Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

[vandermolen]

I agree with all this. It's an exceptional symphony. This work doesn't seem to have any "happy moment", it's rather rigourous throughout. The slow movement contains a sort of melancholy tune I find a bit touching.

+1
I fine the end of the opening movement especially, searching, moving, visionary - it certainly stays in my mind long afterwards.

[Madiel]

Symphony No.8 seems to have had the most enthusiastic general reception of any work.

Of course, that reception is still limited to those people who've ever heard the work (or indeed any Holmboe at all). But in the overall scheme of things it's the clearest 'hit' in the catalogue.

[vandermolen]

Symphony No.8 seems to have had the most enthusiastic general reception of any work.

Of course, that reception is still limited to those people who've ever heard the work (or indeed any Holmboe at all). But in the overall scheme of things it's the clearest 'hit' in the catalogue.

That's true. It's also the only symphony by Holmboe that I knew for many years as it was the only one to appear, as far as I'm aware, on LP in the UK, although Symphony 10 also appeared a bit later I think.
There was also an LP of Symphony 7 conducted by John Frandsen which I recorded decades ago off the radio but I never came across the LP. It's also one of my favourite symphonies by Vagn Holmboe.

[aukhawk]

Well I was going to look into Holmboe's 8th but ...

I agree with all this. It's an exceptional symphony. This work doesn't seem to have any "happy moment", it's rather rigourous throughout.

... you're not selling it to me 

[Madiel]

It does not have to be happy to be exhilarating.

[Christo]

I agree with all this. It's an exceptional symphony. This work doesn't seem to have any "happy moment", it's rather rigourous throughout. The slow movement contains a sort of melancholy tune I find a bit touching.

A good example of how complicated it remains, to put musical experience into words: I would call this Eight very emotionally rewarding, singing of things like 'fulfillment', often 'as in a dream'; Holmboe himself, when I met him in 1995, recalled that parts of it had literally 'appeared in a dream' (adding that sometimes music that he dreamt proved fine in the morning, sometimes not at all). 

It does not have to be happy to be exhilarating.

Exactly.

[SymphonicAddict]

Well I was going to look into Holmboe's 8th but ...

... you're not selling it to me 

Noo, please! Don't feel discouraged by my words! It's an eloquent work of great intensity.

[SymphonicAddict]

A good example of how complicated it remains, to put musical experience into words: I would call this Eight very emotionally rewarding, singing of things like 'fulfillment', often 'as in a dream'; Holmboe himself, when I met him in 1995, recalled that parts of it had literally 'appeared in a dream' (adding that sometimes music that he dreamt proved fine in the morning, sometimes not at all).

Quite interesting. A great anecdote!

[CRCulver]

I personally have never been inclined to compare the Eighth to other composers, except that the first few bars are an obvious nod to Sibelius. It is interesting to see the Eighth compared to Shostakovich here. I once played the BIS recording of the Eighth for a classical-knowledgeable friend once and his reaction was "It sounds like David Diamond", and unfortunately that was a negative evaluation and so I was unable to interest this friend in Holmboe's music further.

[calyptorhynchus]

When Robert Simpson was a BBC Radio 3 producer in the 1970s he had a program where he would play music without identifying it. He'd say "here is a piano concerto written in 1936"' or whatever. There's a lot to be said for listening to music without knowing the composer.

[Alex Bozman]

When Robert Simpson was a BBC Radio 3 producer in the 1970s he had a program where he would play music without identifying it. He'd say "here is a piano concerto written in 1936"' or whatever. There's a lot to be said for listening to music without knowing the composer.

The first time I heard Holmboe's 8th was on Robert Simpson's Innocent Ear programme.

[calyptorhynchus]

The first time I heard Holmboe's 8th was on Robert Simpson's Innocent Ear programme.

I wasn't quite old enough to have heard the programme, I've just heard of it. I first tuned in to Simpson on the BBC when he presented a series on the Nielsen Symphonies in the early 80s. He was great broadcaster.

