Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

[Madiel]

The quality of the Dacapo Chamber Concertos (both in terms of performance and sound) is so inferior to those Chamber Concertos recorded on BIS, that I wish BIS had just completed their series. Unfortunately, after over a decade Robert von Bahr's attention has probably wandered off elsewhere than Holmboe, and maybe Owain Arwel Hughes isn't in a position to conduct more Holmboe with a Danish orchestra.

An opinion I don't entirely share. The BIS are often better, but there are at least two concertos where I think the Da Capo is the better performance - in one case (the clarinet concerto) by a considerable margin.

In any case, BIS didn't seem to have any interest in the double or triple concertos.

[Madiel]

I just did a casual search of iTunes to see if there was maybe a new Holmboe-related album. Turned out there were a hell of a lot of them.

Mostly old recordings, mostly bits and pieces, but... I've attempted to catalogue it all on the blog.

http://vagn-holmboe-discography.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/a-lot-of-new-old-discoveries.html

Now, does anyone know how to build a proper website for this stuff?...

[Zeus]

Boy oh boy. Threads like this cost me a lot of money and time.


I just recently got bitten by the Holmboe bug (that Viola Concerto album, on Dacapo).  Thanks to you guys, I fear the disease is going to spread.

[Mirror Image]

Boy oh boy. Threads like this cost me a lot of money and time.


I just recently got bitten by the Holmboe bug (that Viola Concerto album, on Dacapo).  Thanks to you guys, I fear the disease is going to spread.

Excellent! Is that Holmboe recording (w/ the Viola Concerto, Concerto for Orchestra), etc.) the only one you own of his music so far? I would definitely recommend the symphony set next.

[Zeus]

Yep!  Picked up the Concertos just 12 days ago.  Giving it a second spin now.


I'm gonna try to listen to a bunch of stuff on Spotify next. Then after that make a second purchase.


Any thoughts on the curiously named "Holmboe: Key Masterpieces" from Dacapo? It seems to be a re-issue of a re-packaging, ironically missing several key masterpieces. But it does have that Requiem for Nietzsche....

[Madiel]

Yep!  Picked up the Concertos just 12 days ago.  Giving it a second spin now.


I'm gonna try to listen to a bunch of stuff on Spotify next. Then after that make a second purchase.


Any thoughts on the curiously named "Holmboe: Key Masterpieces" from Dacapo? It seems to be a re-issue of a re-packaging, ironically missing several key masterpieces. But it does have that Requiem for Nietsche....

Yes, it is basically a sampler rather than a greatest hits.

And yes, by far the best reason to get it is the Requiem, if it's cheaper and easier than hunting down the single Requiem disc. Or if you want to dabble in other works at the same time. There's certainly nothing wrong with the chosen works, but they're not what I would consider landmarks, just representative of what you'll find on other Da Capo recordings.

Though I would double check that "Key Masterpieces" still gives you the text of the Requiem to read.

Keep in mind that Da Capo sells their albums directly. Their website is very good, and in my experience they answer email questions very readily in a way that puts larger labels to shame. I bought my single disc Requiem directly from them (though I did it in person not online, which is a bit unusual!).

[Madiel]

Oh, sorry. I just saw that the Da Capo website declares the single CD to be discontinued, they're only offering it for sale as a download.

[SymphonicAddict]

I have two thoghts (questions) about Holmboe right now:

1) Holmboe is a  mixture of his own mind and both of Nielsen and Shostakovich (?)
2) The Fourth Symphony (Sinfonia Sacra) is sister of Janácek's Glagolitic Mass and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (?)

[Daverz]

I have two thoghts (questions) about Holmboe right now:

1) Holmboe is a  mixture of his own mind and both of Nielsen and Shostakovich (?)
2) The Fourth Symphony (Sinfonia Sacra) is sister of Janácek's Glagolitic Mass and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (?)

