Valen Symphonic Poems and Orchestral Songs
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: (Olav) Fartein Valen
Label: Simax
Magazine Review Date: 6/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 72
Catalogue Number: PSC3115
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Pastorale |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| (Le) cimitière marin |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Sonette di Michelangelo |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Cantico di ringraziamento |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Nenia |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| (La) isla de las calmas |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Ode to Solitude |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Ave Maria |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Dorothy Dorow, Soprano Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Chinesische Gedichte |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Dorothy Dorow, Soprano Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Darest Thou now o soul |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Dorothy Dorow, Soprano Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
| (Die) dunkle Nacht die Seele |
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer
(Olav) Fartein Valen, Composer Dorothy Dorow, Soprano Miltiades Caridis, Conductor Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra |
Author:
An important and most welcome reissue: the music of Fartein Valen (1887-1952) is far too little known outside Norway, although his four symphonies have been intermittently available from Simax/Norway in Music. The best introduction to his life and work in English is the chapter devoted to him (containing analyses of three of the above pieces) in Rapoport's Opus est: Six Composers from Northern Europe (Kahn & Averill: 1978).
Valen's music is in a personal atonal style systematized independently of Schoenberg and Hauer. Before the last war his music was generally execrated in Norway where his international avant-garde outlook did not accord with the prevailing nationalism (Norway only becoming independent in 1905). After the war, his reputation grew steadily, not least through the acclaim which greeted the performance of Sonetto di Michelangelo at the 1947 ISCM festival.
Fine as this disc is, with recordings that stand up well for their age, the presentation does Valen's cause no favours. Of the seven orchestral pieces that open the disc, all but the last date from a closely integrated period of composition, 1929-34 (Ode to Solitude being written in 1939); taken together they tend to blur into each other. Sonetto, Nenia and Cantico del ringraziamento can be played as a suite; individually they and Le cimitiere Marin impress as masterworks, but Simax could have balanced the programme better by integrating the concluding songs which cover a wider span of time (1917-39) and styles (Ave Maria sounds like atonal Bax). This is, notwithstanding, a most worthwhile addition to the catalogue.'
Valen's music is in a personal atonal style systematized independently of Schoenberg and Hauer. Before the last war his music was generally execrated in Norway where his international avant-garde outlook did not accord with the prevailing nationalism (Norway only becoming independent in 1905). After the war, his reputation grew steadily, not least through the acclaim which greeted the performance of Sonetto di Michelangelo at the 1947 ISCM festival.
Fine as this disc is, with recordings that stand up well for their age, the presentation does Valen's cause no favours. Of the seven orchestral pieces that open the disc, all but the last date from a closely integrated period of composition, 1929-34 (Ode to Solitude being written in 1939); taken together they tend to blur into each other. Sonetto, Nenia and Cantico del ringraziamento can be played as a suite; individually they and Le cimitiere Marin impress as masterworks, but Simax could have balanced the programme better by integrating the concluding songs which cover a wider span of time (1917-39) and styles (Ave Maria sounds like atonal Bax). This is, notwithstanding, a most worthwhile addition to the catalogue.'
Valen Symphonic Poems and Orchestral Songs
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