Fartein Valen: Legende, opus 1
from Shadows' Dream, Nordic Music (FBRCD-22) by Trondheim Soloists
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about
Once in a while, a composer comes along who
seems to combine local DNA with something
absolutely of the outside. FARTEIN VALEN was
one such composer. He studied with the great
Romantic Max Bruch in Berlin, but soon became
Norway’s staunchest acolyte of the school of
atonal music propagated in Austria by Arnold
Schoenberg’s Second Viennese School. Ridiculed
in Oslo, Valen retreated to Stavanger on Norway’s
west coast where he wrote a string of fascinating,
urgent works that combined his love for music of
the Lutheran tradition with Schoenberg’s 12-note
technique. Among his works is a Violin Concerto that, like Alban Berg’s, even makes use of a Bach chorale.
While still a student in Oslo in the late 1910s, before he’d got into his serialist stride, Valen wrote his Opus 1: a piano work titled Legende.
The stringent harmonic language that would characterize Valen’s mature works is some way off, yet one can sense him groping for it in this piece. Much like Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, also recorded by The Trondheim Soloists recently, Legende seems unconformable in the skin of post-Wagnerian chromatic harmony, chomping at the
bit to break free from its conventions. Perhaps that’s one reason Valen’s piano work is so suited to the multiple instruments of a string ensemble, as arranged by Tore Martinsen.
The title suggests some sort of ancient saga. Sure enough, the music emerges with what feels like an archetype Nordic melody, but cast in the unusual gait of five beats to a bar. That soon splits into elusive transparency and its refracted into altitudinous registers. The more agitated central passage uses the same musical material, but finds
a whole lot more turbulence in it.
seems to combine local DNA with something
absolutely of the outside. FARTEIN VALEN was
one such composer. He studied with the great
Romantic Max Bruch in Berlin, but soon became
Norway’s staunchest acolyte of the school of
atonal music propagated in Austria by Arnold
Schoenberg’s Second Viennese School. Ridiculed
in Oslo, Valen retreated to Stavanger on Norway’s
west coast where he wrote a string of fascinating,
urgent works that combined his love for music of
the Lutheran tradition with Schoenberg’s 12-note
technique. Among his works is a Violin Concerto that, like Alban Berg’s, even makes use of a Bach chorale.
While still a student in Oslo in the late 1910s, before he’d got into his serialist stride, Valen wrote his Opus 1: a piano work titled Legende.
The stringent harmonic language that would characterize Valen’s mature works is some way off, yet one can sense him groping for it in this piece. Much like Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, also recorded by The Trondheim Soloists recently, Legende seems unconformable in the skin of post-Wagnerian chromatic harmony, chomping at the
bit to break free from its conventions. Perhaps that’s one reason Valen’s piano work is so suited to the multiple instruments of a string ensemble, as arranged by Tore Martinsen.
The title suggests some sort of ancient saga. Sure enough, the music emerges with what feels like an archetype Nordic melody, but cast in the unusual gait of five beats to a bar. That soon splits into elusive transparency and its refracted into altitudinous registers. The more agitated central passage uses the same musical material, but finds
a whole lot more turbulence in it.
credits
from Shadows' Dream, Nordic Music (FBRCD-22),
released May 31, 2021
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Fabra Oslo, Norway
Fabra label of Norway was founded in 1993 and has presently released 29 albums and 4 ep's. Run by Geir Inge Lotsberg. All artwork by Erik Johan Worsøe Eriksen.
discography
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Oct 2023 -
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Jan 2022
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