Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)

[Madiel]

Holmboe took a brief break from concerto writing (mainly to compose the 5th symphony), and then from late 1944 to early 1946 he was at it again, producing another four.

Starting with Concerto No.7 (op.37) for oboe. Apparently this was a work that had a little success. I have recordings to compare again!

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There are some similarities between this and Concerto No.1 (for piano). A longer first movement followed by a brisker finale. And they start with a similar mood and the same tempo, molto moderato.  And, exactly as with Concerto No.1, the Da Capo recording is considerably more molto than the BIS recording.

The 1st movement is in fact, as both recordings tell me, in the 'arch' form associated with Bartok, ABCBA. One of them claims that the 'BCB' section is in fact a sonata form with exposition, development and recapitulation. I'm not entirely sure about that, but it's very clear that the 'BCB' which is an allegro stands out from the slower and sparser 'A' section. It's a surprising movement, and I'm not sure Holmboe's done something quite like this before - I feel as if this piece marks the beginning of the next phase of his musical language. The 2nd movement is yet another one of Holmboe's perpetual motion finales, although this one is only allegretto con moto so it comes across in a somewhat stately and dignified way.

To my ears the BIS recording is the winner here. The 'A' section of the 1st movement pulses attractively at its faster pace - not just because it's faster, but because Owain Arwel Hughes emphasises the pulsing rhythm that is written in the strings. That effect is totally flattened out by Koivula on Da Capo, and while the extremely mournful quality of his 'A' section is a different take, it's not as engaging. It's just a bit too static.

In the rest of the music, everything on BIS benefits from the greater colour and clearer recording. In particular, some important contributions from other solo instruments come across far better. Everything on Da Capo is just a little flat and featureless in comparison. Arguably that's true in terms of recordings across the whole of the respective sets, but I think this particular piece really benefits from the greater sense of colour on BIS.

[Madiel]

Another day, another concerto. I'll slow down soon because Holmboe will. 

Concerto No.8, op.38 is subtitled Sinfonia Concertante. It's a concerto for orchestra.

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Two movements again, but this time the 1st movement is the shorter, an allegro con brio which the recordings tell me is in sonata form (but Da Capo notes the themes are closely related, not unlike Haydn who was one of Holmboe's heroes).  The 2nd movement is a theme and variations, not dissimilar to the one in the 3rd symphony, with an emphasis on contrasting different sections of the orchestra.

To me there's a bit more evidence here of Holmboe's developing style. The 1st movement in particular has a slightly skewed sense of tonality and ends abruptly on the 'wrong' chord.

Both performances are pretty good, but this time I think it's Koivula on Da Capo that has the edge. The rhythms of the 1st movement are just slightly more pointed, but the greater difference is in the 2nd movement where he gets more atmosphere out of the variations, especially some of the slower ones in the middle. The BIS version is overall smoother, and I think in the variations in particular Hughes is aiming to present a more flowing move from one variation to the next. To me, he misses just a little of the character of some of them. 

[Madiel]

Concerto No.9 (op.39) is a double concerto for violin and viola. The only recording I have is the Da Capo disc above. There is in fact a recording from way back in 1969 but I don't have that one.

I have to admit I find this one not easy to grasp... it shows more signs of Holmboe's evolving style, and we are getting further away from recognisable folk music.

The 1st movement has a lot of sliding chromatic passages in the orchestra, and it almost feels as if the job of the soloists is to bring some stability to some proceedings and calm the orchestra down. This reminds me a bit of what I said about Concerto No.2, the previous 'double concerto', although it may equally apply to some others... it certainly is interesting that sometimes Holmboe treats the concerto form as an opportunity for contrast, and sometimes more as an opportunity for mirroring/reinforcement.

Anyway... the 1st movement is full of scales and stepwise passages. The woodwinds tend to destabilise the music, and the soloists tend to stabilise it. I can't describe it much better than that. It ends quietly and calmly, with the soloists in control, and in the 2nd movement the orchestra is completely silent. It's just the solo violin and viola. It's very intimate and meditative, and the liner notes suggest it's even quite Romantic by Holmboe's standards which isn't unreasonable.

The finale begins with a brass fanfare, and then the soloists (particularly the violin) launch into some fiddling! This movement is rather more folk/dance-like. There's some use of glissandi.

All in all it's interesting, but at this stage I haven't warmed to it as much as most in the numbered series thus far.

