Grappa musikkforlag Sinding Songs, vol. 3

Four years after Per Vollestad started working on his thesis about Christian Sinding - the first performing doctorate at the Norwegian Academy of Music - Vollestad has succeeded in what he set out to do. The outside world has learned much more about this composer and his work, both through writings, a cabaret at Festspillene in Bergen on Sinding"s life and art, and the recording of 120 song — many of which have never been heard on record before. Here is the final volume in the CD-series.

When Edvard Grieg was asked in 1899 to point out the best young, Nordic song composers there was no doubt that Sinding had to be mentioned. "Particularly Sinding"s songs contain things of great importance. Some find him too Wagnerian, but this is only on the surface. Especially in his Lieder he is exactly - Sinding himself. I find his music to Drachman"s poetry particularly brilliant." Although Grieg does not want to describe Sinding as a Wagnerian, there is of course a strong link to Germany and German culture. He wrote close to 80 songs to German lyrics, and he lived in Germany from the 1870s up until World War I.

Not just words, but pure music

Around the turn of the last century there was in Norway a hard struggle between the Danish-inspired language "bokmaal" and the constructed-from-various-Norwegian-dialects new "landsmaal". The former conservative, the latter more radical. After having written music mostly to German and Danish poetry up until now, Sinding was won over to the "landsmaal"-side when he realised the singing qualities of this dialect-inspired tongue. Poet Ivar Mortensson says the songs from then on flowed out of Sinding"s pen like "the brook down the hillside".

Finally out into the light

In his own day Sinding was one of the most well known composers in Norway, but after his death in 1941 the interest for both man and music vanished. The composer himself is much to blame; all his life he burnt manuscripts and papers that might be of interest to posterity. It certainly did not do things better when he eight weeks before his death became a member of the Norwegian Nazi Party (NS). What the public did not know was that he at this stage had regarded himself as "beside himself" and "not accountable" for a long time, in addition to being almost deaf since 1937. Per Vollestad"s work has shed a new light on this composer, and hearing his songs has posed the question: how is it possible for Norway to sit on such a treasure for so many years without enjoying it?

Per Vollestad

• www.vollestad.com

Download Press Kit

Release:

26.07.2004
EAN:

7033662011964
Catalog Number:

PSC1196
Price Category:

1CDK

Lieder | Norwegian

- Particularly Sinding"s songs contain things of great importance. Some find him too Wagnerian, but this is only on the surface. Especially in his Lieder he is exactly - Sinding himself. I find his music to Drachman"s poetry particularly brilliant. [Edvard Grieg]