Gunnar Johansen (1906-1991)
Danish Folk Song (1928)
Lullaby for Lorraine (1943)
Sonata III (1943)
Twelve Etudes plus One Nos. 1 and 4 (1977)
Catenaria No.1 (1968)
Sonata XXIII (Trilogie der Leidenschaft) (1949)
The Lullaby my Mother sang (1936)
Solon Pierce (piano)
rec. 2020, Weber Hall, University of Minnesota-Duluth, USA
DANACORD RECORDS DACOCD908 [68]
Over the years I have managed to gather a few of Gunnar Johansen's recordings and there are many of them. He recorded the complete keyboard works of Bach, the mature Busoni and huge swathes of Liszt – not complete to the extent that Leslie Howard has done with every version of every piece where available but still epic in its scale. In addition there is a selection of 78s, several live recordings, including wonderful versions of Godowsky Strauss Metamorphosen, a copious amount of the piano music of Ignaz Friedman and his series of twelve Historical Piano Recitals that echoed those given by Anton Rubinstein and Ossip Gabrilowitsch. On top of all that he made recordings of his own music included his 400 plus improvised Sonatas recorded direct to tape. The reason this is not really heard is that much of it was recorded by Johansen himself in his own studio in Blue Mounds in Wisconsin and would need serious remastering before it was released; I remain hopeful that someone will take up this challenge as these recordings deserve to be heard.
Gunnar Johansen was born in 1906 in Denmark; Børge Rosenbaum, more familiar as Victor Borge, was a life-long friend from his earliest years. He studied with the great Danish pianist Victor Schiøler, a pupil of Ignaz Friedman, and later with the phenomenal Dutch pianist Egon Petri (1881-1962) and composer Paul Juon (1872-1940). After moving to San Francisco he appeared with conductors such as Pierre Monteux and Bruno Walter. In 1939 he was appointed Artist-in-Residence at the music school of the University of Wisconsin, the first musician to take that role, and between this residency and weekly radio recitals he was able to educate and entertain his audience with his vast repertoire, playing the complete Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin as well as many concertos; he was the first pianist after the composer to play Rachmaninov's fourth Concerto. He lived in Wisconsin until his death in 1991 and was survived by his wife of nearly fifty years Lorraine – they married in 1942.
Solon Pierce grew up near to the woods where Johansen lived and knew him as a friend and performer for the final nine years of his life. He has chosen two of the 31 Sonatas (notated as opposed to the hundreds of improvised Sonatas) as the backbone of the recital with a selection of other works spanning a nearly 50 year period. The earliest work here is a transcription of two Danish folksongs, In the deep stillness of the forest and I went out on a summer day, that Johansen completed the year before his move to San Francisco, recording it for Columbia in 1928. Pierce's sensitive performance compares well with Johansen's live encore performance from March 1972 (available on the University of Wisconsin's Gunnar Johansen Centennial Celebration, two CDs, no number). Then there are two lullabies; from his San Francisco years comes the beautifully poignant Moders Vuggesang – the lullaby that my mother sang that has vague echoes of Chopin and real warmth in its harmonies. The Lullaby for Lorraine was written for his wife the year after they were married and is as touching; I can hear hints of Grainger in some of the writing where the hymn-like melody is joined by a treble descant. If the harmonies and style here are quite traditional there is a clear difference in the grandest work here, the Sonata III written in four movements – the Roman numerals here are Johansen's own, adopted to distinguish the notated sonatas. Busoni is certainly an influence but some of the rhythmic style of Liszt and the keyboard textures of Rachmaninov can also be heard. The first movement is marked imperiously and it opens with a declamatory melody in the bass that is developed leading to a climax. A new theme appears, legato and serene over a fragmentary, skittish accompaniment. A reiteration of both these themes leads to a long build up based on a short repeated motif; in a way this is almost unusual in a movement that seems to delight in fragmentary, jagged themes or accompanying figures. The movement seems to end, disappearing into the high treble register before the low bass theme brings the movement to a close. The second movement is marked fugare; quieto and is scherzo like, a little reminiscent of Prokofiev in the finale of his seventh sonata in its drive, the fast repeated chords accompanying a slow chorale like melody and short thematic elements. After gaining pace the movement suddenly slows and its textures prepare the way for the third movement passacaglia. This unfolds in a series of ebbing and flowing variations until a trill passage signals a change and a cadenza like section leads to the tranquil end of the movement. The finale, ricantazione;coda (tragico, tenebrae) recaps the music of the opening of the sonata and the fugare before settling into a funereal march, characterised by distant thunder rolls low in the bass and the work closes in sparse bleakness. Like the sonata's predecessor, the Sonata II Pearl Harbor, this is a wartime work and much of the drama, anxiety and despair of that time can be found in its pages though this seems to be a more intensely personal work than the second with its hints of American popular music and the dies irae albeit they are wrapped up in tragically harsh music.
The other large scale work here is the Sonata XXIII subtitled Trilogie der Leidenschaft – trilogy of passion, a tribute in music both to the bicentennial celebrations of the birth of Goethe and his intimate three part poem of love and despair. Goethe wrote this when he was seventy two having proposed to the seventeen year old Ulrike von Levetsow and, perhaps not surprisingly, been turned down. The three movements of the sonata correspond to the three sections of the poem. Goethe based the first part on his novel the sorrows of young Werther and, as he does throughout the sonata, Johansen inserts selected lines from the text; the much lamented shadow in the line noch einmal wagst du, vielbeweinter Schatten is admirably captured in Johansen's angst-laden music. Darkness and restlessness pervade the movement and even in the faster sections it is the energy of despairing doubt that is suggested more than the vigour of lovelorn youth. The contrapuntal lines of the Élégie seem almost on the edge of resolving and part way through these lines develop over the compass of the keyboard with a melody line running between them. In the complexity of the writing I am reminded a little of Sorabji's music. The final movement continues the restless searching for resolution but soon settles into a barcarolle-like lullaby that seems to offer some relief if not contentment. The textures toward the end are remarkable with the slowly unfolding melody supported by a kaleidoscope of carillon effects.
Shorter works complete the disc, the song like Catenaria that almost seems to end mid phrase and two of the etudes from his set of twelve plus one written in the year after his official retirement. In the first of these late etudes there is a return to the writing of the early 20th century pianists with its cascading arpeggios and tonal harmony. The fourth inhabits the world of Busoni's elegies and though the technical demands are about colour and balance the purely physical difficulties are certainly evident.
This is a wonderful insight into the music of this marvellous musician who was revered, loved, even feted in his lifetime but as he didn't follow a solo career in the limelight has become, on the whole, a forgotten name. His music is serious, hugely imaginative, challenging and superbly effective for his instrument and Solon Pierce brings to it vigour, commitment, passion and an enviable technique, navigating its ever-changing dramatic landscapes effortlessly. I sincerely hope that more of Gunnar Johansen's music will be recorded; the music here cries out to be heard and there is much more to discover. To my knowledge only four of the notated sonatas have appeared on disc – I imagine Mr Pierce played these two from Johansen's manuscripts – and some of his works, like his fun Vamp in jazz and Viennese ballroom Walzer are notably different in style. The notes by Solon Pierce are detailed and informative and include several photos and a reproduction of the opening page of the third sonata.
Rob Challinor
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