Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

[Madiel]

Very late thanks for all the Holmboe listening notes, orfeo.  I've revisited a few pieces already after reading, and they are new creatures for it.

Thanks! A labour of love on my part. Only one more entry to go now...

...and then I'll have to figure out what else I can do.  Seriously, I've considered whether at some point I'd comment on the concertos, but first I have to purchase them all, and second they're not all recorded. Out of 24 concertos with opus numbers, 3 of them haven't made an appearance yet as far as I know. Here's hoping.

[HIPster]

Symphony No.1, op.4 (1935)

[asin]B0000016JI[/asin]

What a cracker of a little piece the 1st symphony is!

I say that for a number of reasons. One reason for saying 'little' is that this is in fact a 'chamber symphony' without that name.  In terms of the instrumental scoring, it uses an orchestra that is far closer to the ones used in 3 later chamber symphonies than to the orchestras used for the other 12 'regular' symphonies. I suppose at this stage, with his first mature effort, he didn't know he would want to distinguish later on between the two types.

As for saying it's a cracker, well... the first movement is a delight from the very beginning. It's a mixture of neoclassical and folk influences, with some similarity to the 3rd symphony but in some ways more interesting because it seems to be using fragments of a number of different 'folk tunes' rather than just obsessing over one.  The changes of pace in some sections, as one fragment gets interrupted by another, are masterfully handled by conductor Owain Arwel Hughes.

The longer second movement is in a similar vein, but it starts off in a subdued fashion and tends to hold onto each of its musical ideas for longer. There's more of a steady tick-tocking pace, until the music seems to get a little 'stuck'. By the time it transitions from Andante to Allegro energico (according to the BIS track divisions, although there's not much of an audible tempo change at that moment), the rhythm becomes more 'broken' and syncopated.

The whole thing is, to my ears, thoroughly convincing and constructed with great skill. It's a great introduction to Holmboe's 'early' style (when he was in his mid-20s, but taking into account that 1935 was the very year that he first wrote works that he decided were worthy of opus numbers). It already has 'Holmboesque' traits such as the sense of line and counterpoint, and his enjoyment of percussion. He might have gone on to write more sophisticated or complex music, but this is a fine piece in its own right.

Just ordered from the amazon mp.  I have fallen for the '4 Symphonic Metamorphoses' disc hard and this new one is my 2nd Holmboe purchase.

Hat tip to orfeo for the excellent reviews!   

[Madiel]

An excellent choice, Sir! Two fine early symphonies coupled with what is, at this moment, my favourite of the later ones.

[Octave]

Are there strong preferences for a recording of Chamber Concerto No. 10 (Wood-Brass-Gut)?

Among commercial recordings, I only know of (but haven't heard) the Hannu Koivula (Marco Polo) and the Owain Arwel Hughes (Bis).

[Madiel]

Are there strong preferences for a recording of Chamber Concerto No. 10 (Wood-Brass-Gut)?

Among commercial recordings, I only know of (but haven't heard) the Hannu Koivula (Marco Polo) and the Owain Arwel Hughes (Bis).

I can't help you out with that one a great deal. My own feeling, just from sampling rather than owning, is that BIS might have the edge in some of the concertos where a direct comparison is possible (eg Concerto No.1 for piano), but I don't remember having a strong preference in Concerto No.10.

I've ended up deciding that I'm going to get hold of both series (Da Capo's complete numbered concertos 1-13, and BIS's partial set of numbered concertos with some other works) because I listened to the unique couplings and decided I wanted them all... next on the shopping list!

[Madiel]

Tempo variabile, op.108 (1971-72)

[asin]B0000268PM[/asin]
This symphonic metamorphosis is a decade later than the others, and much of it has the more translucent texture found in Holmboe's works from around the 1970s.  Not that all the music is delicate - for example the second of the four main sections gets a bit wild!

Now is a good time to talk about Holmboe's occasional habit of amusing himself with his tempo instructions (which I first encountered with a couple of the string quartets), because here he plays with the dual meaning of 'tempo'.  In the musical world we're used to thinking of it meaning 'time', but in Italian it also means 'weather'. The main catalogue of Holmboe's works translates this title in two ways - it's either "Variable Tempo" (not a lot of translating really) or "Changeable Weather".

And while it's a continuous piece of music, it does fall into 4 very distinct sections: Tempo incostante, Tempesta, Tempo calmo and Tempo piovoso e sereno. 'Piovoso' means 'rainy', and while the 'incostante' does change a fair bit the speed is fairly steady, so these are not your normal speed markings. And yes, the start of the 'piovoso' section, with xylophone and pizzicato strings, absolutely  does sound like a shower has appeared...

I've yet to hear any clear recurring motifs in this work other than the string of repeated notes/beats that not only join the sections together (as mentioned in the liner notes) but begin the whole work, and a cluster note figure. This seems to be primarily an exercise in creating lots of different colours and moods, as befits its 'weather' title.  And it succeeds in holding interest throughout, as none of the sections are terribly long. If you don't like a passage, just wait a while and it will be replaced by another one. 

