Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

[Octave]

I am impressed, dude!  I had to take them all at a much more leisurely pace, and I think I lost the aerial perspective on the changes from front to back.  This summer will be the time I try them all again.  I actually need to get some more of his music; all I know is string quartets, the symphonies, and the FOUR SYMPHONIC METAMORPHOSES disc on Bis, still my favorite.

[Karl Henning]

Yes, well done!

[Madiel]

I did go back and listen to all 20 numbered works again.  I got through a dozen of them in just 2 days before taking a bit of a pause.  It's amazing, though, what a bit of familiarity with a piece of music can do to your ease of listening!

This time I made notes on each work as I went (I didn't listen in chronological order this time).  I know I'm not the first person to place my thoughts on each quartet in this thread. It was very interesting at the end to see how much we agreed. The answer was: not very much at all...

Quartet No.1 - The style of the first two movements is a lot more consciously rhetorical in style than later quartets. It reminds me of Shostakovich (NB I don't actually know any other 20th century quartets besides Holmboe and Shostakovich, so other frequently cited reference points like Bartok are not going to come up for me).  The third movement, after its grand introduction, becomes a fairly energetic 5/4 dance.  It's good fun (the slow down before the finish is quite amusing), but thanks to the recording it gets a little shrill!

Quartet No.2 - This quartet opens with a delicate pastoral mood, with dark grey clouds moving across the landscape as the 1st movement progresses.  The finale returns to much the same feeling, albeit now in the form of a gentle 5/4 dance.  In between there is frequently a sense of open air and perhaps inclement weather – the central scherzo is full of feints and hesitations as well as rustic passages.

Quartet No.3 - The 1st movement is bleak and sombre music with a relentless tread.  The 2nd injects a lot of motion but, to me, no real sense of progress, before the 3rd movement chaconne inevitably creates stasis.  The 4th movement has a lot more energy and seems like it brings matters to a strong conclusion, only to be completely undercut by the true finale which gradually drags the work back to its bleak beginning.

Quartet No.4 - This is a quartet with a strong sense of the dramatic, whether in the opening andante appassionato, the tremolo rush of the presto espansivo (an extraordinary title when you think about it) or the eerie restraint of the largo e semplice.  It's somewhat surprising, then, that the finale is quite bright in mood and ends peacefully with a clear major chord.

Quartet No.5 - This is a relatively straightforward work. The moody and forceful opening motif permeates and sets the tone for much of the 1st movement, but towards the end there is a sense of peace. The central Adagio (which opens and closes with a version of the same motif) is gentler, but still has an air of resignation. The finale is more energetic, but no happier in mood than its predecessors until it, too, finds peace just at the end.

Quartet No.6 - The fast sections of the 1st movement have an air of chaos about them, even violence in the first of them. The second movement isn't any calmer. There is a sense of unease in the 3rd movement. The finale is more straightforwardly rhythmic but still full of a wild collection of sounds.

Quartet No.7 - The 1st movement travels through a wide variety of textures, but keeps returning to its earthy beginnings. The 2nd movement begins in complete contrast, with airy pizzicato and elusively pulsing rhythms. It grows in substance before dissolving again.  The long final movement successfully fuses numerous sections into a satisfying conclusion to this complex quartet.

Quartet No.8 - To me, this is the most consciously 'modern' quartet, full of strange sounds: harmonics, bent notes, weird fluttering, surprising leaps and abrupt changes.  It represents Holmboe pushing his musical language farther than normal. The 4th movement stands somewhat apart, dominated by dramatic solos, and functions as an introduction to the finale.

Quartet No.9 - The dominant impression of this music is austerity. The long opening andante sets the tone – not especially dark or tragic, just moving forward steadily.  There is some passion, and the 4th movement injects a sense of greater drama, but then the finale returns to the pacing and rhythm of the beginning before fading away peacefully.

Quartet No.10 - This is moderately severe and intellectual music. There are some fairly clear sections within these 2 long movements, but the structure enables reprises of previous sections. Each movement begins slowly before gathering pace later on. The 2nd movement in particular seems to become a major battle between different tempos... and with no clear winner at the end.

