Search - Vagn Holmboe, Per Norgard, Carl Nielsen :: Passage: Piano Trios

Got it for Norgard's "Spell", a major achievement of his hie

Christopher Culver | 09/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This Da Capo CD contains piano trios by four Danish composers who serve as the foremost representatives of their generations. Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) admitted Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996) to the Royal Conservatory, Holmboe taught Per Norgard (b. 1932), and Norgard in turn taught Anders Nordentoft (b. 1957). The performances are by Trio Ondine, the highly acclaimed ensemble of violinist Erik Heide, cellist Jonathan Slaatto, and pianist Martin Qvist Hansen.



I bought the CD for Per Norgard's "Spell" (1973), one of the major works of his hierarchical period and a vital step towards his masterpiece Symphony No. 3. The works of this time are all built upon the so-called infinity series, an integer series Norgard discovered in 1959 that generates endlessly self-similar melodies, where--among other remarkable properties--every four (8th, 16th...) note recreates the original series in ever-slower time. Those who haven't yet discovered Norgard's infinity music would do well to get his work "Voyage into the Golden Screen", which started this fertile period (available on another Da Capo disc) and the Symphony No. 3, the highest point of the period (available on a Chandos disc).



In the early 1970s Norgard abandoned the chromatic infinity series, preferring to use the diatonic infinity series with harmonies based on the natural overtone and undertone spectrums. In "Turn" for piano solo (1973), the overtone and undertone series are for the first time distributed in time, though a broken chord technique as in the Baroque period, hence the title. "Turn" was completely taken to form the piano part of "Spell", and here initially the piano alone performs steadily, with violin or cello occasionally joining in and floating over the piano. The first half, with its eerie pointilism, can sound like so much undigested raw material, a reason I don't rate "Spell" as high as other works from the period though I recognize its importance in new music. Nonetheless, the second half, which breaks free of any homogeny and roams through several soundscapes, is fine listening. There are romantic keyboard sweeps, an expressive violin passage, even a humourous jazz-like bit.



"Spell" has been recorded at least once before, on a Kontrapunkt disc by the LINensemble. While I prefer the mechanistic phrasing of the LINensemble recording against the more supple go of Trio Ondine, the recording quality here in Trio Ondine's performance is much better. Unfortunately, neither recording uses Norgard's own tuning system for the piano, which gives a well-tempered tone in between G sharp and A flat, appropriate indeed for works like "Turn" and "Spell", based on a G-A axis. So, we still await that ideal recording of the piece, but Norgard fans should definitely pick this disc up.



Next to Norgard's revolutionary piece, the remaining four works seem conventional indeed. Vagn Holmboe is represented by two piano trios twenty years apart. The Piano Trio op. 64 (1954) follows the Nordic tradition with its strong melodies and uncertain tonalities. The four movements of "Nuigen" for piano trio op. 129 (1976) are variations and developments based on a vaguely folkloristic theme hammered out at the beginning, with two slow intermezzi for the two strings. Carl Nielsen's Piano Trio No. 1 (1883) is apparently the third work the composer ever wrote, while still a regimental musician in Odense. I must admit I don't find Nielsen's work engaging at all. Anders Nordentoft a prominent younger composer in Denmark, but his piano trio "Doruntine" (1994) was the first work of his that I've heard. The simplicity and unity of the music--Nordentoft is said to eschew contrasts--and skillful use of dynamic make this effort very much like contemporary European jazz."