[Turner]

Concerning the old LP recording of the Suono da Bardo piano suite, and Orfeo´s discography project - here´s a photo of the cover.

IMO, Blyme´s playing is even more engaged than in the later CD version, and adds more mysticism to the quieter sections. The sound, however, is not particularly good.

[Madiel]

Concerning the old LP recording of the Suono da Bardo piano suite, and Orfeo´s discography project - here´s a photo of the cover.

IMO, Blyme´s playing is even more engaged than in the later CD version, and adds more mysticism to the quieter sections. The sound, however, is not particularly good.

Thank you!!

Duly adding image to the discography now!

[Madiel]

Well, the 4th in this set of concertos Holmboe wrote in quick succession is Concerto No.10 (op.40), another concerto for orchestra subtitled 'Træ-messing-tarm' (Wood-Brass-Gut)

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Sorry, that picture of volume 4 of the Da Capo series is rather awful.

This is a slightly curious one in one respect. It sounds like a theme and variations - in fact it sounds very much like the same concept as the 2nd movement of Concerto No.8 - but it's not presented as a theme and variations by Holmboe. It's presented as an "Introduction" followed by 8 fairly brief numbered movements. The total length is around 18 to 20 minutes depending on the recording.

The liner notes for Da Capo hint that maybe this is Holmboe in the early stages of his 'metamorphosis' technique. Perhaps. Or perhaps he didn't want to call an entire piece, as opposed to a movement, a theme and variations. The original theme is detectable quite often, and this is a relatively straightforward piece to listen to with clear, direct lines. It's also highly enjoyable. Some of the transitions from one movement to the next are particularly delightful, such as when one ends with a bold orchestral figure and the next begins with a solo violin imitating the same.

In terms of the recordings, they're both decent but this time I think BIS is the winner. In this work the slight extra punch and dynamism (sometimes from speed, sometimes just from recording quality) gives them the edge in places where the music is bold and rhythmic. And this time I don't find that Da Capo compensates with greater atmosphere in the slow music. Having said that, the differences between the 2 recordings aren't all that great.

[calyptorhynchus]

Over at the Art Music Forum someone has posted a radio broadcast of Holmboe's 5th Symphony (a good performance, but the recording has distortion in the loud passages). This set me thinking whether I shouldn't be monitoring Danish radio for broadcasts of Holmboe's music.

This would only work for me if there is a dedicated classical music station in Denmark which plays a reasonable amount of Holmboe and which has the facility to listen to the programs via Internet streaming after the broadcast, oh, and a convenient schedule document so I could skim quickly through a week's scheduling.

I suspect that one or other of these elements may be lacking, but would appreciate advice as it may be difficult for me to wade through Danish language pages unassisted.

[Madiel]

Over at the Art Music Forum someone has posted a radio broadcast of Holmboe's 5th Symphony (a good performance, but the recording has distortion in the loud passages). This set me thinking whether I shouldn't be monitoring Danish radio for broadcasts of Holmboe's music.

This would only work for me if there is a dedicated classical music station in Denmark which plays a reasonable amount of Holmboe and which has the facility to listen to the programs via Internet streaming after the broadcast, oh, and a convenient schedule document so I could skim quickly through a week's scheduling.

I suspect that one or other of these elements may be lacking, but would appreciate advice as it may be difficult for me to wade through Danish language pages unassisted.

A Google challenge if ever there was one. The Danish national broadcaster's classical station is P2.  Wikipedia article is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR_P2

The DR website appears to have playlists for all the stations. This morning's playlist for P2 is here: http://www.dr.dk/playlister/p2/2016-1-4  I can't yet find you a simple straightforward link that will always work... I mean, I can find myself one, but that's because I've been learning Danish.

EDIT: I believe this should open up the radio station directly: http://www.dr.dk/radio/live/p2/  and will give you the short-term playlist of what is being played and has been played. But no use for planning ahead. I, on the other hand, may well start listening to Danish radio just to practise hearing the language.

[Camphy]

In addition, this link leads to a broadcast by France Musique of Danish music. The first music to be heard is Holmboe's clarinet concerto; just the recording by Fröst though. The broadcast will be available for some time.

http://www.francemusique.fr/emission/france-musique-la-nuit-l-heure-bleue/2014-2015/equipee-danoise-03-18-2015-05-00

[Madiel]

Move forward just a couple of years to get to Concerto No.11 (op.44) for trumpet.