[Madiel]

Quartet No.11 - The opening of the 'Rustico' (which is quoted in both the 2nd and 4th movements) really does sound like it's full of birdsong. Everything has a wonderfully light and transparent texture.  Even in the minor key tonality of the andante movement there is slight sadness rather than tragedy.  The faster movements are full of rhythmic bounce, especially the finale.

Quartet No.12 - There's a certain roughly comical vein in the faster movements, particularly in the first but even in the finale which begins in a scherzo-like way before turning more serious and ending sourly.  The slow movements are entirely serious and inward-looking; the 2nd movement andante is easily the longest of the five and also one of my favourite things in any of the quartets.

Quartet No.13 - This quartet often has a hushed, ethereal quality to it.  At other times the music is firmer, yet it retains a sense of transparency.  And just when the finale appears to have reached a definite conclusion, it instead carries on with ghostly echoes of earlier music.

Quartet No.14 - Opening with an entrancing Gypsy-like melody, the 1st movement weaves a dreamy atmosphere which persists through much of the quartet (as do the melody's trills), despite the attempts of the 3rd movement to inject some more urgency. The other fast movements are ultimately light and light-hearted, with the finale skipping along and eventually dissolving.

Quartet No.15 - There's a certain aggressive and angry air to this relatively short quartet, as the first couple of movements fly by.  And then, partway through the 3rd movement funeral march, it's as if the fight drains out of it. When the pace eventually picks up again during the finale, it's still not happy music but some of the aggression has gone, and the coda's reprise of the quartet's opening motif somehow sounds as if it can find a peaceful resolution.

Quartet No.16 - A short quartet with a relatively simple structure, held together by a very strong sense of rhythmic pulse (particularly in its first 2 movements) and a fluttering figure.  The flutter is small in the 1st movement, becomes a major feature in the more urgent, brighter 2nd movement, and it also reappears in the background of the 3rd one. The 4th movement Presto is dominated by constant scurrying. The first movement in particular has a bit of a pastoral feel, although this doesn't have anything like the warmth of the 11th quartet.

Quartet No.17 - There's a certain pastoral air to the 1st movement, with its sighing opening figure. The next couple of movements maintain a similar mood – not without moments of drama, but on the whole relatively warm and relaxed.  The mood becomes somewhat more urgent over the course of the 4th movement and greyer in the 5th, before the finale fuses all of this together with a rustic, dance-like quality.

Quartet No.18 - This work starts off quietly and uneasily. There is a sense of hesitation, but very gradually (over the course of several movements), the music becomes stronger and more sure of itself.  The 3rd movement starts firmly but then lapses back into more inward music, before a moment of quiet crisis sets it back on the original path. But the music is also tending to get darker, until the finale returns to the lighter textures of the beginning with a new-found confidence.

Quartet No.19 - The opening of this quartet is thick and dark.  From there it gradually lightens – passing through fugue and canon textures in the first 2 movements until reaching a sense of peace in the 4th and the 5th (which is even titled 'intermezzo sereno').  That peace is abruptly broken by the superb pizzicato opening of the finale.

Quartet No.20 - The neighbouring movements in this quartet are highly contrasted, which isn't always the case with Holmboe.  The 4th movement scherzo is particularly entertaining. There seems to be quite a bit of use of silences, and of breaks in an otherwise steady rhythm – the main themes of several movements have this quality.

[Octave]

Great work, thanks for sharing these notes.
EDIT: my interest is now really piqued for revisiting these quartets...

[Karl Henning]

Outstanding survey, thanks!

[pencils]

Bearing in mind that I love Holmboe deeply, and will eventually purchase both, could you guys please recommend a course of action to me?

I own just over half of the SQ cycle from Dacapo, and am wondering whether to finish buying the remaining releases to complete the set... OR whether I should get hold of the Kontra Quartet cycle first. The KQ cycle would be less expensive, but was wondering your opinions about which to do first. Due to cash flow, owning both will be something for the future rather than soon, but I will eventually do both. Right now, it is a case of one or the other.

