Geirr Tveitt

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Geirr Tveitt

Geirr Tveitt (born October 19, 1908 in Bergen , † February 1, 1981 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian composer and pianist .

Life

Tveitt, who was originally called Nils by his first name and later renamed himself Geirr, came into contact with music, especially the folk music of the Norwegian farmers, in his childhood. However, his father had planned for him to become an architect, but Tveitt, who had already received piano and violin lessons in his youth, began studying music at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1928 (among others with Hermann Grabner ). In 1932 he left Leipzig and stayed until 1935 in Vienna , where he studied with Egon Wellesz , and in Paris , where Arthur Honegger and Heitor Villa-Lobos were his teachers. Then he lived again in Norway and chose an old country house on the Hardangerfjord as his main residence. From 1960 he worked for the Norwegian Radio. He also worked as a concert pianist and conductor and went on concert tours a. a. through France and North Africa . In addition to his work as a musician, Tveitt was interested in various languages ​​and painted. On July 12, 1970, however, the great tragedy of his life occurred: his country house burned to the ground and about 80% of his mostly unprinted works (i.e. 300 compositions) fell victim to the flames. After that, Tveitt never regained his previous productivity and could not recover from this severe blow until his death.

style

Tveitt was primarily based on Norwegian folklore and was also a collector of over 1000 folk songs. Therefore, the melody and rhythm of his works are clearly Norwegian. His music is based almost exclusively on the old church modes, namely the Lydian mode with a raised fourth, which is particularly characteristic of the music of Norway. Tveitt even believed that he could trace all church modes back to old Scandinavian scales, which he made public in his study Theory of the Tonality of the Parallel Key System, published in Oslo in 1937 . The harmony of his works also shows “Nordic” features (for example through elements such as fifths and fourths parallels), but here the influence of (French) impressionism becomes clear, which is also noticeable in the orchestration. Another point of reference are the Russian composers, v. a. Sergei Rachmaninov , whose importance is particularly evident in the piano setting. Overall, Tveitt is a relatively conservative composer who did not understand the great innovations of the 20th century . He mainly uses dissonances to create certain colors and moods. It is therefore not surprising that his fourth piano concerto, which musically illustrates the northern lights , is one of his most modern works, while the fifth piano concerto, which has no program, is much more conservative. However, his works convince with their natural freshness and vitality, originality and richness of timbres. The source of his works is problematic in some cases, as some compositions that have been lost in the fire have to be reconstructed on the basis of radio recordings, which is made all the more difficult by the fact that Tveitt constantly revised his works and therefore often several versions have survived.

Works

  • Orchestral works
    • Symphony No. 1 op.183 Christmas Eve (1958)
    • 100 Folksongs from Hardanger op.151 in the form of 6 suites, of which nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 are preserved
    • Prillar in G , symphonic poem op.8 (1931)
    • Nykken (The Water Mermaid), symphonic picture op.187 (1956)
    • Baldurs draumar (Baldur's Dreams), ballet (1938, lost in World War II )
    • Sun God Symphony op.81 based on the ballet Bardur's draumar (1958)
  • Concerts
    • Piano Concerto No. 1 in F major, Op. 1 (1927/28)
    • Piano Concerto No. 2 in E flat major in one movement Hommage à Ravel (around 1930, lost)
    • Piano Concerto No. 3 op.126 Hommage à Brahms (1932, rev. 1947)
    • Piano Concerto No. 4 op.130 Aurora borealis (1947)
    • Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 156 (1950–54)
    • Piano Concerto No. 6 (late 1960s, lost)
    • Variations on a Folk Song from Hardanger for two pianos and orchestra (1937)
    • Harp Concerto No. 2 op.170 Concerto eroico (1957)
    • Concerto for Hardanger Fiddle and Orchestra No. 1 op.163 (1955)
    • Concerto for Hardanger Fiddle and Orchestra No. 2 op.252 Three Fjords (1965)
  • Vocal music
    • Jeppe , Opera op.250 (1966)
    • Telemarkin , cantata for speaker, mezzo-soprano, hardanger fiddle and orchestra (1974)
    • Songs
  • Chamber and piano music
    • String Quartet (1935)
    • Piano sonatas, etc. a.
      • No. 20 op.139
      • No. 29 op.129 Sonata etere (1947)
      • No. 32 Hommage à Harald Heide (lost)
    • 12 two-part inventions op. 2 (1928–30)
    • 50 folk tunes from Hardanger op. 150 (1942–53)

Note: This list only includes preserved works. Due to the difficult source situation, it does not claim to be complete or accurate. In any case, almost only works are listed that are currently available on CD, as (almost) no information is available about other works.

Discography

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Tveitt, Geirr
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian composer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Mountains
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 1981
Place of death Oslo