Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

Started by Guido, March 18, 2009, 06:25:12 AM

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Scarpia

Just listened to my first Holmboe, the symphony No. 6.  I must say I enjoy this music.  Modern in the sense that it does not seem to be organized along the lines of traditional harmonic progressions, but not "serial" and with lots of rhythmic vitality.  I think I will be listening to a lot more of this composer in the future.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Scarpia on January 23, 2010, 06:20:37 AM
Just listened to my first Holmboe, the symphony No. 6.  I must say I enjoy this music. 

I like that one too. It's well organized and "cumulative," nicely structured. (I also dig the heroic trumpet theme in the first mvt)

IMHO, the 8th is even better.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

vandermolen

Clearly I need to listen to Symphony 5 which seems to have passed me by. I love the inspiriting opening of Symphony 4. My way into Holmboe was Symphony 8 on LP (Vox Turnabout) and also Symphony 10 - both works I greatly value and I wish that the LP performances would appear on CD.  He sent me a charming reply to my fan letter not that long before he passed away.  Of course this is not as impressive as meeting the great man, as in the case of Christo (are there any composers whom Christo has not met? -  Havergal Brian, Mahler?)  ;D
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

karlhenning


Christo

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on January 23, 2010, 12:26:36 PM
Henning.

We'll meet in heaven. (Wasn't so sure about some other composers, that's why).  8)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

karlhenning

I may hope yet for a terrestrial meeting . . . .

Christo

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on January 23, 2010, 12:39:31 PMI may hope yet for a terrestrial meeting . . . .

The honour would be completely mine. BTW: congratulations with your forthcoming concert in Boston. Looks very promising. I was deeply impressed by your Passion on hearing it for the first time, last season (only play them during the season) and really look forward to your new pieces. Why shouldn't you be original and succesful, like everybody else?  ;)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Scarpia

Listened to Holmboe Symphony No 9 today.   After bring generally impressed by 6, 7 and 8, 9 has fallen flat for me.  The piece is structured as three primary movements separated by a pair of interludes.  The interludes made no impression and the main movements lacked the motific and rhythmic rigor that I enjoyed in the other symphonies.   I've only listened once (to the Hughes recording) so I will have to try again before making up my mind about it.

jowcol

Quote from: Scarpia on April 08, 2010, 11:49:31 AM
Listened to Holmboe Symphony No 9 today.   After bring generally impressed by 6, 7 and 8, 9 has fallen flat for me.  The piece is structured as three primary movements separated by a pair of interludes.  The interludes made no impression and the main movements lacked the motific and rhythmic rigor that I enjoyed in the other symphonies.   I've only listened once (to the Hughes recording) so I will have to try again before making up my mind about it.

have you tried 5?  I'm having the problem now that whenever I dial up Holmboe on my mp3 player, I can't get past 5 without listening to it....
"If it sounds good, it is good."
Duke Ellington

Scarpia

Quote from: jowcol on April 08, 2010, 03:48:30 PM
have you tried 5?  I'm having the problem now that whenever I dial up Holmboe on my mp3 player, I can't get past 5 without listening to it....

Started with 6 because I found it in a bargain bin and have been moving up the list.  I seem to be liking them less so maybe I should start moving in the other direction.  I have been picking the Hughes releases up as I find them cheap, I will have to look and see if the disc with 5 has been accumulated yet.

snyprrr

I'd been meaning to post since the last Thread Sighting.

I got 5 from the library (I'd listened about 10 years ago) after Van or someone said it was their fav.

I guess I'm just not liking Holmboe's syms. :'( :'( To me, 5 just came off as yer everyday war symphony. I don't know,...Holmboe, Rubbra, the mid-century Swedes ('Facets', 'Blackbird'), Simpson,... out of the whole pack, Holmboe's syms just seem to be talked up beyond belief, but every time I go to listen to one, I'm like, ok, that's that? It is what it is, I suppose.

'kentel' had sent me a file for SQs 13-15, which i couldn't get to play (maybe I'll try again with this new computer system), and I've been considering that again (I went through 3 other vols).

The one Holmboe cd that still piques my interest is the Cello Concerto/Brass Quintet cd on BIS.

It's maddening: Holmboe was the one composer I was just supposed to fall all over myself over. Go figure.

Daverz

Quote from: snyprrr on April 09, 2010, 06:46:18 AM
I guess I'm just not liking Holmboe's syms.

I have all the symphonies and a few other items, but I have also not been impressed, with the exception of Symphony No. 4, and perhaps some of the brass concertos.

snyprrr

Quote from: Daverz on April 09, 2010, 07:31:11 AM
I have all the symphonies and a few other items, but I have also not been impressed, with the exception of Symphony No. 4, and perhaps some of the brass concertos.

Oh, now it's No.4, is it?? >:D :o :'( :-[ ??? ::) 8) ;D

The new erato

Quote from: snyprrr on April 09, 2010, 06:46:18 AM
the mid-century Swedes ('Facets', 'Blackbird'),

...Englund is a Finn.

:D

The new erato

I want to dra your attention to this newly reissued and repackaged set: 7 CDs for the price of 2!

HOLMBOE, VAGN The Complete String Quartets. The Kontra Quartet. DaCapo 7cds


karlhenning


Franco

Quote from: erato on July 07, 2010, 09:08:43 AM
I want to dra your attention to this newly reissued and repackaged set: 7 CDs for the price of 2!

HOLMBOE, VAGN The Complete String Quartets. The Kontra Quartet. DaCapo 7cds



Thanks for the tip - I have a couple of CDs of his symphonies and one concerto, I think.  His music has never completely grabbed my attention, but I usually respond better to a SQ than any other ensemble, so this might be a real opportunity to give him another shot.

Then again, it could be Holmboe overkill.

snyprrr

Quote from: Franco on July 07, 2010, 09:17:52 AM
Thanks for the tip - I have a couple of CDs of his symphonies and one concerto, I think.  His music has never completely grabbed my attention, but I usually respond better to a SQ than any other ensemble, so this might be a real opportunity to give him another shot.

Then again, it could be Holmboe overkill.

I have gone through four without success, and I am still going to give him one more shot with what appears to be the consensus disc: Nos. 13-15. The discs before seem to lead up, the ones after, away. The later ones have been pretty roundly criticized for being kinda harsh: these I've been scared away from. The earlier ones seemed more to elicit respect of craftsmanship rather than aural attractiveness.

Why do I always feel heavy criticizing Holmboe on this thread? I guess it's because the Penguin Guide set me up to worship Holmboe as the Messiah, and he turned out to be a Nordic-Composer-Starting-in-the-'50s. I feel that there are too many BIS composers to get hung up on any particular negativity concerning any one of them. Woo woo!

CD

Quote from: erato on July 07, 2010, 09:08:43 AM
I want to dra your attention to this newly reissued and repackaged set: 7 CDs for the price of 2!

HOLMBOE, VAGN The Complete String Quartets. The Kontra Quartet. DaCapo 7cds



Aw man, and here I am broke.

CRCulver

Quote from: snyprrr on July 07, 2010, 10:55:53 AM
He turned out to be a Nordic-Composer-Starting-in-the-'50s

I don't think that's entirely a fair label. While Holmboe took especial inspiration from Sibelius in the 1950s and 1960s, his career started in the 1930s and many fine neoclassical, Bartókian pieces date from that time.