Relative merits?

PS ... Symphonies are wonderful, IMHO. 3, 6, 7, 8, 11-13 in particular.

[vandermolen]

Bearing in mind that I love Holmboe deeply, and will eventually purchase both, could you guys please recommend a course of action to me?

I own just over half of the SQ cycle from Dacapo, and am wondering whether to finish buying the remaining releases to complete the set... OR whether I should get hold of the Kontra Quartet cycle first. The KQ cycle would be less expensive, but was wondering your opinions about which to do first. Due to cash flow, owning both will be something for the future rather than soon, but I will eventually do both. Right now, it is a case of one or the other.

Relative merits?

PS ... Symphonies are wonderful, IMHO. 3, 6, 7, 8, 11-13 in particular.

I like 4 and 10 too. 4 in memory of his brother who died in WW2 has a great, inspiriting opening and No 10 is one of my favourites in the cycle. I had 8 and 10 on LP in my youth, so those works have always held a special place for me. No 7 is perhaps my favourite of all and No 6 has the most beautiful opening (as does the No 6 of Langgaard for that matter - but that's another story!)

[CRCulver]

I own just over half of the SQ cycle from Dacapo, and am wondering whether to finish buying the remaining releases to complete the set... OR whether I should get hold of the Kontra Quartet cycle first.

Err, the Dacapo cycle of Holmboe's string quartets is the Kontra Quartet cycle. The KQ recorded all of Holmboe's string quartets for the label as separate discs in the 1990s, and these were then collected together into a box set reissue a couple of years ago. If you've already got some of the individual discs from the 1990s, you can find the remaining discs at very low prices at various online retailers, or you could just purchase the box set reissue which doesn't costs much more than US$20.

[Karl Henning]

Nice to see a little activity here.  And Harry has fetched in the SQ box, wonder how he's enjoying them . . . .

[pencils]

Err, the Dacapo cycle of Holmboe's string quartets is the Kontra Quartet cycle. The KQ recorded all of Holmboe's string quartets for the label as separate discs in the 1990s, and these were then collected together into a box set reissue a couple of years ago. If you've already got some of the individual discs from the 1990s, you can find the remaining discs at very low prices at various online retailers, or you could just purchase the box set reissue which doesn't costs much more than US$20.

That makes my decision much more straightforward, then . My understanding was that they were two separate, historically distinct recording cycles - might help if I checked before asking, huh? I think I shall indulge in the mp3 version rather than the physical discs. I do think that these SQ deserve higher profile.

Also, thanks to orfeo for that very helpful summary.

[snyprrr]

Quartet No.11 - The opening of the 'Rustico' (which is quoted in both the 2nd and 4th movements) really does sound like it's full of birdsong. Everything has a wonderfully light and transparent texture.  Even in the minor key tonality of the andante movement there is slight sadness rather than tragedy.  The faster movements are full of rhythmic bounce, especially the finale.

Quartet No.12 - There's a certain roughly comical vein in the faster movements, particularly in the first but even in the finale which begins in a scherzo-like way before turning more serious and ending sourly.  The slow movements are entirely serious and inward-looking; the 2nd movement andante is easily the longest of the five and also one of my favourite things in any of the quartets.

Quartet No.13 - This quartet often has a hushed, ethereal quality to it.  At other times the music is firmer, yet it retains a sense of transparency.  And just when the finale appears to have reached a definite conclusion, it instead carries on with ghostly echoes of earlier music.

Quartet No.14 - Opening with an entrancing Gypsy-like melody, the 1st movement weaves a dreamy atmosphere which persists through much of the quartet (as do the melody's trills), despite the attempts of the 3rd movement to inject some more urgency. The other fast movements are ultimately light and light-hearted, with the finale skipping along and eventually dissolving.

