COMPOSERS: Norgard
LABELS: Chandos
WORKS: Sinfonia austera; Symphony No. 2
PERFORMER: Danish National RSO/Leif Segerstam
CATALOGUE NO: CHAN 9450 DDD
Per Nørgård’s first two symphonies represent points on the learning curve that led to his Third (see Reissues). The early, three-movement Sinfonia austera’s debts to Sibelius are clear, but there’s an intermittent individuality amidst the Nordic gloom. No. 2 is full of the avant-garde gestures typical of its time; but Nørgård’s personalised use of serial techniques in the context of regular rhythmic repetition is already starting to yield music of structural and textural imagination. Persuasive performances. Keith Potter
Norgard: Sinfonia austera; Symphony No. 2
Per Nørgård’s first two symphonies represent points on the learning curve that led to his Third (see Reissues). The early, three-movement Sinfonia austera’s debts to Sibelius are clear, but there’s an intermittent individuality amidst the Nordic gloom. No. 2 is full of the avant-garde gestures typical of its time; but Nørgård’s personalised use of serial techniques in the context of regular rhythmic repetition is already starting to yield music of structural and textural imagination. Persuasive performances. Keith Potter
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:06 pm