This appears to be one of Holmboe's more popular works (arguably in keeping with the general quality/reputation of his writing for brass). There have been at least 4 recordings, which is a veritable feast by this composer's standards. I have the "usual" two.

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I find it a genuinely interesting work. The orchestration is highly effective, just strings apart from 2 horns that are sparingly used and come across as distant echoes of the trumpet soloist. There's less of the "folk music" style in this piece compared to the earlier concertos. A shift is definitely occurring.

There are 3 movements, though the concerto is one of the shorter ones in the series. The first movement starts with a largo introduction, switches to an allegro just before the trumpet's entry*, but later on it winds right back to largo again. That central allegro is marvellously dynamic, full of shifting rhythmic pulses and a real sense of flow and motion. When it slows down again, the music is completely transformed.

After that is a fairly brief poco lento movement, which doesn't actually feel slow after the close of the 1st movement. The finale is allegretto, ma vivace, and starts off sounding like a bit like a scherzo with the trumpet contributing short and sharp accents as the strings scurry. But then, as the trumpet starts piecing together longer strands of music, a surprisingly grand and soaring melody ends up emerging.

In terms of the BIS and Da Capo recordings, I really don't have much of a preference. There are places where the slightly leaner, edgier sound of the Da Capo seems more suitable than the smoother BIS sound with a more heroic trumpet, but then at certain points the BIS flares with drama that the more recessed sonics on Da Capo can't quite match.

As much as anything it's a function of how the soloist is placed. You get slightly more trumpet on BIS, you get slightly more strings on Da Capo. But I think they both work and I'm inclined to call my first draw. I don't think you'd be let down by either version. I've certainly enjoyed both a lot over the last couple of days.


* The recordings can't actually agree whether the allegro is con fuoco or con forza, which turns out to be because the published score can't even agree with itself!

[calyptorhynchus]

I haven't had a chance to follow the link that Orfeo posted to Danish Radio, however a thought about Holmboe on the radio occurred to me. I've been following BBC Radio 3 for about a year now and have been listening to pieces that interest me, and I have made some recordings of non-copyright performances off the streaming audio which I have posted to the Art Music Forum.

I have to say that BBC Radio, whilst being streets ahead of the awful Australian Classic FM channel*, isn't that great and there often aren't any programmes I want to listen to in a week. They (Radio 3) are having at the moment a series called Northern Lights, focusing on Scandinavian composers. Whilst featuring much Sibelius, Nielsen, and earlier and more recent Scandinavian composers, I can't think of a single Holmboe work they have featured.... inexplicable, and annoying.

* musical schmaltz of all ages in five minute chunks with presenters who don't know anything about music and sound like smarmy 15 years olds addressing elderly Alzheimer's sufferers.

[Madiel]

Popping up for a non-concerto aside.

Having reached, in my chronological listening approach, the first string quartets (not "early" as Holmboe is 39 years old), I'm being struck by how different they sound even from the concertos only a short while before.

There's just something about the medium that's making everything sound more severe and intellectual. Though I think it's still possible to make a connection to the 6th symphony and that last concerto for trumpet, all of the more explicit 'folk' and dance-like elements from before that feel quite distant.

I find myself intensely curious as to whether it's just a string quartet thing - whether, when I reach symphony no.7 and concerto no.12, I'll feel in any way that I've gone back to more familiar territory. From what I can remember of the symphony off the top of my head, I suspect not.

[calyptorhynchus]

I've been listening to the Chamber Concerto 13, for viola and oboe, which I think is my favourite of the series.

I had a thought though, this concerto is very far from being Neo-baroque, but a few moments in it remind me of Bach's BWV 1060 (concerto for two harpsichords, reconstructed as a violin and oboe concerto). My question is when did this reconstruction start being played and would Holmboe have been likely to have heard it and been influenced by it?

[Madiel]

I've been listening to the Chamber Concerto 13, for viola and oboe, which I think is my favourite of the series.

Spoilers! I'm 5 years away from no.13.

I had a thought though, this concerto is very far from being Neo-baroque, but a few moments in it remind me of Bach's BWV 1060 (concerto for two harpsichords, reconstructed as a violin and oboe concerto). My question is when did this reconstruction start being played and would Holmboe have been likely to have heard it and been influenced by it?