Quartet No.15 - There's a certain aggressive and angry air to this relatively short quartet, as the first couple of movements fly by.  And then, partway through the 3rd movement funeral march, it's as if the fight drains out of it. When the pace eventually picks up again during the finale, it's still not happy music but some of the aggression has gone, and the coda's reprise of the quartet's opening motif somehow sounds as if it can find a peaceful resolution.

Quartet No.16 - A short quartet with a relatively simple structure, held together by a very strong sense of rhythmic pulse (particularly in its first 2 movements) and a fluttering figure.  The flutter is small in the 1st movement, becomes a major feature in the more urgent, brighter 2nd movement, and it also reappears in the background of the 3rd one. The 4th movement Presto is dominated by constant scurrying. The first movement in particular has a bit of a pastoral feel, although this doesn't have anything like the warmth of the 11th quartet.

Quartet No.17 - There's a certain pastoral air to the 1st movement, with its sighing opening figure. The next couple of movements maintain a similar mood – not without moments of drama, but on the whole relatively warm and relaxed.  The mood becomes somewhat more urgent over the course of the 4th movement and greyer in the 5th, before the finale fuses all of this together with a rustic, dance-like quality.

Quartet No.18 - This work starts off quietly and uneasily. There is a sense of hesitation, but very gradually (over the course of several movements), the music becomes stronger and more sure of itself.  The 3rd movement starts firmly but then lapses back into more inward music, before a moment of quiet crisis sets it back on the original path. But the music is also tending to get darker, until the finale returns to the lighter textures of the beginning with a new-found confidence.

Quartet No.19 - The opening of this quartet is thick and dark.  From there it gradually lightens – passing through fugue and canon textures in the first 2 movements until reaching a sense of peace in the 4th and the 5th (which is even titled 'intermezzo sereno').  That peace is abruptly broken by the superb pizzicato opening of the finale.

Quartet No.20 - The neighbouring movements in this quartet are highly contrasted, which isn't always the case with Holmboe.  The 4th movement scherzo is particularly entertaining. There seems to be quite a bit of use of silences, and of breaks in an otherwise steady rhythm – the main themes of several movements have this quality.

So, the rumor is is that the disc with 13/14/15 is the very best one. I had tried about the first 3 or 4 discs and didn't 'like' any of it (just personal). Everyone says that the 13-15 is the way to go.

Also, I was never happy with the tight, dry recording, which did nothing to make the Kontra's playing more beguiling.

I'm more than happy to try the 13-15 one day, but my tolerance for Holmboe has waned since the Penguin Guide days when he was hailed as the great savior, and the disc of Symphonies 8-9 was hailed as the second coming.

[Karl Henning]

It's always hyperbole with you. It is excellent music, period.

[snyprrr]

It's always hyperbole with you. It is excellent music, period.

!!!!!!gggaaAAAAAHHHHhhh!!!!!!!

I'm perfectly reasonable, and my opinions are FACT!! If you had to pick between Bartok and Holmboe, with the words 'good' and 'excellent', surely Bartok would take the 'excellent' chop chop Holmboe doesn't make the cut, just like Carter doesn't make the cut. The Room at the Top is already filled with 'excellent' Composers. Sibelius vs Holmboe? Sibelius wins.

Norgard vs Holmboe   eh?  eh? That might strain...

Holmboes 8-9 are no Sibelius 7. And I knew Sibelius. (Thread bleed)

[Karl Henning]

Put the Snickers and the Mountain Dew down, fella.

[pencils]

It's always hyperbole with you. It is excellent music, period.

Yes, yes it is. *rubs Karl*

[pencils]

Done. I now feel immensely guilty for spending the money, but extremely happy to have the set. Yay Holmboe.

[snyprrr]

Done. I now feel immensely guilty for spending the money, but extremely happy to have the set. Yay Holmboe.

How much IS that set?

[pencils]

How much IS that set?

Downloads straight from Dacapo, £16.50. Lovely.

[Karl Henning]

Downloads straight from Dacapo, £16.50.

Good score! I pulled the trigger on the CD box when it was at the improbably ripe price-point of $23.86.