HOLMBOE Eco. Aspects. Sonata for Cello Solo. Quartetto Medico. Sextet • Ens MidtVest • DACAPO 8.226074 (70:28)


The music of Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996), in addition to these chamber works (of which this is Vol. 2), extends to more than 370 pieces including 13 symphonies. His music is generally described as neoclassical but operating within the parameters of an organic form of development. Holmboe described this as a process of gradual but evident change in the music “interrelated with many things that slowly seep in through a life lived with nature.” Thus his music tends to be quite serious, despite occasional moments of jocularity, but never off-putting. His earlier style was based on the music of his mentor, Carl Nielsen, then developed through years spent in the Balkans studying the folk music there.


These five works come from the latter stages of his career, the earliest of them being the Quartetto Medico of 1956. This piece was written for friends of his who were amateur musicians and professional doctors, which explains its lack of difficulty as well as the humorous titles of the movements (such as Andante medicamento, Allegro quasi febrile and the two “Intermedicos”). The wind quintet Aspects dates from 1957, but the other works are all later: the Solo Cello Sonata from 1968-69, the Sextet from 1973, and Eco from 1991.


The liner notes claim that there is a “Zen-like balance between intellect and nature” in his music, and I would concur. Oddly enough, however, I found that his slow movements were much more emotionally affecting to me than his fast ones. Either the Ensemble MidtVest doesn’t play these with enough good-humored brio, or it just isn’t in there to be brought out, but in either case I find his Allegro s to be peppy but lacking the boisterous good humor of Nielsen’s.


Of course, in the case of the solo cello sonata—played with tremendous feeling and elegance by Jonathan Slaatto—this is serious music indeed, thus the fast passages in the first movement are more in the nature of exposition and spinning out of the theme rather than an attempt at humor. Indeed, I found this to be the most interesting, and certainly the deepest, work on this disc, alternating its moods quickly but always logically. The primary key of the sonata is G Minor, but true to his proclivity for using Balkan folk music, Holmboe works primarily in modes and not in Western keys. Either Slaatto has a somewhat light and airy tone or the microphone placement makes it sound thus, but in either case I felt that the overly reverberant soundspace did not flatter the instrument in this work. That being said, there is little or nothing one can quibble of in either the work’s construction (I wonder if Holmboe was ever more mercurial in his change of moods than he is here) or its emotional impact.


Despite the overall lightness of tone (and texture) in the Quartetto Medico, this music is not really very jocular either. Rather, it floats like a cloud within the universe of Holmboe’s mind, to some extent like Debussy’s early chamber music. This is particularly true of the second “Intermedico,” marked Poco largamente , which is played by the solo pianist in a dreamy style and manner, while the finale ( Allegro con frangula ) starts with piano but is soon joined by the winds. The tempo is more of an Allegretto , not terribly fast, though the music soon doubles in speed as it swirls to a conclusion.


Holmboe’s Sextet begins with the solo cello, which is a bit deceiving, as well as in a slowish tempo that soon picks up. Again, the music is slightly jocular but not really humorous, yet as in the case of all his music it makes a good impression. The Andante cantabile second movement seems to suspend time and place as the music simply hangs above one’s ears while listening, while the final Allegro molto coalesces musical moods into a typically quirky finale.


If this disc is your introduction to Holmboe’s musical world, as it was for me, I think you’ll be intrigued and charmed by it. If you haven’t gotten around to Holmboe’s chamber works but like his other music, this one is a must.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

After award-winning Langgaard recordings, the Nightingale String Quartet turns to one of the great unsung quartet cycles of the last century, that of Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996). Volume 1 in this new cycle takes in the composer’s first published quartet, his momentum-fueled Quartet No. 3 and his taut Quartet No. 15 with its pathos-imbued funeral march. These are fresh new performances that support the idea that the deeper you dig into Holmboe’s music, the more you find. Nightingale String Quartet is based in Copenhagen and is made up of Gunvor Sihm and Josefine Dalsgaard, violins, Marie Louise Broholt Jensen, viola, and Louisa Schwab, cello. All the members of Nightingale String Quartet studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where Professor Tim Frederiksen has been their faithful mentor ever since the Quartet was founded in 2007.

