Henning KRAGGERUD (b. 1973)
Equinox
24 postludes in all keys for violin and chamber orchestra.
Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra/Henning Kraggerud (violin and leader)
rec. 2014, Grønnåsen Kirke, Tromsø, Norway
SIMAX PSC1348 [73:08]
Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder (b. 1952) became an international
celebrity through his Sophie’s World (1991), which in 1995
was the world bestseller, translated into 60 languages and in 1999 also filmed.
The book Solitaire Mystery gave Henning Kraggerud the idea of a piece
based on the number 24. The story of Equinox begins in London, where
the narrator awaits a neurological diagnose. In the middle of the day he finds
himself in Greenwich Park, and from there is catapulted on a kaleidoscopic
journey to all 24 time-zones. The journey follows the circle of fifth from
C Major through the flat keys, and when the journey crosses the date-line
the music changes from 6 flats to 6 sharps.
In four concertos, each encompassing six time zones, we travel from Greenwich
to Greenwich, thus traversing all 24 keys. The music is expressive and accessible,
often beautiful and quite often picturesque. The Afternoon-Concerto
opens with highly romantic music, beautiful melodies and expressive string
writing. It is followed by a fast waltz, depicting Prague, virtuoso and dramatic
with a harsh dissonance before the short coda. The Alexandria movement has
a mild opening, followed by a jaunty dance. Then we land in Baghdad, light
and springy, but it grows darker and more intense, and then, almost attacca
we arrive in The Aral Sea. The arid environment inspires Kraggerud to a fugato
and some bittersweet musings – beautiful indeed. The afternoon ends
in Jaipur in India with a sweet andante growing ever more intense but then
relaxing step by step.
The second concerto – Evening – starts in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
It's jagged and dramatic relentlessly running through the hectic evening
life. Bernard Herrmann’s string music - why not Psycho - comes
to mind. We move to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, the world’s deepest
lake, and the hectic atmosphere is retained. From there to Hangzhou in China,
beautifully situated on West Lake. We feel that we are deep in Asian culture,
and Butterfly Lovers isn’t far away. Extremely beautiful. In
B flat Minor we come to Kyoto in nocturnal mood, and so, over to Sydney and
surely that's an inkling of the contours of the opera house? Riding
on a whirlwind we then arrive in New Caledonia.
The Night part of our journey begins in Taveuni, the third largest
island in Fiji. There we dance a hesitant tango, before we travel on to Mary’s
Igloo in Alaska: frosty and chilly surroundings but the warmth of the solo
violin is redeeming. Slightly limping we arrive in Tahiti before continuing
to Whitehorse in northern Canada. The horse is staggering and in the end indecisive.
In Santa Barbara in southern California the fireflies surround us while the
solo violin sings of comfort. We spend the night in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico
- the town is in ¾ mood.
Morning begins in New Orleans, the cradle of jazz, with intense rhythms
and snapping fingers, while next stop, New York City, is highly cultivated
– a string quartet in a Sky Bar. Via Manaus in northern Brasil we reach
Hvalsey (Whale Island) in Greenland with the best preserved Norse ruins. The
music is intensely romantic and Kraggerud’s solo playing is marvellous.
We experience our first contact with the old world, the Portuguese Island
of Flores in the Azores – the music is fast and joyous.
Last stop – A Minor at its most melancholy – is Horn (wherever
that is – West Africa?). The journey is over and we have visited all
24 time zones; not only that: we have also travelled in time back to the 1700s
and 1800s. Each movement forms a postlude to Gaarder’s text. As a finale
comes the Overture in C back in Greenwich, where we began.
Then there's the question of the meaning of the keys. Is there
some kind of consensus? Is B-flat Minor a dark key that lends itself to suicide
attempts? Kraggerud asks that question and several others in his notes, fascinating
reading no doubt, but those of us who don’t “suffer from perfect
pitch”, as one of my music teachers expressed it, are surely unable
to hear such nuances?
Be that as it may, I have enjoyed this journey through the time zones. The
music is varied, as my brief comments above may have shown, and I have not
so far read Jostein Gaarder’s book. There are some short snippets from
it quoted in the booklet. The playing of the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra
is excellent. The Arctic Philharmonic is the world’s youngest (founded
2009) and northernmost orchestra, based well north of the Arctic Circle. Henning
Kraggerud’s capacity as a violinist is well-known by now – I first
heard him almost twenty years ago – and it is nice to encounter him
now as conductor and composer. Equinox is a fascinating composition
to return to over and over again.
Göran Forsling
Contents
Afternoon – Concerto in C [20:39]
1. C Major (Greenwich) [3:21]
2. D Minor (Prague) [2:42]
3. F Major (Alexandria) [3:04]
4. G Minor (Baghdad) [2:39]
5. B flat Major (The Aral Sea) [3:21]
6. C Minor (Jaipur) [5:32]
Evening – Concerto in E flat [15:30]
7. E flat Major (Dhaka) [2:37]
8. F Minor (Lake Baikal) [2:11]
9. A flat Major (Hangzhou) [2:54]
10. B flat Minor (Kyoto) [2:57]
11. D flat Major (Sydney) [2:21]
12. E flat Minor (New Caledonia) [2:30]
Night – Concerto in F sharp [17:13]
13. F sharp Major (Taveuni) [2:43]
14. G sharp Minor (Mary’s Igloo) [3:53]
15. B Major (Tahiti) [2:08]
16. C sharp Minor (Whitehorse) [2:33]
17. E Major (Santa-Barbara) [3:14]
18. F sharp Minor (Puerto Vallarta) [2:42]
Morning – Concerto in A [15:57]
19. A Major (New Orleans) [2:47]
20. B Minor (New York City) [2:16]
21. D Major (Manaus) [2:50]
22. E Minor (Hvalsey) [2:54]
23. G Major (Flores) [1:49]
24. A Minor (Horn) [3:21]
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