Holmboe: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 17 / Clarinet Concerto No. 3, Op. 21 / Beatus Parvo

Featuring

Owain Arwel Hughes
Noriko Ogawa
Martin Fröst
Gordon Hunt
Aalborg Symfoniorkester
Danish National Opera Choir

Vagn Holmboe

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Composer Biography

Vagn Holmboe had contact with Carl Nielsen, who, after reviewing Holmboe's first string quartet, helped him gain admission to the Conservatory in Copenhagen.

Composition History

Holmboe's Concerto No. 3, Op. 21, for clarinet and chamber orchestra, composed in 1940-42, has never been performed at a public concert.

Composition History

Beatus parvo, Holmboe's Op. 117 for choir and orchestra, was a commission for amateur singers and instrumentalists from Råå Musiksällskap in Sweden, influencing its simpler homophonic choral writing.

Historical Context

The reason Holmboe's Clarinet Concerto No. 3 was not performed was due to the death of Aage Oxenvad, the only Danish clarinettist at the time capable of doing the work justice, for whom Carl Nielsen also wrote his clarinet concerto.

Cultural Impact

Among the works recorded on this album, only Holmboe's Concerto No. 7 for oboe and orchestra achieved widespread recognition during the composer's lifetime.

Compositional Technique

Holmboe's Concerto No. 7 for oboe and orchestra, Op. 37, shows inspiration from Bartók in the arched (ABCBA) structure of its first movement.

Composition History

Vagn Holmboe's Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra, Op. 17, premiered in Copenhagen on March 5, 1941, with his Romanian wife Meta Holmboe as the soloist.