Pehr Henrik Nordgren
has composed a huge and varied output
that now exceeds the one hundred mark.
It includes a large number of works
for string orchestra, most of which
were written for the Ostrobothnian Chamber
Orchestra with which Nordgren has a
close working relationship. This release
is actually the second one from BIS.
Kangas and the O.C.O. have also recorded
several pieces by Nordgren for Finlandia
and Ondine. Nordgren’s list of works
includes some twenty concertos (violin,
viola, cello, trumpet, alto saxophone,
horn, piano and kantele). Some more
unusual concertante works may be added
to these: the Concerto for Clarinet,
Folk Instruments and Small Orchestra
Op.14 (1970) and the Autumnal
Concerto for traditional Japanese Instruments
and Orchestra Op.18 (1974).
The earliest piece
here is the Cello Concerto No.1
Op.50. This is in three movements,
though not in the usual fast-slow-fast
pattern. In fact, the first two movements
(Prelude 1 and Prelude 2)
are short, if contrasted. Prelude
1 is a calm, mysterious and song-like
Adagio while Prelude 2 is a tenser,
more animated Allegro. The third movement
Hymn - twice as long as the preludes
together - really lives up to its title.
It is a long song-like, often impassioned
melodic outpouring of great beauty and
expressive strength.
Nordgren’s music, much
like that of Vasks, often has a dark,
elegiac quality; which is not very surprising
from a composer who keeps repeating
that "composing cannot be kept
separate from life ... I see composition
as an outlet for the need to express
myself more fully than in speech, a
way of communicating with my fellow
human beings". Relief is often
brought through the use of folk-tunes
or folk-inflected tunes; another parallel
with Vasks. These surface here and there
to lighten the textures and sombre moods
of much of the music, although some
harmonic stringency often belies the
apparent jollity of these tunes. This
was already evident in the first piece
that Nordgren composed for the O.C.O.
- the attractive Portraits of
Country Fiddlers Op.26 (1976),
a recording of which is available on
Ondine ODE 766-2. This is also to be
heard in one of his recent works recorded
here, Rock Score Op.100.
It opens with a cluster-like, undulating
gesture abruptly cut short and followed
by a static section (long held notes
over snap pizzicato) in which the music
almost freezes. A massive crescendo
leads to a varied restatement of the
opening, also bringing in long held
notes but now more forcefully sonorous.
From now on, folk-like melodic fragments
alternate with varied restatements of
the opening clusters. The ever mounting
tension is often interrupted by variants
of the cluster gesture thus conjuring
up a sense of expectancy for what is
to come in the next section. The music
builds to impressive climaxes, the last
of them bringing the piece to its assertive
conclusion. By the way, the title does
not refer to any sort of Rock music
but to the fact that the Folk Arts Centre’s
new concert hall is built into the rocky
hillside and that the piece was written
for the inauguration of that hall.
TRANSE-CHORAL
Op.67 was largely written during
the composer’s stay in Paris. The title
calls for some comment: the capital
letters are the composer’s own will
"in order to emphasise that the
words really have relevance to the musical
content". The hyphen represents
the silent pause between the movements.
The nightmarish atmosphere and troubled
mood of the first movement Transe
are reinforced by the use of four "wrongly
tuned" (i.e. scordatura)
violins that create further unsettling
ambiguity. This actually happens about
halfway through the movement. As was
the case with the concluding movement
of the First Cello Concerto, Chorale
is hymn-like and more straightforward.
To some extent, it may be regarded as
the affirmative counterpart of the anguished
first movement.
As already mentioned
these performers have a long and close
association with Nordgren’s music. I
doubt that these vital and committed
performances could be bettered. This
is a very fine release and a most eloquent
sequel to BIS’s earlier Nordgren disc
(CD-826 - not reviewed).
Hubert Culot
Marko Ylönen (cello) 