A couple of bits of googling suggests that BWV 1060R, as it's known, dates from 1921.  Another bit of googling suggests 1970, but then it's perfectly possible there may actually have been more than one reconstruction and these are talking about different ones.

Minor detail, the Bach is violin/oboe, the Holmboe is viola/oboe. Also a violin/oboe combination is not unique to Bach.

[Madiel]

Concerto No.12 (op.52) is for trombone. There have been at least 3 recordings of this one. The 2 that I own are the same discs as for the trumpet concerto above. BIS (Christian Lindberg soloist) and Da Capo (Jacques Mauger soloist).

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The 3rd recording I know about is also on Da Capo, with Jesper Juul as soloist.**

There are some interesting features of this one. First of all, the two recordings can't actually agree how many movements there are! Da Capo says there are 3, but (after discovering the score is viewable online) I think BIS is closer to the mark when they say there's technically 1, but with a rather strong 3-movement feel. Basically, in the score the "movements" are connected only by the solo trombone while there's a general pause.

Another interesting feature is that this is the only one of the series of numbered concertos for which Holmboe left space for a cadenza. Lindberg uses a slightly truncated version of the cadenza written by the original soloist (Traulsen), whereas Mauger uses one composed by Per Nørgård, which has some fancy harmonics in it.

It's also perhaps worth mentioning that this is one of the works that demonstrates why Holmboe shifted from calling these "chamber concertos" to just "concertos" - a shift that the Da Capo recording series doesn't reflect. The liner notes helpfully inform you that this "chamber concerto" is for a full orchestra including percussion!

The 1st "movement" is, according to those liner notes, in an arch form ABCBA, but I have to admit I don't hear it, especially not when the music slows down significantly for the latter part of the movement after being allegro moderato in the first half. To me it feels like a continuous unfolding, with a bright and bustling start, which winds down as it runs out of energy. The basic pulse is 3/4 but with plenty of cross-currents. On Da Capo, this is strongly rhythmic, whereas on BIS the mood is slightly grander, a little stately.

The opening of the 2nd "movement" is a really lovely string passage that gradually swells, and the music is rather romantic-sounding by Holmboe's standards.

The 3rd "movement" mostly has a 5/4 pulse, which breaks up for the cadenza, quietly restarts after that, and then the music starts accelerating just a little. The mood is quite bright and cheery.

In terms of which recording I prefer, well... I did have to think about it a bit. I think both performances convey the charm of this music pretty well. The 1st movement is arguably more invigorating on Da Capo, whereas the BIS performance really makes the most of the 2nd movement and has more sparkle in the 3rd. So, I'll say BIS is my pick, but neither will disappoint. I'd rate this composition as good as any in the series.

** The only thing I'll say about the 3rd recording is that it appears from the timings the 2nd movement is taken quite slowly.

[Madiel]

As that's the last time there's a choice in the series, I thought I'd summarise my preferences - and of course they're my preferences only. This is for my convenience as much as anyone else's.

No.1 - prefer BIS recording
No.2 - Da Capo is only choice
No.3 - prefer Da Capo recording
No.4 - Da Capo is only choice
No.5 - Da Capo is only choice
No.6 - Da Capo is only choice
No.7 - prefer BIS recording
No.8 - prefer Da Capo recording
No.9 - Da Capo is only choice*
No.10 - prefer BIS recording
No.11 - draw*
No.12 - prefer BIS recording*
No.13 - Da Capo is only choice


* Means other recordings exist besides the two series I've been comparing.

[Camphy]

This is for my convenience as much as anyone else's.

Quoted slightly out of context  , but thanks for the comparisons and writings. Very helpful and a pleasure to read.

[Brian]

I really liked doing that write-up of the Tubin cycle, even if didn't always like the actual music. So, here we go again.

These are the Holmboe symphonies I've heard before: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Concerto for Orchestra. This one's familiar to me too. It's a very, very early work, and can't be taken as "vintage Holmboe". But, in a 13-minute span, he really does cycle through everybody in the orchestra, with the brassy fanfares at the start, a slow passage relying on solo woodwinds, big ol' timpani rolls, and an ending that hearkens back to the start. Hard to pin down what the musical language is, or who it resembles. It's conservative, for 1929, certainly. Maybe you could compare to Nielsen, early (Firebird) Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky even.

