Fartein Valen

Olav Fartein Valen (born August 25, 1887 in Stavanger , † December 14, 1952 in Valevåg ) was a Norwegian composer .

Life

Fartein Valen was born on a visit to Norway to a missionary couple who worked in Madagascar . The family returned to Madagascar in 1889 and did not move back to Stavanger until 1893. There he took piano lessons and composed a few small pieces. In 1906 he began to study philology and music in Copenhagen, but soon dealt only with music. He studied music theory with Catharinus Elling in Kristiania , passed his organist examination in 1909 and attended the Berlin Music Academy from 1909 to 1911 , where Max Bruch (composition) and Karl Leopold Wolf (theory) were his teachers.

Valen did not return to Norway until 1916. He lived in Valevåg near Haugesund until 1924 , then moved to Oslo and from 1927 became head of the Norwegian music collection in the university library. He also taught music theory. After a winter stay in Mallorca in 1932/33 , which gave him great creative impulses, his compositional work was slowly being recognized by the public. Valen received a state artist pension in 1935, although his internationally oriented music displeased the representatives of the growing nationalism in the 1930s . In 1938 he therefore moved back to Valevåg, where he spent the rest of his life.

In his early works, Valen is still influenced by the German late romanticism , but he soon discovered the polyphony of Bach and Palestrina for his work. His investigations into consonances and dissonances led him to an atonal technique of counterpoint that was not based on the twelve-tone technique of Schönberg and his circle, although Valen also used twelve-tone melodies. His very independent dissonant polyphony works with small motif changes within the framework of the classical canon of forms.

Works

Symphonies
- Symphony No. 1 op. 30 (1937–39)
- Symphony No. 2 op. 40 (1941–44)
- Symphony No. 3, Op. 41 (1944–46)
- Symphony No. 4, Op. 43 (1947–49)
- Symphony No. 5 (1951, unfinished)
Further orchestral works
- Pastorale op. 11 (1929-30)
- Sonnets di Michelangelo op.17 No. 1 (1932)
- Cantico di ringraziamento op.17 No. 2 (1932–33)
- Nenia op.18 no.1 (1932)

Chamber music

String Quartet No. 0 (without opus number)
Violin Sonata op.3 (1916)
Piano trio op.5 (1917–24)
String Quartet No. 1 Op. 10 (1928–29)
String Quartet No. 2 Op. 13 (1930–31)
Serenade for wind quintet op. 42 (1946–47)

Piano works

Legend op. 1 (1907)
Piano Sonata No. 1 op.2 (1912)
4 piano pieces op. 22 (1934–35)
Variations op. 23 (1935–36)
Gavotte and Musette op. 24 (1936)
Prelude and Fugue op.28 (1937)
2 preludes op.29 (1937)
Intermezzo op.36 (1939-40)
Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 38 (1940–41)

Organ works

Prelude and Fugue op.33 (1939)
Pastorale op.34 (1939)

Choral works

Psalm 121 (1911) (without opus number)
Hvad est du dog skiøn op.12 (1930)
2 motets for women's choir op.14 (1931)
2 motets for male choir op.15 (1931)
2 motets for mixed choir op. 16 (1931–32)
Kom rn fra det høje . Motet for women's choir op.25 (1936)
O store konge, David's sønn . Motet for male choir op. 26 (1936–37)
Vaagn op, min sjael . Motet for mixed choir op.27 (1937)

Orchestral songs

Ave Maria op.4 (1917-21)
Mignon . 2 poems by Goethe op. 7 (1920-27)
2 Chinese poems op. 8 (1925-27)
Darest thou now o soul op.9 (1920-28)
La noche oscura del alma op.32 (1939)

Piano songs

3 poems by Goethe op. 6 (1925-27)
2 songs op.31 (1939)
2 songs op.39 (1941)

Web links

Fartein Valen in the Internet Movie Database (English)
http://www.farteinvalen.no
Comprehensive article on life and work

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Berit Kvinge Tjøme : Trekkfuglen. Composer Fartein Valen. (Norwegian). ISBN 978-82-7099-689-6

personal data
SURNAME	Valen, Fartein
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Norwegian composer
DATE OF BIRTH	August 25, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stavanger
DATE OF DEATH	December 14, 1952
Place of death	Valevag

[BKT-1] Berit Kvinge Tjøme : Trekkfuglen. Composer Fartein Valen. (Norwegian). ISBN 978-82-7099-689-6