsummer Vigil LP, which was the label’s very first launch, raised Alfvén’s profile to a world stage. From that programme, I’ve chosen his Festspel, commissioned for the opening of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm in 1908. Inspiration for the piece abandoned Alfvén till an opportunity dialog concerning the instances of Charles XII introduced blaring fanfares and a polonaise to his thoughts. A day later the piece was completed, since when it’s usually been used for official events in Sweden.
Festspel (8.555852)
Johan Helmich Roman
Supply: Wikimedia Commons – CC-PD-Mark
In 1958, report producer Kempe, talked about above, was contacted by Claude Génetay, a member of the Stockholm Radio Orchestra. He had researched and written out the components to an extended dormant work by ‘the daddy of Swedish Music’, aka ‘the Swedish Handel’, aka Johan Helmich Roman (1694–1758), particularly The Drottningholm Music (Music for a Royal Wedding ceremony). Génetay urged that Kempe report the work. Even within the Fifties Roman’s music was nearly unknown, however this new recording, made appropriately within the Drottningholm Court docket Theatre, discovered rapid reputation amongst a big viewers. I’ve chosen the suite’s last Allegro motion.
The Drottningholm Music (8.553733)
Franz Berwald
© HNH Worldwide
Bridging the hole between Roman and Alfvén, and bringing this weblog to an in depth, is music by Franz Berwald (1796–1868). A violinist by coaching, he turned an important determine in Swedish music of the nineteenth century. Throughout his profession he loved various levels of success in his personal nation, ultimately turning to enterprise, managing a glass works and opening a saw-mill. He was appointed professor of composition of the Swedish academy solely in 1867, shortly earlier than his demise. Largely unappreciated throughout his lifetime, Berwald is as we speak recognised because the excellent Swedish composer of the nineteenth century, whose best and most unique contribution was to orchestral repertoire, above all of the 4 symphonies, the final of which we be part of firstly of the scherzo motion.
Symphony No. 4 (8.553052)
