IDAGIO | Valen, F.: Orchestral Music, Vol. 1 - Symphony No. 1 / Violin Concerto 7318590015223

Featuring

Christian Eggen
Elise Båtnes
Stavanger Symfoniorkester
Olav Fartein Valen

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Composer Biography

From 1936, Fartein Valen received an artist's stipend from the Norwegian parliament for the rest of his life, allowing him to retire from his library work and teaching.

Compositional Technique

Valen developed his own atonal counterpoint style, drawing inspiration from Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, which came to dominate his music after he moved to Oslo in 1924.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Valen believed all music relies on a classical tradition, and that established forms and idioms could be filled with new content, rather than breaking with the past.

Interpretation

The conductor Christian Eggen undertook extensive research into Valen's sketches and short scores to reconstruct the works as the composer intended, as Valen often made errors in his final manuscripts.

Composer Biography

Fartein Valen, a Norwegian modernist composer, felt he had a special vocation, talent, personality, and sensitivity, much like his missionary parents who traveled to Madagascar.

Composer Biography

Fartein Valen, the composer, could read nine languages and spent a significant part of his day reading classical European literature, including the New Testament in Greek.

Critical Reception

After World War II, Valen became a role model for young Scandinavian composers, and his published scores were eagerly studied in Copenhagen and Stockholm.