The Complete Music to Fossegrimen, 1910 Nobel Peace Price Anthem. Two premiere recordings!
The choice of Halvorsen for the making of this music was self-evident. He had learned to play the Hardanger fiddle a few years earlier, and was so fascinated by the ‘slåtte’-tradition that he embarked on being the first in music history to use the Hardanger fiddle as a solo instrument with a symphony orchestra.
Simax Classics is now presenting all of the music from Fossegrimen for the first time on record. Arve Moen Bergset is soloist both on Hardanger fiddle and violin, in the same manner as the composer himself was during performances of the play. In addition Bergset sings the beautiful Torgeir’s Song, Per Vollestad contributes with Kjøkemeisterens Vise and Øyvind Blunck appears as the snapping Fossekallen.
The Nobel Peace Price Committee for the 1910 award to Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the second piece in this release. Halvorsen gives a display of his master craftsmanship when he combines the American ‘Star Spangled Banner’ and ‘Yankee Doodle’ with Norwegian folk melodies in this piece.
