Norwegian 20th Century String Quartets

Oslo 4Tet

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Cat No: 8554384

Release Date: 01 January 2000

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 636943438428

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: Norwegian 20th Century String Quartets

Description
Norwegian 20th-CenturyString QuartetsString quartets occupy a relatively central position in the musicalliterature of Norway. Most of the leading Norwegian composers have written oneor more works in this genre, although relatively few have come to be regardedas masterpieces. Grieg's great String Quartet in G minor is a shiningexample from the nineteenth century, a work that has won considerable acclaiminternationally and been recorded by several renowned ensembles, including theOslo String Quartet. This recording presents two of the best works from thefirst half of the twentieth century together with two quartets by leadingcontemporary composers.Fartein Valen and Klaus Egge were great innovators in their day andtheir quartets are some of their finest work. The two composers were quitedissimilar in temperament, Egge being lively and outgoing, whereas Valen wasquiet and cautious. Between the two world wars each was at the forefront ofopposing stylistic movements; Egge with a nationalist style based on folk-musicand Valen with a more European twelve-tone polyphony.Since those days the stylistic diversity between Norwegian composers hasincreased greatly, yet there continues to be an interesting tension between thenational style and international currents, represented on this disc by thegreat traditionalist Johan Kvandal and the all-embracing Alfred Janson.Fartein Valen's development towards a personal style represents one ofthe most fascinating chapters in Norwegian music history. He studiedcomposition first at the Conservatory in Oslo from 1906 to 1909 and then at theMusikhochschule in Berlin. Whilst in Berlin and subjected to a number of stronginfluences, Valen composed his first published works, among them his great ViolinSonata, Op. 3. The works composed in Berlin are in a mature, late-romanticvein and use quite a different musical language to his later works. From 1917to 1924 Valen struggled to develop as a composer, a struggle which resulted inthe Song for orchestra Ave Maria, Op. 4 and the Piano Trio, Op.5, the only two works to emerge from these years. Independently of the SecondViennese School Valen continued to push back the frontiers of tonality untilthey ceased to exist. For the next twenty years after he produced systematicexercises in counterpoint, both in the style of Bach and his own strictlyexecuted dissonant polyphony.During the 1930s and 1940s Valen composed a series of large-scaleorchestral works, including his four symphonies, the Violin Concerto andthe symphonic poem Kirkeg?Ñrden ved haver ('The Churchyard by the Sea').During his lifetime Valen's music was unfortunately little understood, but hehas subsequently come to be regarded as one of Norway's most importantcontributions to twentieth-century music. Despite all opposition he never lostfaith in his chosen path as a composer, drawing strength from a deeply heldChristian outlook.Fartein Valen's String Quartet No. 2 is representative of hismature style. It was composed during a
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