This is a rather tasteful anthology of
Norwegian Romanticism from the latter part of the nineteenth
century, centered around Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 and Norwegian
Dance No. 2. What follows on this disc are samplings
of the music of Grieg’s peers and students. Some of the
composers gathered here are more famous – or more well-known – than
others. Svendsen and Halvorsen are perhaps the second-tier
of Norwegian composers beneath Grieg but were highly influential
in their own right. Less well-known are Ole Bull who was
a concert violinist and has a village in Pennsylvania named
after him (Oleona, Pa) and Halfdan Kjerulf whose fame rests
on several dozen partsongs.
The music is quite delightful, performed
with obvious affection by Per Dreier and the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra. The sound is lush – appropriate for this kind
of romanticism – but not glaring or dynamic. This is due
to the fact that much of this music is structured around
waltzes or simple folk dances.
As a pure listening experience, this disc
reveals one curiosity: no-one here seems to be copying anybody – by
that I mean copying Grieg – and they also don’t seem to be
copying anybody in Germany at that time, and by that I mean
Schumann, Brahms, then Wagner. Germany so dominated European
Romanticism throughout the nineteenth century that it was
nearly impossible to avoid it. Even the British and the
Russians were influenced heavily by the great German Romantics. They
seem content to rely upon their own folk sources rather than
those of Germany.
Nonetheless, the music that is here is
distinct and would be a happy addition to any collection
that is weak on Norwegian music of any era. The element
that recommends this disc is really the works by the other
composers rather than the Grieg. Grieg has been done to
death, whereas the other composers here have not and deserve
to be better known. Recommended as an excellent starter
for 19th century Norwegian music.
Paul
Cook
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