<\/p>\n
Romantic violin music from Norway<\/p>\n
The works of Hjalmar Borgstr\u00f8m is experiencing something of a renessainse, and is about to be re-discovered. Violinist Jonas B\u00e5tstrand has already recorded his magnificent violin concerto to the enjoyment of the critics, and now the complete chamber music for violin and piano is ready. Borgst\u00f8m had a remarkable gift as a melody maker, well established both from the opera ‘Thora from Rimol’ (PSC1230) and the violin concerto and symphonic poems (PSC1311) \u2013 and he certainly makes full use of it in his chamber music. <\/p>\n
Jonas B\u00e5tstrand and pianist Helge Kjekshus have worked their way into Borgstr\u00f8m’s universe, discovering both a major sonata and several smaller pieces that together comprise his entire catalogue of music for violin and piano. Rarely performed \u2013 but certainly worth your while.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The works of Hjalmar Borgstr\u00f8m is going through somewhat of a renessainse, and is about to be re-discovered. Violinist Jonas B\u00e5tstrand has already recorded his magnificent violin concerto to the enjoyment of the critics, and now the complete chamber music for violin and piano is ready.<\/p>\n
Borgstr\u00f8ms Violin Sonata in G major, op.19 premiered in Christiania on 28 November 1906, with the violinist Gustav Lange and Amalie Borgstr\u00f8m at the piano. Romanse in E major, op.12, was published by Kistner in Leipzig in 1900, both in an edition for orchestra and one for piano. This Romance is dedicated to the Belgian violinist and composer Eug\u00e8ne Ysa\u00ffe, but whether or not he performed it, is uncertain. The three remaining violin pieces, Serenade, Elegie and Berceuse, are preserved in manuscript in the National Library in Oslo. It has not been possible to discover when they were written, but much points to it being during Borgstr\u00f8m\u2019s German years.<\/p>\n
Hjalmar Borgstr\u00f8m showed a talent for music early in his childhood, and all his life he has been closely bound up with words and literary text. It was therefore natural that it was a rather conservative cantata he had in his case when he came back to Norway after years of study at the music conservatory in Leipzig 1887-89. The works had a rather mixed reception in his home city and Borgstr\u00f8m, perhaps a little disappointed, went back to Germany where he lived until 1903. When he had again established himself in Christiania, his latest work Hamlet was the first he shared with the public, and they were in raptures. Borgstr\u00f8m definitely became a predominant figure in Norwegian musical life, both through his large-scale works and the authoritative literary and critical work he carried on in the daily press for almost 20 years.<\/p>\n
Jonas B\u00e5tstrands first encounter with Borgstr\u00f8m’s music came through a recommendation from the conductor Terje Boye Hansen. He began the slow and laborious process of examining the less obvious music of the violin concerto and became so fascinated that he began to work carefully trough the violin sonata, together with the pianist Helge Kjekshus. Borgstr\u00f8m’s ingenuity and personal means of expression surprised, and it is possible to discern his influences from Wagner and R. Strauss. The sonata is very well constructed and one sees Borgstr\u00f8m\u2019s passion for the late romantic tone poem. The contemporary counterpoint is present in the small violin pieces, but Borgstr\u00f8m gives way to a more winning and charming atmosphere. This is the intimate music for the home, not the high-flying ideas that demand large rooms and vaulted ceilings.<\/p>\n
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Rarely performed \u2013 but certainly worth your while.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[180],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-438","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-simax-classics","7":"product_shipping_class-cddvd-shipping","8":"uni_artist_tag-geoff-miles","9":"uni_artist_tag-helge-kjekshus","10":"uni_artist_tag-hjalmar-borgstrom","11":"uni_artist_tag-jonas-batstrand","12":"uni_main_artist_tag-jonas-batstrand","13":"uni_artist_genre-chamber-music","14":"uni_artist_genre-strings","15":"uni_artist_genre-world-premiere-recording","17":"first","18":"instock","19":"taxable","20":"shipping-taxable","21":"purchasable","22":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=438"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=438"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}