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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.

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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

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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

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The prolific Danish composer Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996) has been a major concern of BIS for quite some time now. In all we have released 12 CDs dedicated to him and in particular to his orchestral works, including the complete cycle of 13 symphonies (re-released in a 6-CD box, BIS-CD-843/46). Besides the symphonic genre, Holmboe also favoured the concerto form. In his catalogue there are 21 works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra, and with this disc we have recorded a total of 11 of these works. The three concertos on the present CD are all part of the series that Holmboe initially called 'chamber concertos', reverting to the more conventional title 'concertos' mid-way. But still, the format is smaller than a full-blown, romantic concerto - both in terms of scoring (the Piano Concerto is scored for piano, strings and timpani only) and in duration. Written over a period of six years (1939-1945) the concertos for piano, clarinet and oboe show the various influences (Bartók, neo-classicism etc) that the composer integrated in his own music - music that The New Grove Dictionary of Music describes as being of 'a rare continuity and quality of thought.' In order to guarantee the continuity of the BIS Holmboe series, the task of recording these works has been entrusted to conductor Owain Arwel Hughes and the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra; the same team that has been so highly praised for earlier instalments. (About BIS-CD-917, International Record Review wrote: 'As his BIS cycle of the symphonies has shown, Owain Arwel Hughes and his fine Aalborg musicians are completely attuned to Holmboe's world... Recommended with all possible enthusiasm.') The soloists Noriko Ogawa, Martin Fröst and Gordon Hunt will be known for their many and varied BIS recordings. And to round off the disc is a rarity: a setting of Psalm 32, Beatus Parvo, for choir and orchestra, composed in 1972 and an example of the composer's important choral output. (According to the Grove article quoted above, Holmboe is 'one of the few post-World War II Scandinavian composers to possess a natural feeling for vocal line and for polyphony.')

This set is available at a special price: 6 discs for the price of 4.

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