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Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Jón Leifs - Saga Symphony (Osmo Vänskä)


Information

Composer: Jón Leifs
  1. Sinfónia I (Söguhetjur), Op. 26 (Saga Symphony): I. Skarphédinn (from Njals Saga)
  2. Sinfónia I (Söguhetjur), Op. 26 (Saga Symphony): II. Gudrún Ósvifrsdóttir (from Laxdaela Saga)
  3. Sinfónia I (Söguhetjur), Op. 26 (Saga Symphony): III. Björn ad baki Kára (Scherzo) (from Njáls Saga)
  4. Sinfónia I (Söguhetjur), Op. 26 (Saga Symphony): IV. Glámr og Grettir (Intermezzo) (from Grettis Saga)
  5. Sinfónia I (Söguhetjur), Op. 26 (Saga Symphony): V. Tormódr Kolbrúnarskáld (from Fóstbraedra Saga and Heimskringla)

Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor

Date: 1995
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/conductors/vanska-osmo/leifs-saga-symphony

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Review

Jon Leifs (1899-1968) once averred “Wagner... misunderstood the essence and artistic tradition of the North in... a detestable manner” (Goran Bergendal, New Music in Iceland; Reykjavik: 1987). Many of his works – not least this First Symphony (written in Germany during 1941-2) – were conceived as a protest against that misunderstanding. Leifs’s stance was derided in his lifetime after isolated and uncomprehending performances. The symphony typically has an uncompromising, primitivistic sound-world, employing tuned anvils, specially made wooden drums (without skins, hammered by huge mallets), iron and wooden shields, rocks of differing sizes approximating different pitches, and replica Bronze Age horns (or lurs). Nearly 30 years after his death, enough of his output has received sufficient exposure for a tradition to evolve, at least in Iceland.

This is the first complete recording of the Saga Symphony (as it is commonly known). Those who own the 1975 Icelandic LP (never generally available in the UK), conducted by Sibelius’s son-in-law Jussi Jalas no less, will notice that Leifs’s depictions of five characters from skaldic literature were cut by roughly 15 per cent in an unsympathetic account delivering only a fraction of the composer’s vision. The Iceland SO of 1995 are better attuned, and a much finer band. Their reading under Osmo Vanska, in a recording of astonishing clarity, is nothing short of revelatory.

It must be conceded that there is little conventional development or counterpoint, but however brusque or awkward it all seems (echoes of critical misperceptions of Havergal Brian or Ives here), Saga Symphony is extremely effective, as the scherzo, “Bjorn behind Kari”, or the nightmarish intermezzo, “Glamr og Grettir”, manifestly confirm. This issue is a massive act of restitution, both for its much-maligned composer and the culture – which is not nearly so remote as it might seem – that produced him. An essential buy.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Aug01/LeifsSaga.htm
http://www.flyinginkpot.com/2000/12/inkpot88-classical-music-reviews-leifs-saga-symphony-iceland-symphony-orchestravanska-bis/
http://www.amazon.com/J%C3%B3n-Leifs-Saga-Symphony/dp/B0000016MO

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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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Osmo Vänskä (born 28 February 1953, Sääminki, Finland) is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist and composer. He was an orchestral clarinetist of the Turku Philharmonic (1971-1976) and Helsinki Philharmonic (1977-1982), and during this time, studied conducting with Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy. Vänskä was chief conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (1988-2008), the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (1993-1996), and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (1996-2002). He has been music director of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2003. Vänskä has recorded extensively for the BIS label.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmo_V%C3%A4nsk%C3%A4

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4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Thank you for posting the works of this little known composer. And than you for using Mega.

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  3. Choose one link, copy it to your browser's address bar, wait 5 seconds, then click on 'Skip Ad' (or 'Continue') (top right).
    If you are asked to download anything, IGNORE, only download from file hosting site (mega.nz).
    If MEGA shows 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded' message, try to create a free account.

    http://aclabink.com/1eth
    or
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    or
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    Replies
    1. booklet
      https://mega.nz/#!UxMTkaZa!nP9AA3-xCytTUjC9AaBZP3_OAH0WIOQB2X_q1uQ9MTg

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