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REVIEW:

Vagn Holmboe’s 20 numbered string quartets constitute one of the 20th century’s most substantial and rewarding bodies of work in the genre. Collectors have come to know these compositions largely through the Kontra Quartet’s complete recorded cycle on Dacapo. The label now launches a new Holmboe project with the young Nightingale Quartet, whose Rued Langgaard quartet cycle set reference standards. In every way they match the Kontra’s technical polish, ensemble discipline, and textual integrity. Yet their interpretations sometimes differ.

For example, the Nightingale’s leaner spelling out of the gorgeously dense chords in the third-movement introduction of the First quartet contrasts to the Kontra’s massive and fuller-bodied impact. On the other hand, the second movement’s slithery Presto passages gain from the Nightingale’s faster tempo and lighter articulation.

Although the Third quartet’s five-movement “arch” form (slow-fast-moderate-fast-slow) owes an obvious debt to Bartók’s own Third quartet, Holmboe’s somewhat sunnier harmonic language goes its own way. It’s a toss-up between the Kontra’s intensely expansive, dynamically varied opening Lento and the Nightingale’s cooler temperament, brisker pace, and precisely calibrated attacks and releases. Some listeners may prefer the Nightingale’s supple scampering in the Allegro assai to the Kontra’s slightly heavier reading, yet the latter’s broader tempo allows the occasional “droning” bass lines to resonate more effectively.

My colleague David Hurwitz describes Holmboe’s late quartets as more complex but also more personal and concentrated, and that’s especially true of his three-movement No. 15. The Kontra’s slower unfolding of the fourth-movement introduction conveys a sense of mystery and otherworldliness that I feel digs deeper than the Nightingale’s drier reserve. But once the Allegro kicks in, the Nightingale’s gaunter, crisper approach better enlivens Holmboe’s knotty contrapuntal writing.

If this first volume is any indication, the Nightingale Quartet Holmboe cycle will complement rather than supersede the Kontra Quartet, and that’s all to our advantage. And to Holmboe’s advantage, of course!

– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler)

Thomas Jensen Legacy now at Vol. 20

There was no more unprejudiced or enthusiastic promoter of Danish music than Thomas Jensen. Twelve composers are featured here, in styles ranging from Romantic ballet to modernist oratorio. Nearly all the recordings are issued for the first time ever since they were originally broadcast. Taken together, they present a panoramic picture of Danish music in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Vagn Holmboe (1909-96) stands as one of the greatest 20th-century composers of string quartets, with a monumental series of 21 quartets demonstrating his distinctive metamorphosis method. Holmboe's vibrant and organic quartet works are profoundly rooted in a Buddhist inspired perspective on life, an outlook which, though he kept it private, led him to view all manifestations of life as part of a cosmic whole. Equally essential is the influence from folk music. This third volume of the acclaimed Nightingale String Quartet series captures Holmboe at the peak of his creativity, with his musical metamorphosis practice fully flourishing.

Erling Bloch He was born into a home where artistic matters held pride of place. His father was a painter and at the same time extremely interested in music; therefore, a musical education was a wholly natural thing for the young Erling. Already at the age of seven he received violin tuition and was made familiar with chamber music through the cellist Emil Robert Hansen, the brother of the pianist Agnes Adler, whose piano trio was to be of great significance for him. He entered the conservatoire at the age of fifteen, where already in 1922 he gave his début concert, and only one year later became a member of The Royal Danish Orchestra. Here he was active until 1954, when teaching steadily began to take up more of his time. He had taught at the conservatoire since 1946 and became a professor there in 1949. Here he was held in affection and admired by his pupils, and was musically a central force at the conservatoire until he had to retire at the age of seventy. After his retirement, he continued as an examiner. I met him repeatedly for many years at The Royal Academy of Music, where I was a member of the staff. He was always friendly, attentive, and witty-in short, a person whom we always looked forward to meeting.

Another welcome instalment in BIS’s distinguished Holmboe symphony cycle, contrasting the classically minded Eighth Symphony of 1951 with the later transparency and refinement of the Ninth (1967-8), dedicated to Nadia Boulanger. Powerful commitment from Hughes (dramatically responsive, toughly disciplined, grand, intimate). Fabulous orchestral playing. Spectacular sound.

-- Ates Orga, BBC Music Magazine