EYVIND฀ALNÆS฀Piano฀Music 10 Pianostykker over Norske Folkeviser (Ten Piano Pieces on Norwegian Folksongs), Op. 39 24:13 1 No. 1, ‘Herr Gudmund’ 2:43 2 No. 2, ‘Valdrisvisen’ 2:57 3 No. 3, ‘Aasmund Fregdegjævar’ 2:33 4 No. 4, ‘Dæ va eingøng ein kung’e’ 1:56 5 No. 5, ‘Når jenta bare er konfirmera’ 1:14 6 No. 6, ‘Aa Ola, Ola min eigen onge’ 1:58 7 No. 7, ‘Sæterreisen’ 2:08 8 No. 8, ‘Lensmannen hadd ei graaskjimra merr’ 1:16 9 No. 9, ‘Jeg lagde mig saa sildig’ 3:27 10 No. 10, ‘Ho Guro’ 1:21 11 Romance 3:25 12 Variations sur un hème original, Op. 5: Andante, quasi adagio – Poco più mosso – Allegro moderato – Agitato – Tranquillo – Allegro – Strepitoso – Alla marcia, ma molto moderato – Pomposo 12:54 4 Klaverstykker (Four Piano Pieces), Op. 4 8:31 13 No. 1, Fædrelandshymne 3:31 14 No. 2, Folkevise 1:20 15 No. 3, Albumblad 1:50 16 No. 4, Humoreske 1:50 Trois Morceaux, Op. 32 10:43 17 No. 1, Étude 2:32 18 No. 2, Jeu d’Enfants 2:15 19 No. 3, Caprice 5:56 20 Stemning (Mood) 2:39 Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 9 15:35 21 No. 1, Impromptu 6:31 22 No. 2, Studie 2:59 23 No. 3, Novellette 6:05 24 TOCC฀0067฀Alnaes฀Piano฀Music.indd฀฀฀1 12/01/2011฀฀฀09:53:17 EYVIND฀ALNÆS฀AND฀HIS฀PIANO฀MUSIC by฀Audun฀S.฀Jonassen Eyvind Alnæs was born on 29 April 1872 in Fredrikstad, on the coast south-east of Oslo; Explore฀Unknown฀Music฀with฀the฀ his family came from Alnes, a fishing village near Ålesund on the west coast. Alnæs’ father, Toccata฀Discovery฀Club Johannes, had moved to Fredrikstad to take up the position of headmaster of Seiersten School Since฀you’re฀reading฀this฀booklet,฀you’re฀obviously฀someone฀who฀likes฀to฀explore฀music฀more฀ there; he also conducted the choir of Fredrikstad Church. The intention was that Eyvind, too, widely฀ than฀ the฀ mainstream฀ offerings฀ of฀ most฀ other฀ labels฀ allow.฀ Toccata฀ Classics฀ was฀ set฀ up฀ should become a teacher, but the pull of composition and of a life in music was too strong, explicitly฀to฀release฀recordings฀of฀music฀–฀from฀the฀Renaissance฀to฀the฀present฀day฀–฀that฀the฀ and in 1889 – the year from which his earliest preserved compositions date – he enrolled as a microphones฀have฀been฀ignoring.฀How฀often฀have฀you฀heard฀a฀piece฀of฀music฀you฀didn’t฀know฀and฀ student of the Music and Organ School in Oslo.1 Here he took lessons in piano from Westye Waaler, in organ from Peter Lindemann and in music theory and composition from Iver Holter. wondered฀why฀it฀hadn’t฀been฀recorded฀before?฀Well,฀Toccata฀Classics฀aims฀to฀bring฀this฀kind฀of฀ A concert in 1892 presented some of Alnæs’ compositions, among them a double fugue for two neglected฀treasure฀to฀the฀public฀waiting฀for฀the฀chance฀to฀hear฀it฀–฀from฀the฀major฀musical฀centres฀ pianos, a string quartet and several songs; the music was very well received. That same year and฀from฀less-well-known฀cultures฀in฀northern฀and฀eastern฀Europe,฀from฀all฀the฀Americas,฀and฀ Alnæs received a stipend known as ’Hougens legat’ which enabled him to travel to Leipzig. from฀further฀afield:฀basically,฀if฀it’s฀good฀music฀and฀it฀hasn’t฀yet฀been฀recorded,฀Toccata฀Classics฀ He had been warmly supported for the stipend by the composers Christian Sinding, Christian will฀be฀exploring฀it. Cappelen and Edvard Grieg, the last of whom wrote in his recommendation: ฀ To฀link฀label฀and฀listener฀directly฀we฀have฀launched฀the฀Toccata฀Discovery฀Club,฀which฀brings฀ its฀members฀substantial฀discounts฀on฀all฀Toccata฀Classics฀recordings,฀whether฀CDs฀or฀downloads,฀ Mr Eyvind Alnæs has shown me some of his songs, which show such a pronounced talent and such and฀also฀on฀the฀range฀of฀pioneering฀books฀on฀music฀published฀by฀its฀sister฀company,฀Toccata฀Press.฀ a serious direction in his art in general that I do not hesitate to predict a prosperous future if his talent is fully developed. I therefore warmly recommend him for any public support whereby this A฀modest฀annual฀membership฀fee฀brings฀you฀two฀free฀CDs฀or฀a฀Toccata฀Press฀book฀when฀you฀join฀ purpose can be advanced.2 (so฀you฀are฀saving฀from฀the฀start)฀and฀opens฀up฀the฀entire฀Toccata฀Classics฀catalogue฀to฀you,฀both฀ new฀recordings฀and฀existing฀releases.฀Frequent฀special฀offers฀bring฀further฀discounts.฀If฀you฀are฀ In Leipzig Alnæs received lessons in composition from Carl Reinecke (who was responsible interested฀ in฀ joining,฀ please฀ visit฀ the฀ Toccata฀ Classics฀ website฀ at฀ www.toccataclassics.com฀ and฀ for the education of so many Norwegian composers3) and in piano from Adolf Ruthardt, who click฀on฀the฀‘Discovery฀Club’฀tab฀for฀more฀details. wrote in an attestation: 1 Between 1624 and 1925 the Norwegian capital was called Christiania (spelled Kristiania from the late 1800s) ater the Danish king Christian IV, under whose rule it was rebuilt ater a major �re. For convenience the modern name is here given throughout. 