Symphony No. 1. This is so short and so "light" that it almost ends before you have time to collect thoughts. It's not light as in waltzy - more like one great big scherzo, rhythmically propulsive and buoyant, with generous but not excessive percussion. (Chamber orchestra scoring.) A bassoon solo to kick off the slow movement makes you briefly wonder if there will be an excursion to the world of Sibelian legend, but not so. This is splashier, more optimistic music than you'll find in the Tubin box, but it feels more like an appetizer than a proper symphony.

Symphony No. 2. The opening is like getting doused with an Ice Bucket Challenge: a shock series of chords, like Nielsen's Third plus cymbal crashes. Then the ideas start coming, and although I find some of them banal or humdrum, there are just so darn many of them that the piece flows forward anyway. Great climax with snare drum towards the end of the first movement, though I love the calming coda most of all, with a flow of strings-only melody that brings to mind Shostakovich in his more conservative, melancholy moods.

The second movement, "Lamentazione" (each of these has an Italian title), is extraordinary. It is an elegy, with a brief percussive climax at the end that I wasn't wild about but otherwise supremely atmospheric and beautifully scored. Surely, Holmboe is in full command of orchestral sound. The brief finale is loud and bombastic, though - not a great transition, although the last 30 seconds are f'in' awesome. Going forward, I really like the fact that Holmboe knows how to pull off a good ending.

Chamber Concertos Nos. 1 (piano), 2 (flute and violin), and 3 (EDIT: forgot to add here: clarinet). These are with a smaller orchestra, and with smaller ambitions too. I wasn't too keen on No. 1, although it's bold to open with a 20-minute slow movement. No. 2, with its flute-violin-celesta (!) interplay, has a graceful quality that reminds me of the smaller Martinu concertos. It's not quite as catchy or jovial as, say, the Martinu concerto for two violins, but I found it a very enjoyable, stimulating listen.

By the way, at this point I should note that I'm trying to go in something like chronological order. This is aided by the Wikipedia list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Vagn_Holmboe
I am ALSO going through every page of this thread, and have discovered that the Wikipedia list is the work of our very own orfeo! (orfeo may be the world's leading expert on Vagn Holmboe.)

Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia rustica." What a major leap forward. This is extremely good stuff. Two cheery, chipper outer movements, bursting with "alla rustica" folk dancing, bookend a powerful, solemn set of variations on a slow, somewhat mournful theme. The effect is much like a funeral march, in fact. And you could say that this symphony has a connection, in its stark pairing of the funereal and the rustic/celebratory, with Dvorak's Third Symphony. Brilliant scoring (the trumpets at 10:50 in the slow movement...). Also: remember the clumsy lament-finale transition in Symphony No. 2? Holmboe fixes the problem this time, beginning his finale quietly. In fact, there's a bit of a parallel with the transition out of the funeral march in Beethoven's Third!

Now, I guess I should say that, like Tubin, Holmboe is not writing the catchiest tunes in the universe (aside from one played in this symphony's finale by the piccolo). But he knows how to develop them, how to make them evolve - he has a much firmer sense of structure and argument and narrative.

It's possible to imagine a more sharply-conducted performance of this symphony. Owain Arwel Hughes is a fourth-rate conductor in mainstream repertoire, but so far, he's doing an adequate job letting the music speak for itself.

Symphony No. 4, "Sacra." Wow, this is a martial first movement, reminds me of the Soviets - feels like the insistent timpani beat is driving this movement forward. That motif is carried over, in a variant form, to the adagio movement - an example of Holmboe learning how to be economic with material. As orfeo wrote: "What I love about Holmboe is that flow, from one movement to another and across a whole work." Yes - the timpani are still leading the way to the serene ending, a rather remarkable symphonic journey. Having said that, I'm not really convinced by all the choral bits here. Musically this is a strong, super-impressive conception for a symphony, but the use that framework has been put to is kinda weird.

The Ill-Tempered Turk. This is probably minor Holmboe, but as a Turkish person, I obviously needed to hear it. There aren't any "exotica" or "Turkisms" here, so it doesn't really sound Turkish. (The final dance does have a Scottish bagpipe imitation, though.) But there is a slight influence of being Ill-Tempered - or at least, the music isn't fun like a Khachaturian score might be. You get the general sense, here, that being surrounded by Turks is a slightly alarming state to be in.

More to follow...

[Karl Henning]

Delighted to read your play-by-play, Brian.

[Brian]

BTW I must add that orfeo's notes earlier in the thread are an absolutely essential guide for me, too. And, of course, his work on Wikipedia.