Jón Leifs - Edda, Part 1. The Creation of the World (Hermann Bäumer)

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Composer: Jón Leifs

1. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 1. Young Were the Years
2. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 2. Ymir
3. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 3. The Giants’ Palace
4. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 4. Audhumla, Odin and his Brothers
5. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 5. Sea
6. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 6. Earth
7. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 7. Sky, Sun, Day
8. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 8. Night, Morning
9. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 9. Asgard, Ash and Embla, Midgard
10. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 10. Scherzo. All Men Aren’t Equally Wise
11. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 11. Wood, Summer, Calm
12. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 12. Winter and Wind
13. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World: 13. Finale. Ifing, Nine Worlds

Gunnar Guðbjörnsson, tenor
Bjarni Thor Kristinsson, bass-baritone

Schola Cantorum; chorus master: Hörður Áskelsson
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Hermann Bäumer, conductor

Date: 2007
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/composer/leifs-jon/jon-leifs-edda-part-i

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Review

Finally, one of the great visionary works of Nordic musical culture

Jón Leifs was a true original and his Edda oratorio cycle was one of his most original inspirations. Planned in the 1920s as a single oratorio on the Völuspá, it grew into an epic tetralogy – though without a hint of Wagnerian romanticism – covering the world’s creation, its gods, “Twilight” and “Resurrection” setting a patchwork text which reads like a compendium on each subject. Sadly, Leifs only lived to complete the first two parts.

The 13 movements of “The Creation of the World” (1932-39) tell of the giant mir and his death at the hands of Odin and his brothers and their fashioning of the Earth, Sea and Heavens – and the first men –from the corpse; the remaining sections then describe its nature. To relate this epic narrative Leifs deployed a huge orchestra with a large percussion section (including rocks struck with hammers), organ, ocarina, bagpipes and a quartet of lurs, reconstructions of ancient Viking horns. Yet the orchestration – occasionally unleashed to sensational effect – is mostly used with restraint, nowhere more so than in the huge eighth movement, “Night, Morning”, where the dynamics rarely rise above piano.

This performance, recorded in the wake of the work’s long overdue complete premiere in 2006, sounds thrilling, the BIS surround engineering catching the huge dynamic range, weight and delicacy of sound. Bäumer holds everything together with finesse and the orchestra play the atmospheric accompaniment marvellously. The main plaudits go, however, to the chorus who sing their extremely difficult parts with compelling conviction. Leifs’s slightly ungainly style may not be to everyone’s taste but his score is far more varied than first impressions suggest. Like it or loathe it, this is one of the recording events of the year.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Apr09/Leifs_Edda_bissacd1350.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Edda-1-Creation-World-Oratorio/dp/B000XXW9GC

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Jón Leifs (1 May 1899 – 30 July 1968), was an Icelandic composer, pianist, and conductor. Born in Iceland, he left for Germany in 1916 to study at the Leipzig Conservatory and graduated in 1921. During this period he also studied composition with Ferruccio Busoni. Beginning with piano arrangements of Icelandic folk songs, Leifs started an active career as a composer in the 1920s. In 1945 he moved back to Iceland, and became a fierce proponent of music education and of artists' rights. Most of his works is inspired by Icelandic natural phenomena and classic Icelandic sagas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3n_Leifs

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Hermann Bäumer (born 28 January 1965 in Bielefeld) is a German conductor. He studied at the University of Music in Detmold, then served with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, as both an orchestral player and at the podium. Since 2004, Bäumer has been General Music Director of the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra and has guest-conducted in Germany and abroad. He has recorded for labels such as cpo and BIS. From 2011/2012 season onwards, Bäumer has been the General Music Director of the State Theatre in Mainz.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_B%C3%A4umer
http://www.hermannbaeumer.com

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