Gunnar Johansen composed over 500 'tonal tapestries' or improvised sonatas, which he considered truly unique because they could not be repeated or transcribed.
Composer Biography
Gunnar Johansen, a Danish-born pianist and composer, settled in southern Wisconsin and became the first musical artist in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1939.
Composition History
Sonata XXIII by Gunnar Johansen was written in 1949 as a musical response to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's tripartite poem 'Trilogie der Leidenschaft' for Goethe's bicentennial.
Composer Biography
Gunnar Johansen studied with several important pianist/pedagogues, including Frederic Lamond (one of Liszt's last pupils), Edwin Fischer, and Egon Petri, who was Ferruccio Busoni's most important pupil.
Performer Biography
Solon Pierce, the pianist on this album, has performed in various venues across Europe and America, including Carnegie Hall in New York and Rundetaarn in Copenhagen.
Composition History
Gunnar Johansen's Sonata III, a wartime work from 1943, was originally part of a larger 75-minute work for women's chorus and winds with piano, the East-West Cantata.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Gunnar Johansen believed his composing was most influenced by Ferruccio Busoni's neoclassicism, known for its formal strength, and the 'nebulous qualities' of Alexander Scriabin.
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