2 Letter dated 17 April 1892, Letters Collection 544, National Library, Oslo. 3 His other students included Grieg, Sinding and Svendsen. 2 TOCC฀0067฀Alnaes฀Piano฀Music.indd฀฀฀2 12/01/2011฀฀฀09:53:17 As Herr Alnes [sic] has not yet completed his studies in piano to the extent where he can arouse the same attention as he does as a composer, it is urgently to be wished for the later material progress of this gifted young man that he be offered the means to continue his studies here.4 Unfortunately Alnæs’ material worries were going to last for some considerable time. Even when several of his orchestral works were performed in a concert in Leipzig in 1899, he found it difficult to obtain a good contract with a publisher, and he had to feed himself as an organist, first in Recorded 18–19 December 2007 and 15 March 2008, Lille Konsertsal, Bjergsted, Stavanger Bragernes Church in Drammen. But Drammen was not somewhere he felt able to stay and in 1907 Piano: Steinway; tuner: Jan Inge Almås he moved to Oslo where he had obtained the position of organist at Uranienborg Church.5 Indeed, Producer-engineer: Mark Drews Alnæs was plagued by serious financial problems throughout the early years of the new century, Booklet text: Audun Jonassen and money is the principal theme in his letters from this period to Iver Holter, which reveal that the Translation: Martin Anderson former teacher and student had become close and trusted friends. Indeed, difficulties with money Design and layout: Paul Brooks, Design and Print, Oxford were to play a role both in his artistic and his personal life. In 1902 Alnæs had become engaged Cover photograph of Eyvind Alnæs by Eivind Enger, courtesy of the National Library to Milly Thomas from Drammen, the daughter of a lawyer, but because of the uncertainties of of Norway his economic position he was not seen by his prospective father-in-law as a suitable match for his Background image: ‘Impromptu’, the first of Alnæs’ Three Pieces, Op. 9 daughter – yet in 1903 they were married nevertheless. In these years Alnæs followed in his father’s footsteps and became a choir conductor, first of the Drammen Songforening (the Drammen Choral Executive Producer: Martin Anderson Union). From now on choral music became an important part of Alnæs’ professional activity, both TOCC 0067 as a composer and, until 1931, as conductor. © 2011, Toccata Classics, London 2011, Toccata Classics, London Alnæs first attracted attention as a composer in, it seems, 1891, when a string quartet by him appears to have been performed by the Quartet Society in Oslo, and a public concert the next year repeated the quartet (now revised) and added his 4 Songs, Op. 1, a double fugue (now lost) and a suite for two pianos. A symphonic movement was well received when it was performed as part of his graduation concert in Leipzig, and may have made its way into his Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 7, premiered in Oslo on 5 March 1898.6 A set of orchestral Variations symphoniques sur un thème original, Op. 8, followed in 1899, but for the ten years from 1900 to 1910, Alnæs worked on a smaller scale, producing piano music, songs and choral pieces. His money problems meant he had Toccata฀Classics฀CDs฀can฀be฀ordered฀from฀our฀distributors฀around฀the฀world,฀a฀list฀of฀whom฀can฀be฀ to conduct a number of choirs, and he was also much in demand as an accompanist, not least to the found฀ at฀ www.toccataclassics.com.฀ If฀ we฀ have฀ no฀ representation฀ in฀ your฀ country,฀ please฀ contact:฀ 4 Letters Collection 544, National Library, Oslo. Toccata฀Classics,฀16฀Dalkeith฀Court,฀Vincent฀Street,฀London฀SW1P฀4HH,฀UK 5 A composer of an older generation, Agathe Backer Grøndahl, is said to have commented on Alnæs that he was too clever to Tel:฀+44/0฀207฀821฀5020฀฀฀Fax:฀+44/0฀207฀834฀5020฀฀฀E-mail:฀[email protected] be living in Drammen (quoted in Kirsti Wilhelmsen, ‘Eyvind Alnæs 1872–1932’, Norsk Musikktidskrit, No. 9, 1972 p. 6). 6 It is recorded with the Second Symphony on Sterling cds 1084-2. 22 3 TOCC฀0067฀Alnaes฀Piano฀Music.indd฀฀฀3 12/01/2011฀฀฀09:53:18 soprano Cally Monrad; she in turn championed his songs.7 Alnæs’ only piano concerto, his Op. 27, Audun Sannes Jonassen har en mastergrad i musikkvitenskap fra Universitetet i Oslo. Hans hovedinteressefelt er was completed in 1913, after a long gestation,8 and his Second Symphony, Op.