[Madiel]

Right, that's that then! I thought, having scattered works all over the place at you, I might round this off just by listing these works in the order they were written, because that would be the way to listen to them that would actually show Holmboe's evolving style (if you're anything like me and find things like that interesting).

• Symphony No.1 (for chamber orchestra), op.4 (1935)
• Symphony No.2, op.15 (1938-39)
• Symphony No.3 'Sinfonia Rustica', op.25 (1941)
• Symphony No.4 'Sinfonia Sacra', op.29 (1941, revised 1945)
• Symphony No.5, op.35 (1944)
• Symphony No.6, op.43 (1947)
• Symphony No.7, op.50 (1950)
• Chamber Symphony No.1, op.53 (1951)
• Symphony No.8 'Sinfonia Boreale', op.56 (1951-52)
• Sinfonia in Memoriam, op.65 (1954-55)
• Epitaph, op.68 (1956)
• Sinfonia I, op.73a (1957)
• Sinfonia II, op.73b (1957)
• Sinfonia III, op.73c (1958-59)
• Monolith, op.76 (1960)
• Epilog, op.80 (1961-62)
• Sinfonia IV, op.73d (1962)
• Symphony No.9, op.95 (1967-68, revised 1969)
• Chamber Symphony No.2 'Elegy', op.100 (1968)
• Chamber Symphony No.3 'Frieze', op.103a (1969-70)
• Symphony No.10, op.105 (1970-71, revised 1972)
• Tempo Variabile, op.108 (1971-72)
• Symphony No.11, op.144 (1980-81)
• Symphony No.12, op.175 (1988)
• Symphony No.13, op.192 (1993-94)

[calyptorhynchus]

I've started to listen to the Holmboe orchestral works in chronological order now (the list on Wikipeida, which I believe is the work of Orfeo, is indispensible).

I would have added the string quartets in, but I had listened to them in order last year, and I didn't think of it till too late. However it is interesting how late the numbered sqs begin, 1 isn't until until after the 6th symphony, 10 until after the 9th.

Anyway, I am up to the 1st Chamber Symphony now, and what I have gleaned is that Holmboe's 'neo-classical' style is no such thing. He writes in his early works reasonably short pieces usually in familiar forms such as three movements, fast-slow-fast, and the music is not too dissonant, and contrapuntal. But in these works, and between movements, there is continuous development of themes, which is the exact opposite of neo-classical.

However in the Symphonies, as opposed to the series of 'chamber concertos', space opens up. This begins with the second symphony, is less marked in the third, the fifth returns to a more compact form, but after the sixth, the symphonies really open up, have longer spans with more contrasting moods and textures.

Relying on memory here, I believe what happens later is that the later symphonies and the other orchestral works, including the later concertos, continue with this opening up in scale (even though he can always write compact movements at any stage of his career).

[calyptorhynchus]

The things you notice when you listen chronologically, in two works of the early 50s, the 1st Chamber Symphony and the 8th Symphony there is a sudden appearance of overt Sibelian references, which then are not found in subsequent works.

Also, just a one-off observation, has anyone how the last movement of the Symphony In Memoriam in place sounds remarkably like Rubbra in one of his funereal moods, complete with thumping timpani?

[CRCulver]

The things you notice when you listen chronologically, in two works of the early 50s, the 1st Chamber Symphony and the 8th Symphony there is a sudden appearance of overt Sibelian references, which then are not found in subsequent works.

Interestingly, Per Norgard, who was studying with Holmboe at this time and who had deep conversations with his teacher about the "metamorphosis" approach, said that Holmboe never mentioned Sibelius. And yet, the connection seems so obvious.

[calyptorhynchus]

'Nother chronological observation, I've already noted the discontinuity in VH's music where in the 6th Symphony suddenly a new scale to the music happens.

Well, I've just passed another one: this is between the third Sinfonia for Strings and the 'metamorphosis' piece Monolith. After this, following on with the piece Epilogue and then the fourth String Sinfonia ('Kairos') we get a more more spare, modernist sound, with more discontinuities.

Just about to listen to the Ninth now!

(One pedantic footnote, I see that after the Eighth Holmboe toyed with the idea of called his Sinfonia in Memoriam his Ninth and then Epilogue. Was he superstitious of writing a Ninth like Mahler, and tried to get over the line with a non traditional one, or was he just undecided?)

[Madiel]

Well, I've just passed another one: this is between the third Sinfonia for Strings and the 'metamorphosis' piece Monolith. After this, following on with the piece Epilogue and then the fourth String Sinfonia ('Kairos') we get a more more spare, modernist sound, with more discontinuities.

Absolutely. There is a real change in sound around that point. Some of the CD liner notes, when referring to this period, suggest that Holmboe felt challenged by some of his more modernist pupils.

[calyptorhynchus]

And so another break in Holmboe's style, the modernist phase lasts through Monolith, Epilogue, the fourth Sinfonia for Strings and the 9th and 10th Symphonies (the 2nd and 3rd Chamber Symphonies have aspects of this but also refer back to an earlier style in Holmboe's work, the 'neo-classical').

