Emil HARTMANN (1836-1898)
Scandinavian Folk Music – freely arranged for the piano, op.30 (1881)
Cathrine Penderup (piano)
rec. 2021, Christians Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark
DANACORD DACOCD 936-937 [2 CDs: 116:26]
This new Danacord release presents the premiere recording of Emil Hartmann’s complete Scandinavian Folk Music, op.30, a collection of dances and melodies arranged for solo piano. Fifty examples included on this 2 CD set. The anthology was published in 1881.
I decided that a listening strategy was required to approach this work. There is a danger when through-listening of losing concentration and therefore failing to engage with the music. The best plan is to listen by country and/or genre. The excellent liner notes list the category of each piece: Dances, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Folk Songs and some of unknown origin.
With a little judicious use of the CD player remote, the liner notes and the track listing, it is possible to explore this two-hour collection with some (artificial) structure. I do not think that many listeners will want to listen to the entire collection at a single sitting. As for performance in recital room, I feel that a selection of about half a dozen numbers would be about right. Then again, there is certainly potential for some of these pieces to be played as encores.
The booklet explains that “it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish exactly which country the song originates, since some melodies exist in all three countries, with a different text.” Clearly, Cathrine Penderup has researched this music in detail and tried to find the original sources of the songs and dances. There are Norwegian leaping dances, hymns, polkas and marches – and one interesting interloper is the Reel, which is of Scottish origin. Many of the songs had, or are given, poetic titles: Beneath the vault of heaven, A sweet and delightful summertime, On the Fjord and Between the Mountains. Interestingly, the liner notes suggest that some of these tunes may be Emil Hartmann’s own inventions.
The liner notes, in Danish, English and German, are informative. They contain an interesting character sketch of the composer and an introduction to the present work. To be sure, Cathrine Penderup has not given an analysis of each number, but she provides a good structural overview. There is a short note about the soloist.
For details of Emil Hartmann’s life and achievement, please see my review of the first volume of Cathrine Penderup’s survey of the piano music.
It would be wrong, I think, to compare these folk music arrangements with those made by Edward Grieg, as they are arrangements rather than recreations. Many consist of a statement of the theme, which is then simply varied by repeating the melody in a different register, using varied rhythmic accompaniment and arpeggios. Apparently, Hartmann sometimes used two themes in one piece.
I enjoyed this new release from Danacord. The sound quality is great, the performance of this novel musical byway is committed and expressive, and the music itself is typically fresh and optimistic, matching the melodic material of the original song with well-wrought piano arrangements. The slower, more thoughtful pieces are often quite profound in effect.
John France
