Nørgård's Niche

[relm1]

Nørgård fans may be interested to hear one of his most recent pieces, the Three Nocturnal Movements, which i've written about on my blog today. It's a very striking piece, a double concerto for violin and cello re-working bits of his 1986 viola concerto Remembered Child. The piece is almost exactly a year old, it was premièred on 6 June 2015 (details of the occasion here).

I really enjoyed it so thanks for posting.  I also found the backstory of Samantha Smith to be terribly sad and suggestive.

[Rons_talking]

I played the Austera again last night - such a fine work. The ending had me on the edge of my seat. Just before my New Year's resolution of trying to reduce OCD CD buying came into effect I ordered the BIS CD of the Austera and Symphony 8. I'll be interested to hear how it compares with the Segerstam recording. I have Symphony 3 on Chandos so will be listening to it soon. Interestingly I have noticed that it is often the first symphonies of more 'difficult' (for me anyway) composers which I am inclined to enjoy most, probably because they are more closely linked with earlier influences. Not only with Norgard but also with Blomdah, Egge and Simpson it is their first symphonies which I appreciate and seem to understand best. Certainly these are the ones which give me the most pleasure. So, love for Norgard from here at least!

I just listened to 3, 5 and 6 for the first time. Wow! Exciting, strikingly modern, and highly musical. The 3rd is, at this point, my favorite. Norgard takes the best of his influences and styles it into his unique voice. These works make demands on the listener--after the 6th I felt the need to clear my head with some Copland. But these works hit the target where so many have missed.

[Turner]

The Dacapo series of the complete symphonies has been finished now, with nos. 2+6 & nos. 4+5 conducted by Storgårds -
and it gets good reviews at Musicweb:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Aug/Norgard_sys_6220645.htm

[5against4]

Good reviews from myself too 

http://5against4.com/2016/09/17/new-releases-symphonies-by-paul-von-klenau-peter-maxwell-davies-andrzej-panufnik-xiogang-ye-per-norgard/

[CRCulver]

My copies of the recent symphonies discs are still on the way, but I have to say I'm not getting my hopes up. I was a Helsinki Phil. concertgoer when Segerstam gave way as chief conductor to Storgards, and there was an immediate decline in the quality of interpretations and in the orchestra's playing. When Segerstam gave us an excellent series of Nørgård symphony recordings, can Storgards offer something just as good, if not better? I await the chance to hear them.

[not edward]

I think you might be pleasantly surprised. I never really clicked with the 5th in Segerstam's reading, so the Storgards was a revelation.

[Leggiero]

My ramblings-on about Nørgård's 3rd can be found here: https://leggierosite.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/norgards-3rd-beautiful-yes-really-musical-maths/

[For anyone who may have happened across a near-identical post to this on another forum, yes, I'm shamelessly repeating myself in the hope of generating further discussion!]

[violadude]

I haven't heard Norgard's symphonies (I really want to) but I'm fairly familiar with his string quartets, what do people think of them? My favorites are #2, #4, #5, #8 and #10.

[Mirror Image]

I haven't heard Norgard's symphonies (I really want to) but I'm fairly familiar with his string quartets, what do people think of them? My favorites are #2, #4, #5, #8 and #10.

Not a huge Norgard fan, but his 3rd is outstanding.

[violadude]

Symphony #7 immediately!!! 

I would love to listen to any of his symphonies. I might listen to one of his symphonies, but...I have this weird personal hangup about listening to music that I haven't bought. This isn't anything to do with ethics or "stealing" or whatever. It's more like, when I buy a new piece I want the moment to be as special as possible, and I feel that if I've already heard what I'm buying than I've "spoiled" it for myself.

I know..I know.. it's weird. But it makes sense to me. I've broken this rule of course...but just in general.

[vandermolen]

Not a huge Norgard fan, but his 3rd is outstanding.

Same here, although I like No.1 'Sinfonia Austera' very much.
[asin]B000000AYY[/asin]

[snyprrr]

I would love to listen to any of his symphonies. I might listen to one of his symphonies, but...I have this weird personal hangup about listening to music that I haven't bought. This isn't anything to do with ethics or "stealing" or whatever. It's more like, when I buy a new piece I want the moment to be as special as possible, and I feel that if I've already heard what I'm buying than I've "spoiled" it for myself.

I know..I know.. it's weird. But it makes sense to me. I've broken this rule of course...but just in general.

snyprrr understands

[vandermolen]

snyprrr understands

So does vandermolen. The ritual of buying a CD is very important. 

[The new erato]

So does vandermolen. The ritual of buying a CD is very important. 

Me too. As regard Storgards as a conductor I was severely put off him after hearing him do one of the dullest Mahler performances ever here in Bergen, and have studiously avoided all his recordings ever since........

[vandermolen]

Me too. As regard Storgards as a conductor I was severely put off him after hearing him do one of the dullest Mahler performances ever here in Bergen, and have studiously avoided all his recordings ever since........

OT
Was that with the Bergen PO?
I have them performing Klaus Egge's First Symphony - one of my favourite scores. The conductor is Karsten Andersen the performance is fine but the boxed-in recording overloads at the climax of the first movement (my favourite moment in the symphony  ). There is a finer older performance with the Oslo PO under Gruner-Hegge but it's locked up in the archives of Norwegian Radio somewhere.

[The new erato]

It was with the Bergen PO, which is a crack outfit these days.

The current state of recordings of Norwegian music is not satisfactory, I agree.

[vandermolen]

It was with the Bergen PO, which is a crack outfit these days.

The current state of recordings of Norwegian music is not satisfactory, I agree.

It's performance of the Egge is fine too although I prefer Gruner Hegge's slightly more urgent interpretation (on You tube).

[CRCulver]

As regard Storgards as a conductor I was severely put off him after hearing him do one of the dullest Mahler performances ever here in Bergen, and have studiously avoided all his recordings ever since........

I eventually got the recent Nørgård symphonies discs and reviewed them at Amazon. While I was disappointed by Storgårds' reading of the Fourth and Sixth, the new recordings of the Second and Fifth were very enjoyable and I see them as the new reference recordings.

[Madiel]

Okay, this is to a large extent repeating a post I made in the "what are you listening to now?" thread, but thought it was worth putting here. There's a colossal difference in timing between the Segerstam and Storgårds versions of Symphony No.4.

For Segerstam, the two movements take 15:09 and 12:37.

By contrast, Storgårds' timings are 12:40 and 6:58.

It's the huge difference in the tempo of the 2nd movement, "Chinese Witch's Lake" that is really getting my attention. You have one performance where the movements are approaching equal length, and another where the proportions are closer to a 2:1 ratio. I haven't listened to the whole of the Segerstam performance. But sampling a Youtube copy, and trying the transition between the two movements, there just doesn't seem to be anything like the same degree of contrast that Storgårds generates. There certainly is a shift in instrumentation and sounds, but Storgårds' extra speed heightens the change considerably.

[CRCulver]

Okay, this is to a large extent repeating a post I made in the "what are you listening to now?" thread, but thought it was worth putting here. There's a colossal difference in timing between the Segerstam and Storgårds versions of Symphony No.4.

For Segerstam, the two movements take 15:09 and 12:37.

By contrast, Storgårds' timings are 12:40 and 6:58.

It's the huge difference in the tempo of the 2nd movement, "Chinese Witch's Lake" that is really getting my attention. You have one performance where the movements are approaching equal length, and another where the proportions are closer to a 2:1 ratio.

The reading of Jorma Panula also proceeds rather quickly through the second movement, so Segerstam seems like the outlier, even though I find his take the most satisfying.