Vagn Holmboe - Four Symphonic Metamorphoses (Owain Arwel Hughes)

Information

Composer: Vagn Holmboe

1. Epitaph, Op. 68 (M. 189): Allegro con fuoco -
2. Epitaph, Op. 68 (M. 189): Andante tranquillo - Più mosso - Lento - Andante -
3. Epitaph, Op. 68 (M. 189): Allegro con brio
4. Monolith, Op. 76 (M. 207)
5. Epilog, Op. 80 (M. 213)
6. Tempo variabile, Op. 108 (M. 254): I. Tempo incostante -
7. Tempo variabile, Op. 108 (M. 254): II. Tempesta -
8. Tempo variabile, Op. 108 (M. 254): III. Tempo calmo -
9. Tempo variabile, Op. 108 (M. 254): IV. Tempo piovoso e sereno

Aalborg Symphony Orchestra
Owain Arwel Hughes, conductor

Date: 1998
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/composer/holmboe-vagn/holmboe-four-symphonic-metamorphoses

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Review

PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ***

‘Monolith’, the word for a column cut from a single block of stone, and the title of Vagn Holmboe’s second Symphonic Metamorphosis, says it all. Unity was this Danish composer’s credo: unity in diversity that pursued a goal, amounting to the essential metamorphic experience. The surface will change. There will be embellishments. But beneath, it’s the same through and through. Rugged and shining with Northern light, yet also chilled by a cool inwardness, the music of these four Metamorphoses is strong on the palette, dry to the taste and with a flinty finish. In terms of mood, we might hear its relation to the urgent message of Vaughan Williams’s Fourth Symphony, but with shades of Bartók wedded to conjunct, diatonic inspiration. It’s inherent in the material chosen by Vagn Holmboe: the rugged opening intervals, for example, of the first Metamorphosis, ‘Epitaph’, composed in 1954 and dedicated to the Third Programme. But other elements enhance the effect. There’s a way of spacing woodwind unique to this composer, and a pointed use of timpani and percussion. The Aalborg Symphony Orchestra has the style at its fingertips, and so does Owain Arwel Hughes, already with Holmboe symphonic recordings to his credit on the BIS label.

-- Nicholas Williams, BBC Music Magazine

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Aug01/Holmboesymphmet.htm
http://www.flyinginkpot.com/1998/09/inkpot62-classical-music-reviews-holmboe-four-symphonic-metamorphoses-aalborg-sohughes-bis/
https://www.allmusic.com/album/vagn-holmboe-four-symphonic-metamorphoses-mw0001834341
https://www.amazon.com/4-Symphonic-Metamorphoses-Vagn-Holmboe/dp/B0000060H0

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Vagn Holmboe (20 December 1909 – 1 September 1996) was a Danish composer and teacher. Holmboe studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Knud Jeppesen (theory) and Finn Høffding (composition). He composed about 370 works, including 13 symphonies, three chamber symphonies, four symphonies for strings, 20 string quartets, numerous concertos, one opera, and the late series of preludes for chamber orchestra, as well as much choral and other music. His students included Per Nørgård, Ib Nørholm, Bent Lorentzen, Arne Nordheim, Egil Hovland and Alan Stout.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagn_Holmboe

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Owain Arwel Hughes CBE (born 21 March 1942 in Ton Pentre, Rhondda) is a Welsh orchestral conductor. He studied conducting under Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink and Rudolf Kempe. Hughes became well known after a rousing televised performance of William Walton's Belshazzar’s Feast, which won the praise of the composer himself. He later hosted a BBC series, The Much-Loved Music Show. Hughes has made numerous recordings, championing less well-known composers, including recording a complete cycle of the symphonies of the Danish composer Vagn Holmboe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Arwel_Hughes

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