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Topics - regriba

#1
Mention of the second volume of J. P. E. Hartmann's piano works on Danacord in another thread reminds me that the same label has just brought out another disc (double actually) of Danish piano music, that of Victor Bendix:

https://www.danacord.dk/frmsets/records/901-02-r.htmlrl

The sonata and the 8 pieces have been recorded before by Peter Seivewright on Rondo, but as fas as I'm aware the rest are first recordings. It is, of course, mostly short pieces, but I though I'd mention it anyway.

By the way, a new biography of Bendix has also just been published, where you can read about the notorious scandal surrounding the birth of his son, Victor Schiøler, who became one of Denmark's leading pianists. I see this has already been mentioned in another thread so no more about it here. Unfortunately the biography is only in Danish.
#2
A new recording of the three string quartets by Nancy Dalberg (1881-1949) will be released on Dacapo in September

https://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/udgivelser/kommende

The second quartet has already been recorded by Dacapo, but the first and third quartets are world premiere recordings. The music is quite clearly influenced by Carl Nielsen, as is to be expected, since Dalberg was a close friend of him and sometimes helped him out with scoring etc. when he was busy.

A new biography of Dalberg and her contemporary Hilda Sehested (another of Nielsen's friends and sometimes allies in his struggles against the Danish music establishment) will also be published shortly, unfortunately for most people here only in Danish.

By the way, as can be seen at the bottom of the webpage referred to above, Dacapo will also bring out a disc of chamber works by Emil Hartmann in November, but as yet there are no details of works.






#3
Recordings & Broadcasts / Niels W Gade 200th anniversary
Tuesday 14 February 2017, 07:58
I know Gade has been discussed quite thoroughly here, but still I thought I'd mention that, on the occasion of his bicentenary on 22nd February, Danish radio will broadcast a substantial number of his works over the next couple of weeks, both live and from recordings. The Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra will perform two of the large-scale works for chorus and orchestra (Comala and Elverskud), and at the "Holmen's Church" (the church of the Royal Danish Navy, where Gade was organist and even played at the service on the day he died), there will be a so-called "street party" (Gade means "street" in Danish) with performances of chamber, piano, vocal and organ music, much of which will also be broadcast. Unfortunately, right now the website of Danish Radio is being "tidied up" so I can't provide a link for the programmes, but there are some dates here:

http://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/klassisk/doedsmesse-og-gadefest-6-koncerter-du-skal-opleve-i-februar

#4
Composers & Music / Oscar Wilhelm Hylen, pupil of Berwald
Wednesday 18 January 2012, 11:50
In the Swedish downloads there is a string quartet by Oscar Wilhelm Hylen. Next to no information seems to be available on this composer in English, but there is a pdf in Swedish on musikforskning.se about Franz Berwald's pupils at the Stockholm Conservatory, among whom Hylen was one. Since the English summary at the end almost only concentrates on Berwald, I thought a summary on what the article says on Hylen might be of interest. Summary and translation are by myself, so apologies in advance for any linguistic blunders:

Oscar Wilhelm Hylen was born in 1846, the son of an instrument maker and piano tuner. He must have aimed for a career in music early, for when in 1867 a composition class with Franz Berwald as teacher was created at the Stockholm conservatory, Hylen was already a pupil there. He applied to get into the new class, but the board preferred a Ms. Marie Louise Öberg. However, after a short while she left the class to become a private teacher (she was later to teach the young Wilhelm Stenhammar), and Hylen was admitted. He seems to have made good progress, having both a piano trio and a "concert allegro for orchestra" performed at the conservatory concerts. But already in 1868 the composition class was disbanded because of Berwald's sudden death, and Hylen had to finish his education with less illustrious teachers.

After his graduation he made a promising start. The string quartet that has already been mentioned was printed and a symphony was performed in Stockholm twice in the early 1870's. The criticism was generally positive. He then wrote an operetta "The Two Misers", which was performed both in Stockholm and Gothenburg. This, however, seems to have been the high point of his career, for after that he only had small song printed in a ladies' magazine in 1879.

Sadly, things now went downhill for Hylen, probably because of alcohol abuse. In 1877 he seems to have "disappeared", because he was notified as missing in the churches. Two years later he was divorced, in the papers it says that he worked as chorus master at a theatre in Gothenburg. He probably stayed with his brother, who was an engraver in that town. But shortly after Oscar's divorce the brother went bankrupt and emigrated to America, leaving Oscar with further problems.

From then on Hylen almost disappears completely from sight. It is presumed that he made a living as conductor of a touring company, because three photos of him from that period exist, each taken in a different town. The photos show a tired, prematurely aged man. No one knows how and when he died, but in an 1886 census his ex-wife is registered as a widow.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hylen was soon completely forgotten. But around 1960 the Frydén quartet performed his string quartet, and it attracted a fair amount of attention. It seems that the download is of one of these performances. Nothing further seems to have happened, however, and I have been unable to trace any commercial recordings of Hylen's music. So it seems that the download is quite a rare document on a really unsung composer.