Tveitt: Piano Concerto No. 5 / Variations On A Folk-Song From Hardanger

Featuring

Ole Kristian Ruud
Nils Anders Mortensen
Sveinung Bjelland
Stavanger Symfoniorkester
Geirr Tveitt

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Composer Biography

Geirr Tveitt, the composer, changed his baptismal name from Nils Tveit to Geirr Tveitt to be more Norwegian and individual, as part of a grandiose nationalistic project.

Composer Biography

Geirr Tveitt was not only a composer but also a formidable pianist, becoming the leading interpreter of his own music and often performing his piano concertos.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Geirr Tveitt's musical roots were deeply embedded in Norwegian folk music, particularly the tunes for Hardanger fiddle, a tradition passed down through his ancestry.

Composition History

Many of Tveitt's original manuscripts, including the score for Piano Concerto No. 3, were destroyed in a catastrophic fire at his family home in Norheimsund in 1970.

Interpretation

Tveitt frequently improvised and made changes to his scores, even immediately before concerts, leading to substantial differences between recordings and various editions of his works.

Composition History

Tveitt's Piano Concerto No. 3, 'Hommage à Brahms', was inspired by a dream where Brahms played music for him, which Tveitt then tried to transcribe from memory.

Composition History

The 'Variations on a Folk-song from Hardanger' was a musical sealing of the marriage between Geirr Tveitt and Ingebjørg Gresvik, a pianist who first performed his music publicly in Norway.