Sounds good to me, though I thought there was also a bit of Orff in the 4th as well, only without the vulgarity.  (Not that I really object to vulgarity.)

[Madiel]

1) Holmboe is a  mixture of his own mind and both of Nielsen and Shostakovich (?)

And Sibelius and Hindemith and Bartok... and he loved Haydn...

[SymphonicAddict]

You're right, I also perceived some influences of them. Why had not I listened to this composer before? I'm not a musical expert, I just say that I was somehow transfigured by such rhythmic energy that I found in his impressive symphonies. It was an overwhelming experience. What power so great is displayed! (I still do not recover for all that music). Perhaps this commentary has been repeated a lot in this wonderful thread, but the 8th symphony was the most overwhelming of all, one of my favorite new symphonies and also a new favorite composer.

[vandermolen]

You're right, I also perceived some influences of them. Why had not I listened to this composer before? I'm not a musical expert, I just say that I was somehow transfigured by such rhythmic energy that I found in his impressive symphonies. It was an overwhelming experience. What power so great is displayed! (I still do not recover for all that music). Perhaps this commentary has been repeated a lot in this wonderful thread, but the 8th symphony was the most overwhelming of all, one of my favorite new symphonies and also a new favorite composer.

No.8 and 10 are my favourites but maybe this is because they were the ones I first knew on LP. I love the opening of No.4 dedicated, I think, to his brother who was killed in the War. 6 and 7 are my other favourites.

[Madiel]

Nos. 8 and 10 are among my favourites too (possibly even my top two), and I got them all in one go with the Hughes box.

[Turner]

No.11 isn´t usually rated as one of the best, but there´s something very appealing and varied content in it that I really like.

A recording of the 7th with big sound and a broader playing style than Hughes, Chandos-wise, would be very welcome, I think. In that respect, I like the old Frandsen version on LP, but the sound there isn´t the best. Also, the 8th could benefit from that too, where the old Semkow LP, as an alternative to Hughes, likewise hasn´t got the best sound.

[Madiel]

No.11 isn´t usually rated as one of the best, but there´s something very appealing and varied content in it that I really like.

The 11th was one of the ones I was immediately able to get something out of, thanks to that weirdly pulsing rhythm that recurs through it. But really coming to grips with it is difficult. It's one of those pieces where Holmboe shows his habit of not placing the breaks between movements in the "right" places; he puts changes of tempo and mood in the middle of movements instead of between them.

EDIT: Listening to it now, of course...

SECOND EDIT: Turner, do you know Tempo variabile? Another piece with a somewhat similar texture.

[vandermolen]

Nos. 8 and 10 are among my favourites too (possibly even my top two), and I got them all in one go with the Hughes box.

That's interesting. They are great works. No.10 has a kind of elemental power about it.

[vandermolen]

No.11 isn´t usually rated as one of the best, but there´s something very appealing and varied content in it that I really like.

A recording of the 7th with big sound and a broader playing style than Hughes, Chandos-wise, would be very welcome, I think. In that respect, I like the old Frandsen version on LP, but the sound there isn´t the best. Also, the 8th could benefit from that too, where the old Semkow LP, as an alternative to Hughes, likewise hasn´t got the best sound.

I wish that the Semkow was on CD and the Ehrling (I think) recording of No.10 that I had on LP too.

[Turner]

The 11th ...

EDIT: Listening to it now, of course...

I don´t recall a listen where I got tired of it.

And then there´s this lovely, folkish & completely different 1st Symphony ...

[Turner]

SECOND EDIT: Turner, do you know Tempo variabile? Another piece with a somewhat similar texture.

I remember that disc of the 4 Symphonic Metamorphoses as symphonically grand and impressive, but not the music in details.
I might give it a listen later today.

[SymphonicAddict]

I found this in Youtube (it's in Danish, I guess). I don't know if someone had posted it before.

It seems an interview with this great composer and his wife:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=618aW0q3no4&t=418s