Erling R. Eriksen

«Samme konsert ble innledet av Erling Ragnar Eriksen, som spilte utsnitt fra Bachs «Die Kunst der Fuge», og dette var en spennende programmert kontrast. Eriksens fortolkningsmåte skiller seg fra den emosjonsnære jeg har snakket om som de kunstneriske ledernes DNA. Eriksen former selvfølgelig temainnsatsene i de flerstemte fugene med omhu, men her er en tydelighet i strukturen, artikulasjonen og balansen som legger mer vekt på intelektuell klarsyn enn intuisjon.
Å sette sammen Eriksen og Ihle Hadland er en formidabel måte å programmere. Det blir som å «diskutere» hvem Bach var uten å måtte si et ord om ham. Det er å vise hva J.S.Bach kan romme og hva han kan bety.»

Magnus Andersson, Klassekampen

«Flott spill av Erling Eriksen»

«Det var et herlig driv over førstesatsen som har noe nesten dystert og inntrengende ved seg i strykerne helt i begynnelsen. Arabeskene i den langsomme satsen ble spilt perlende av Eriksen. Til slutt allegroen, utført med energi, fremdrift og med klar rytmikk. Overalt la vi merke til Eriksens utpensling av det polyfone (flerstemmige) hos Bach. Og han gjorde noen effektfulle dynamiske forskjeller. I det hele tatt var Eriksens spill i denne konserten storartet.»

Arnfinn Bø Rygg, Stavanger Aftenblad

Virtuosic in Style

Piano music by
Adolf Jensen -
enjoyed by
GEOFF PEARCE

'... romantic, strongly melodic and individualistic, but never recorded before ...'

I was pleasantly surprised by the music of German composer Adolf Jensen (1837-1879), who flowered in the mid Romantic period. This disc is one of a series from Toccata Classics, a company set up to record music otherwise neglected by the recording industry. If the quality here is anything to go by, I am certain that this company will do very well.

Jensen's Opus 44 set of Erotikon display abstract characteristics of some classical Greek dieties. To my ears they show influences of other romantic piano composers — in particular Schumann (who Jensen wanted to study with) and Brahms, and inevitably there are similarities with other composers of the period. The music is original, however, and the melodic and textural styles are all his own.

The short first piece, Kassandra, is melodic and lyrical but with quite a lot of changes of texture.

The second movement, Die Zauberin, is florid and exciting writing, the melody appearing in the extreme registers of both the treble and bass with the accompaniment occurring in the middle parts. The climax comes some time before the end and is then repeated in a more heroic Chopinesque manner.

The third piece, Galatea, is quite gentle and lyrical. The melody appears in the tenor part and it's accompanied by arpeggiated passages in the treble and bass.

I found the next piece, Elektra, strongly reminiscent of Schumann, and elements such as the tremolo-like accompaniment underpinning the melody made me think of Grieg. I wonder if Grieg was familiar with this composer's work?

Of the other three pieces in the set, Eros left the most lasting impression. This is strong and passionate music, a little like In der Nacht of Schumann in its lyrical moodiness. I think this is the composer at his best.

Deutche Suite, Op 36, shows the composer's keen interest in the eighteenth century keyboard music of Bach, Scarlatti and some of those immediately following them, such as Clementi and Galuppi. I played music of both those composers in my youth and I could sense the similarities of style. This is no pastiche, however. Listen hard to these and enjoy. The Sarabande stood out for me, with its grand and ornate gestures but showing how important space and silence is as a musical device.

So did the two gavottes, very different from each other, but with the second (a musette) finished off with the return of the first, as was often the style of the period.

These have an almost Respighi-like antiqueness about them, which is enchanting. I loved the final Gigue, a real tour de force, chromatic and always interesting, with the composer displaying his contrapuntal dexterity.

Three songs, arranged for solo piano by none other than Max Reger, are all lovely and show Jensen as a gifted composer of lieder. The standout piece for me is the last, 'Am Ufer des Flusses, des Manzanares ...', with its imitation of the strumming of the mandolin accompanying a singer. It's truly lovely.

The final Two Romances, Op 16, strongly suggest song, and in the first particularly, the melodic line can appear in any part, with the other voices accompanying with that florid arpeggiated writing wihich this composer appears to favour.

