ALL MUSICAL ROADS LED TO LEIPZIG!

2014 is a good year to place Norwegian music in the context of the European cultural landscape. With what or with whom do the origins and development of Norwegian and Scandinavian music lie? Oslo Kammerakademi’s recording of works by Grieg and Svendsen in the company of Hartmann and Reinecke sheds light on this question. The majority of composers associated with what today is called Norway’s musical golden age travelled to Leipzig to study. Both Edvard Grieg and Johan Svendsen studied with the legendary composer, conductor, and pianist Carl Reinecke. The Dane Emil Hartmann was also in Leipzig for a brief period of study.

The compositions for wind ensemble of their teacher Carl Reinecke exude a richly-coloured, resonant, and romantic timbre clearly heard in his Octet. Emil Hartmann was familiar with Reinecke’s use of wind instruments when he composed his Serenade. Grieg and Svendsen did not themselves compose for wind octet, but their works were frequently transcribed. Oslo Kammerakademi’s bassoonist Trond Olaf Larsen, who has arranged the works of Grieg and Svendsen for this recording, uses Hartmann’s instrumentation.

Since its founding four years ago, Oslo Kammerakademi has made successful appearances at major festivals, including Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein in 2011 and Summerwinds Münsterland in 2012. “A titanic performance! […] The audience was fully aware of the exceptional quality and veritably boiled over with enthusiasm!” (Westfälische Nachrichten, 5.8.12) The ensemble’s debut album with chamber music for wind octet by Beethoven (LWC1036) received glowing reviews both in Norway and abroad, including five stars (of five possible) by BBC Music Magazine.