[krummholz]

Prompted by some mention (maybe Symphonyaddict) I listened to the Concerto for Orchestra, which I didn't really like, but the other two piece on the disc, Violin Concerto No 2 and Viola Concerto, made a big impression. Both struck me as a departure from Holmboe's 'international' style, with some reference to national styles. They bother seemed to fit the definition of "neoclassical" rather than romantic, and both used dramatic orchestral effects. Glad that it was brought to my attention.

The Concerto for Orchestra is a very early work, so that might be part of it too. It is definitely not vintage Holmboe, though in its boldness it looks forward to works like the 8th Symphony. The other two concertos are much later works, after he had transitioned to a less dissonant, and more diatonic/modal style. I think the Viola Concerto was one of his last works, from around the time of the 13th Symphony. If you like them there is lots more Holmboe from that period to explore. In fact several other concertos that he wrote during those years (1974 - 1982) are available on CD... the Cello Concerto, the Recorder Concerto, and the two Flute Concerti. Of those I like the 1st Flute Concerto the best - lots of very inventive writing for the flute, a lyrical slow movement where the soloist switches to an alto flute, and a dramatic finale.

His last three symphonies (#11 - #13) are also very much worth exploring.

[CRCulver]

I am listening again to the Holmboe symphonies on BIS after several years away. This time around, I am very unimpressed by the 9th and 10th particularly. Both sound like very tentative readings, as if the conductor and the ensemble did not get enough rehearsal time. I also feel that the sonics of the 10th are disappointing by BIS standards. It would be nice if Dacapo could eventually record a new cycle to compete with the BIS.

[vers la flamme]

I just bought one of the BIS Holmboe discs after seeing it at a local book store. It is Owain Arwel Hughes conducting the symphonies 1, 3 & 10. I have yet to hear any of it yet as I'm kind of hooked on Tubin at the moment, and for some reason I expect I will end up comparing one to the other if I explore their music simultaneously. Fairly soon I will write back in this thread with my thoughts. 32 pages of discussion means that Holmboe must be an important composer to many of y'all here.

[Madiel]

Hmm. Well symphonies 9 and 10 are among my favourites, regardless of what a different performance might reveal.

Also, 32 pages of discussion... a lot of that is my fault. 

[71 dB]

Holmboe has remained totally unknown to me. It is a combination of many things. Naxos has never released Holmboe. I think I have never heard a single work by Holmboe on radio or elsewhere and none of my CDs containing works by varios composers has anything by Holmboe. Holmboe has been championed mainly by labels Dacapo and BIS, neither of them especially cheap. I can of course listen to Holmboe on Spotify, but there's tons of other composers just as obscure to me as Holmboe so when is it Holmboe's turn? Today? In 2025? I don't know.

I have been into contemporary classical music lately, but often I am into composer who have been born 1930 or later so Holmboe might be 2 decades too early stylistically to be interesting as a contemporary composer, but this applies to American composers more.

[CRCulver]

I have been into contemporary classical music lately, but often I am into composer who have been born 1930 or later so Holmboe might be 2 decades too early stylistically to be interesting as a contemporary composer.

Holmboe was the teacher of Per Norgard, who was born in 1932, and Norgard and other composers of the 1930s generation did take after Holmboe to a degree. So, Holmboe doesn't necessarily sound as old-fashioned as you might expect. (Kind of like how Olivier Messiaen was born in 1908, but in certain works sounds like a whole generation later.)

Also, Holmboe had an avant-garde period of sorts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he saw his former students turning to total chromaticism and serialism, and he decided to dabble in that himself for a while.

[Brian]

Holmboe has been championed mainly by labels Dacapo and BIS, neither of them especially cheap.

Dacapo's boxed sets, which are usually very nicely made and have excellent booklets, often come on sale at nice prices. I've purchased several of them, including Holmboe's chamber and string symphonies, Langgaard's symphonies, and Buxtehude's organ music...none were more than US $30.

[CRCulver]

Also, European buyers shouldn't consider Dacapo an especially expensive label. I just ordered Dacapo's two recent Holmboe chamber works CDs from JPC.de, the cost was 10€ each.