If you want to hear music that is romantic, strongly melodic and individualistic, but never recorded before, then you will enjoy this disc. The music is virtuosic in style, but never flashy or coarse and the pianist here, Erling R Eriksen, is to my mind exceptional, both in how he interprets this music, and also in getting around the considerable technical difficulties and making the music sound easy ... it's not! I'm looking forward to Toccata's second disc of Adolf Jensen's piano music.

Eyvind ALNÆS (1872-1932)
Four piano pieces, Op.4 (1895) [8.31]
Variations on an original theme, Op.5 (1895) [12.54]
Three piano pieces, Op.9 (1900) [15.35]
Romance in E (1906) [3.25]
Three morceaux, Op.32 (1921) [10.43]
Ten piano pieces on Norwegian folksongs, Op.39 (1923) [24.13]
Stemning (1923) [2.39]
Erling R Eriksen (piano)
rec. Lille Concert Hall, Bjergsted, Stavanger, 18-19 December 2007 and 15 March 2008
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0067 [75.27]

This disc of piano music by Eyvind Alnæs was released three years ago – it was reviewed by Peter Burwasser in Fanfare in September 2011. As the only disc in the catalogues giving a conspectus of Alnæs’s piano music it would be recommendable in its own right, but the excellent performances by Erling Eriksen and the superbly realistic recording give it value over and above that’ not that the music itself, with some exceptions, is always terribly original.

Alnæs studied in Leipzig with Carl Reinecke, who had previously taught Grieg, Svendsen and Sinding. Under the circumstances it is not altogether surprising that his earlier piano music here – the Four piano pieces, Variations on an original theme and Three piano pieces – tends to echo the sound of his older contemporaries. This issue gives us a very informative booklet note by Audun Jonassen. This is excellently translated by Martin Anderson. He commendably furnishes us with music examples to demonstrate the sometimes complex writing – and prodigious technique – that Alnæs employed in the Variations. There are also suggestions of other composers here: the Humoreske that closes the set of Four piano pieces has distinct pre-echoes of Rachmaninov’s Prelude Op 23/5, for example – but that was not written (or at any rate published) until some eight years later.

The Ten piano pieces on Norwegian folksongs had their origins in three volumes of Norwegian melodies that Alnæs produced during the years 1910-1922. The publisher, William Hansen, commissioned these volumes as successors to Grieg’s earlier collection. In his expansion of these movements Alnæs drew not only on his own arrangements but also those of Grieg himself, leaving the older composer’s harmonisations unchanged. Under the circumstances it is not surprising that the influence of Grieg is very dominant throughout. That said, Alnæs’s treatment of the melodies is sometimes more chromatic, with fuller textures, as Jonassen rightly observes. One is disappointed to find that Alnæs is not more adventurous with his material; Norwegian folksong had to wait for Geirr Tveitt’s massive collection of Hardanger folksongs to find a composer prepared to be more authentic and indeed experimental with these tunes. The tragedy which deprived us of much of Tveitt’s music – most of his manuscripts were destroyed in a fire – fortunately spared many of his folksong arrangements for piano.

However the Three morceaux published in 1921 are something different altogether. Jonassen surmises that Alnæs had been listening to Debussy. Although the music is only intermittently impressionist in feel, the use of whole-tone scales frees up the tonality to a considerable degree. The second movement, Jeux d’enfants, is particularly odd: Jonassen notes that “by accident or design” Alnæs quotes from Schumann’s Piano Concerto, but this quotation is preceded by another clear echo, this time from Mahler’s First Symphony. This leads one to suspect that the use of pastiche is quite deliberate and probably satirical, like Debussy’s quotation from Tristan in his Golliwog’s cakewalk. The little piece Stemning (Mood), published in 1925, shows the impressionist influences even more prominently; indeed, one might almost mistake this for a miniature by Debussy or Ravel. After this the return to Alnæs’s earlier and more classical style in the Three piano pieces comes as quite a shock.

As I have noted above, the playing by Erling Eriksen is committed and responsive throughout. We are I suppose unlikely to get another disc of Alnæs piano music any time soon, but this CD will bear up well to any future competition. Eriksen manages even the most bravura passages – Alnæs was clearly no mean shakes as a pianist – with aplomb. Those who relish the piano music of Grieg and Sinding will be delighted to make the acquaintance of this music. Alnæs may have been a musical conservative, but even if he lacks the sheer originality of Tveitt he remains a force to be reckoned with. His music is rightly treasured in Norway, and deserves wider circulation.

Paul Corfield Godfrey