Norwegian Saxophone Romberg | Aagaard - Nilsen | Habbestad Ola Asdahl Rokkones – Saxophone the St
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NORWEGIAN SAXOPHONE ROMBERG | AAGAARD - NILSEN | HABBESTAD OLA ASDAHL ROKKONES – SAXOPHONE THE ST. PETERSBURG NORTHERN SINFONIA FABIO MASTRANGELO – CONDUCTOR FOLLOWING A LONG AND TWISTED PATH... With this recording of three Norwegian saxophone Orchestra, led by Terje Boye Hansen. It was a fan- chaos, as we did not bring a stage manager! Also concertos finally realized, I am truly grateful for tastic experience for everybody involved! We were included in the repertoire was the brand new work my youthful ignorance. a handful of young soloists, while Martin contrib- Bør by Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, commissioned by uted with his own composition Vettír. I was capti- me for the occasion. I had become acquainted with From my current perspective, it started half a life- vated by his sound and melodic sense, and boldly his orchestral music some years earlier, and its im- time ago. It was the autumn of 2000 when I was 17 suggested a saxophone concerto. Would he be pressionistic, poetic layers made a strong impres- that I first approached Kjell Habbestad to propose interested? The first seed was sown of what would sion. The work Bør exceeded my expectations – that he write a saxophone concerto. For many later become The Tale of Taliesin. But although quite complex to perform, yet lyrical in expression. years, Kjell’s music, and how he combined the the music fell into place and we saw the contours folkloristic elements within a modern orchestral of a large and beautiful symphonic poem, it was Over the years since my initial dream was con- treatment had fascinated me. My idea was to bring impossible to get any Norwegian orchestra to be- ceived, I have experienced many obstacles and my saxophone teacher at the time, Jean-Yves lieve in our project. To our rescue came instead many successes. Luckily life does not follow a Fourmeau, to Norway to perform it. Both Kjell and the Akademische Orchestervereinigung Göttin- straight path! After all, the great works of Kjell Jean-Yves loved the idea, and so did The Com- gen in Germany – a very good and ambitious ama- Habbestad, Martin Romberg, and Torstein Aa- posers' Remuneration Fund who supported the teur orchestra, led by Lorenz Nordmeyer. In June gaard-Nilsen had been realized – albeit with vari- ...this recording is the result of a process that commission. In December of 2002, the creation 2010, we performed the concerto three times in a ous orchestras in several countries. With different has taken many years. It started as I entered of Un rêve Norvégien took place at the University row, and it was a huge success. The live recording grant programs from INTRO/Tromsø Municipality, high school, when I decided to become a classi- Aula in Oslo, together with the Staff Band of the of the concert was later broadcast on Norwegian SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge’s Cultural Business De- cal saxophonist. Already conscious of the sparse Norwegian Armed Forces led by Bjarte Engeset radio, and the largest publisher of sheet music in velopment Foundation, and Innovation Norway, amount of classical repertoire for my instrument, I – a beautiful moment, and a great achievement! France, Gérard Billaudot, decided to include the many possibilities were opened. Engaging Ulf started to wonder how I could contribute. Could I Nevertheless it would take another thirteen years work in their catalogue. It is surreal to think that Jensen, former director of the Northern Lights commission a new concerto? Who might be inter- before Kjell and I had the opportunity to premiere Martin’s and my project is now available to saxo- Festival in Tromsø, as my manager and coach, was ested in writing a (presumably) timeless piece of the version for saxophone and symphonic or- phonists all over the world! to become the real game changer. With his tireless music for saxophone and orchestra? If I managed chestra, together with the Orchestre Régional de efforts, inspirational attitude, visionary thinking, to convince a composer, would I be able to play the Normandie and conductor Jean Deroyer in Caen, Four years later, in 2014, I jumped into what would creativity, and large network, the music and I are finished work? Surely I could find an orchestra to France. And then again half a year later in St. Pe- be my most ambitious project so far: bringing the now on our way to many new adventures. But most perform it! How hard could it be? tersburg with the Mariinsky Symphonic Orchestra Archangel State Chamber Orchestra and Vladimir important, this project could not have been possi- and the conductor Ivan Stolbov in a sold-out con- Onufriev on tour to Norway and Russia. With Odd- ble without the support and understanding of my These questions, and many others, never stopped