With Tempo Variable, though it also has modernist aspects, we begin to get into a nature phase in Holmboe's work, and the next few works (the Cello and Tuba Concertos and the Violin Concerto No.2) mix these two aspects. For example the Tuba Concerto has passages that are spare and almost aleatory all with those that have stylised bird song! Certain passages in the Symphony No.11 could almost have been written by the Vaughan Williams  late in his career.

These are remarkable fresh, beautiful works for someone who was now in his 70s, almost as though he was looking to a pastoral style to effect a rejuvenation.

Of course, I'm cheating a bit here because I know how the story ends, only a few more works to go to the very last works, including the orchestral Preludes, those beautiful tone-poems. But I also know that the modernist side doesn't let up at all in this final phase.

The thing I find remarkable about Holmboe is that his music goes through four stylistic phases, but one doesn't replace the other, it's merely that another stylistic layer is added, so different styles can co-exist within the same work, or you can have later works that hark back to earlier phases. Listening to his music is like living and travelling beneath a mountain range: there are different views and there are different rocks and different faces and peaks, and sometimes the mist lifts to reveal this area or that area, or you enter a valley and get a whole new vista, but it's all the same mountain range.

It is obvious that some works are a little bit less inspired than others, but I've been surprised how, in listening to the works through in order how many pieces have opened up and shown new features as I've been listening.

I guess my absolute favourite pieces so far would be:

Symphony 2
Clarinet Concerto (3)
Viola and Oboe Concerto (13)
Symphony 8
Sinfonia in Memoriam
Sinfonia II for Strings
Epilogue
Symphony 9
Symphony 10
Tuba Concerto
Symphony 11

[calyptorhynchus]

Just going through the list of compositions from Wikipedia and seeing what pieces I haven't heard and would like to. I managed to snaffle a few chamber pieces from YouTube I hadn't heard before.

I was intrigued by Holmboe's last completed work, the Concerto for String Quartet. I hope Bis or DA Capo decide to record this. Such an unusual combination, I can't think of another work for the same forces.

[The new erato]

Martinu has one.

[Madiel]

Just going through the list of compositions from Wikipedia and seeing what pieces I haven't heard and would like to. I managed to snaffle a few chamber pieces from YouTube I hadn't heard before.

I was intrigued by Holmboe's last completed work, the Concerto for String Quartet. I hope Bis or DA Capo decide to record this. Such an unusual combination, I can't think of another work for the same forces.

Working out what pieces were out there, and that I hadn't heard, was pretty much the reason for creating the list in the first place! 

It's very pleasing to see that these days, for the works with opus numbers at least, the works that are recorded far outnumber the ones that aren't (to my knowledge) recorded, but there's still quite a few for which I'm not aware of any recording. The Concerto for String Quartet is one of them.

If you stumble across any recordings of opuses 1, 3, 5-11, 13, 14, 18, 22-24, 26, 28, 41, 42, 45, 51, 58, 62, 74, 75, 82, 83, 88, 91, 94, 97, 99, 104, 106, 107, 109, 112, 113, 118, 119, 128, 130, 131, 134, 137, 145, 150, 151, 161-163, 165, 169, 173, 177, 178, 181-183, 194-196, let me know!

Mind you, some of those works are simply missing or incomplete. But there are others that I look at and think someone really should record them. There are two chief gaps that stand out for me at the moment.

First, there are 3 concertos apparently yet to be recorded: the Violin Concerto op.14, the Louisiana Concerto for Strings op.131, and the String Quartet Concerto op.195. That sure looks to me like an opportunity for another disc similar to the excellent 2013 Da Capo disc with viola/violin/orchestral concertos.

Second, there's a disc or two worth of accompanied choral music begging to be made. Put Skoven (The Forest) op.74 with Traeet (The Tree) op.62 and you've got the makings of something. Or combine Ordet (The Word) op.134 (brass and organ, biblical text), the Biblical Cantata op.150 (brass and strings), and Ode to the Soul, op.161 (brass and organ). Somewhere in there you could throw in Die Erfullung (The Fulfilment) op.183 (wind and brass).

[Karl Henning]

Just going through the list of compositions from Wikipedia and seeing what pieces I haven't heard and would like to. I managed to snaffle a few chamber pieces from YouTube I hadn't heard before.

I was intrigued by Holmboe's last completed work, the Concerto for String Quartet. I hope Bis or DA Capo decide to record this. Such an unusual combination, I can't think of another work for the same forces.

Martinu has one.

Also (although it is an arrangement of Handel), Schoenberg.

[The new erato]

And Benjamin Lees.

[Karl Henning]

And Benjamin Lees.

Not to strain the tangent o'ermuch  . . . I'm not sure I've heard of Lees at all . . . .

[North Star]

Not to strain the tangent o'ermuch  . . . I'm not sure I've heard of Lees at all . . . .

Benjamin Lees, who has died aged 86, was one of the most important American composers of the generation born in the 1920s.

OK
I guess Crumb, Feldman & al. will have to make room for him.