If all the world’s a stage, then why not Norway? This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” vicariously tread the boards with incidental music by two of that country’s most prominent composers.
Following a lengthy apprenticeship as a violinist, in the course of which he performed in orchestras all over Europe, Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935) developed an interest in conducting. In 1893, the same year he was appointed principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, he worked as conductor of the theater orchestra at Bergen’s National Stage. In 1899, he became conductor of the newly-opened National Theater in Kristiana, a post he would occupy for the next three decades, until his retirement in 1929.
Following his retirement, Halvorsen largely concentrated on writing symphonies and his popular Norwegian Rhapsodies. Until then, his work in the theater, understandably, brought many opportunities to write for the stage. In fact, he composed music for more than 30 plays.
One of those was “Askeladden,” or “The Ash Lad,” a children’s comedy, based on Norwegian folk tales. Askeladden is an unprepossessing young man who succeeds where others fail, generally winning the hand of a princess and half the kingdom. Halvorsen actually composed the music for this particular play in his retirement. In fact, it is his last orchestral score.
Norway’s best-known composer, of course, is Edvard Grieg (1843-1907). Grieg’s suite from the play “Sigurd Jorsalfar,” or “Sigurd the Crusader,” is actually rather famous, yet we seldom have an opportunity to hear the complete incidental music. Sigurd I, King of Norway, reigned from 1103 to 1130. His reign is regarded by historians as a golden age for medieval Norway.
Sigurd became the subject of a play by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, for which Grieg provided music in 1872. The familiar suite was given its premiere 20 years later. Bjornson’s play concerns the brothers, Sigurd and Øystein, joint rulers of 12th century Norway, and the beautiful Borghild, whose love for Øystein is unrequited, but who herself is loved by Sigurd. The composer does his best to lend a third dimension, or at least some pageantry, to the historical tableaux.
Your ticket is reserved for Norway, incidentally. I hope you’ll join me for “A-fjordable Theater,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