cert hall – what a dream! Halvdan Jakobsen of the Arvid Hanssen Festival to wife and family. spinning in my head. At least they could be an- facilitate, and with the support of both the Norwe- swered, if I only dared to try. Now, looking back, My first encounter with Martin Romberg was in gian Barents Secretariat and Arts Council Norway, I can say without a doubt that I didn’t really know 2007. Both of us were participants at the “Young we presented nine concerts in a row: Archangelsk, Thank you, all! what it would take, or where it would take me. I Peoples Concert,” where we were given the op- Svolvær, Sortland, Narvik, Finnsnes, Tromsø, Oslo OLA ASDAHL ROKKONES didn’t really know what I had gotten myself into! portunity to play with the Bergen Philharmonic (2x), and Saint Petersburg. It was perhaps complete NORWEGIAN SAXOPHONE TALE OF TALIESIN born in Ceridwen’s body as Taliesin. The witch threw based on the interval of a fourth. Bubbling triplet The works of Norwegian composer Martin Romberg him into the ocean but he survived and found refuge passages gradually emerge, making the listeners’ are mainly inspired by myths and legends from both on the coast of Wales. Soon he became one of the heads spin as if they were dancing a fast jig. All is folklore and literature. His symphonic poems are greatest Welsh bards of all time and made a name for vague and hazy, and the real magic begins as we based on such works as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion himself at King Arthur’s court. lead into the second part, The Cauldron of Ceridwen. and the ancient Indian epic poem Ramayana. Another Just like the potion brewing in Ceridwen’s legendary one of his tone poems, a concerto for alto saxophone The concerto consists of 8 parts, thread together by pot, the structured themes swirl about, disintegrat- and orchestra, is titled The Tale of Taliesin. Dedicated this tale: Taliesin’s Theme, The Cauldron of Ceridwen, ing and forming together again. to Ola Asdahl Rokkones, it was written in 2008 and The Escape of Taliesin, In Ceridwen’s Womb, On the has become one of Romberg’s most popular works, Sea, Taliesin at the King’s Court, The Horse Race, and Based on the same triplet passages, the third part, performed all over the world. Coda – The End. The tone poem is composed in the The Escape of Taliesin, represents a traditional or- tradition of French and Russian programmatic sym- chestral scherzo corresponding to the first climax in Taliesin is both a character from Welsh mythology phonic music from the beginning of the 20th century. the poem. The fourth part, In Ceridwen’s Womb, seems and a real historical figure: he was one of the first From the very first sounds, the listener is filled with to almost mock the beginning of the concerto. It has poets to write in Welsh. The mythological Taliesin is anticipation and wonder. Ample exchanges between the same deserted droning landscape, the same cello a wizard and bard, the first human blessed with the cellos and flutes together with the open fifths in the exchanges, however this time it is punctuated with The three compositions presented on this CD are gift of prophecy. He was the adopted son and serv- strings paint an epic landscape. Soon enters the saxo- chromaticism and glissando cries. The protagonist scored for alto saxophone and orchestra. All three ant to Ceridwen the Witch. According to the intricate phone, our protagonist, Taliesin. Romberg’s writing dominates this part, and nothing shall interrupt his were composed for and dedicated to Ola Asdahl legend, Ceridwen gave birth to Afagddu, the most here brings a new perspective to the unique tone qual- story. The texture becomes more diverse only by the Rokkones, one of Scandinavia’s most noteworthy hideous man in the world. She was planning to give ity of the alto saxophone; in this section, the sound next section, On the Sea. This marks another trans- saxophonists of his generation. The works belong him wisdom with the aid of a magic potion brewed in becomes almost pastoral in nature, mimicking that formation of the familiar main theme of the work. Al- to three contemporary Norwegian composers: Kjell a cauldron. The mixture had to be boiled for a year of a bagpipe or a horn. The sound grows, the theme though it sounds almost the same as in the beginning, Habbestad (b. 1955), Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen (b. and one day. She tasked her second son, Gwion, to becomes more dynamic, and the orchestral texture is it has lost all of its bucolic charm. Even the sound of 1964), and Martin Romberg (b. 1978). watch the cauldron. The first three drops of the brew like a painting of the landscape. The celesta, the sec- the solo violin, which before was rustic in nature, just from this cauldron would give wisdom, the remainder ond most prominent color in this work, joined by the barely elicits memories of the beginning of the piece.