Presents
Alf Hurum
String Quartet in a minor, Op.6
Alf Hurum (1882-1972) truly lived a charmed life. An extremely talented composer and painter, he was born in the Norwegian city of Christiana now Oslo. His father was a co-owner of one of Norway's largest tobacco factories, so money was never a problem for him. After briefly studying architecture, he changed course and took composition lessons at the Chrisiana Conservatory from Iver Holter and studied piano with Martin Knutzen. He then went to the Berlin Academy of Art and Music where he studied composition with Max Bruch and Robert Kahn as well as piano with Jose Vianna di Motta, a Lizst protege. He later went to St Petersburg where he took further lessons from Maximillian Steinburg, Rimsky Korsakov's son-in-law and successor at the St Petersburg Conservatory. In 1908, while in Berlin, he married the daughter of a wealthy Honolulu ship builder. The couple traveled extensively, spending a year in Paris where he studied painting from several prominent artists. Eventually, he returned to Norway for a few years and served on the board of the Norwegian Composers Association eventually becoming its chairman. He continued to travel, give concerts and compose until the 1920s, but at the end of the decade, he moved permanently to the United States and lived in Hawaii for the last forty years of his life. And although he served as director of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and even went on tours with it both in the USA and Europe, he gave up composing and concentrated on painting. Many of his paintings can be found in museums around the world.
His String Quartet in a minor was composed in 1912 and later revised 1916. He had the work published at his own expense. It was dedicated to Arve Arvesen, who at the time was considered Norway's finest violinist. Arvesen was also the founder of the Norwegian Chamber Music Society and helped Hurum with technical problems much the way Joachim did for Brahms. In four movements, the opening movement, Allegro non troppo e maestoso, begins with a series of powerful stopped chords in all of the voices, sounding of Grieg and Norwegian melody. Soon, however, the music races along in a flurry of chromatic episodes. The music is unmistably Norwegian sounding. Despite studying in Germany, Hurum said there was already too much German influence in Norwegian music. The exciting music is, from time to time, interrupted by tender, more lyrical episodes. The second movement, Scherzo vivace, is a very energetic kind of travelling music, conjuring up musical images, perhaps of a sled racing across a vast snowy panorama. Here and there, one hears hints of Impressionism. There is also a lovely and nicely contrasting trio section. Next comes a Canzonetta, andantino. sounding a bit like an old leisurely Norwegian folk dance. The marking to the finale, Allegro energico, aptly describes the music. It is unmistably filled with rustic Norwegian folk dance music, but as in the second movement, there are vague touches of impressionism.
In our opinion, this is a masterwork, certainly to be ranked with the Grieg. It goes without saying, it belongs in the concert hall and can be recommended to amateurs of a good technical level.
Parts $24.95
