Johan HAMMERTH (b.1953)
Piano Preludes
No. 1 (1999) [4:53]; No. 3 (1999) [5:12]; No. 5 (1999) [6:41]; No. 7 (1999)
[4:40]; No. 8 (1999) [3:50]; No. 11 (1999) [3:50]; No. 12 (1999) [4:36]; No.
25 (2008) [3:48]; No. 26 (2008) [3:31]; No. 27 (2008) [5:43]; No. 28 (2008)
[4:16]; No. 30 (2008) [3:55]; No. 31 (2008) [6:42]; No. 32 (2008) [4:00];
No. 33 (2010) [5:31]; No. 34 (2010) [4:37]; No. 36 (2010) [3:38]
Stefan Lindgren (piano)
rec. no details supplied.
NOSAG CD 194 [79:25]
The Swedish composer Johan Hammerth confesses that he cannot stop writing
Piano Preludes. By December 2010 he was working on his 48th. His
creative compulsion can be traced to his hearing the Shostakovich preludes
and fugues. He tells us that in 1999 he wrote 24 preludes and that these “emanate
from four basic moods, with six different expressions. Some of them have an
affinity with each other.” Numbers 25-32 are for the left-hand and are dedicated
to the poet Thomas Tranströmer.
Hammerth’s idiom accommodates gently-stated dissonance and does so within
unadorned resounding textures. He presents his often obsessive and repetitively
patterned ideas in subtle mesmeric monochromes. The element of repetition
and the bare landscape allows the listener more easily to appreciate these
very serious pieces most of which run between 3:30 and 6:00. A good example
is No. 3 which has a nagging carolling note-cell around which other cells
are steadily swirled. The writing can be assertive, protesting and driven.
And when it is not following this path Hammerth tracks his concentrated way
through dreamy nocturnal territory as in the Chopin-reminiscent Nos. 25 and
28. It may be that there is more dynamic variation in this music than we hear
in this recording. Despite the Shostakovich exemplary fugal activity is not
part of Hammerth’s armoury - at least not here. The romantic Russian piano
tradition means a great deal to him and you can hear this at the start of
Preludium 11 and the truly breathtaking and slow-babbling 31.
He was born in Kalmar and educated at Stockholm's Royal College of Music (1982-1990)
where his teachers included Sven-David Sandström, Pär Lindgren, Daniel Börtz,
and Lars-Erik Rosell. His Piano Concerto (1989-1990) was dedicated to Sven-David
Sandström. His Piano Concerto No. 2 (1993-1995) was premiered by Bengt-Åke
Lundin. While the piano is at the core of his creativity he has said that
string instruments are his "musical lungs". His catalogue includes
three string quartets (1989, 1995, 2003), Symphony No. 1 (2000), Stockholm
Cantata (1997), Eruption (1987) and Confront (1985) for
orchestra and a series of concertos for violin (1987, 1994, 2002), cello (1998),
percussion (1995), Flute (1992) and bassoon (1986).
Pianist Stefan Lindgren, who is also a composer, here plays 17 of the preludes
(here termed ‘Preludium’) and does so with every appearance of total absorption
in these substantial pieces.. It’s a liberal assortment with the disc running
close to capacity. We are told there will be more to come in a further CD
later in 2011.
The second disc will be worth looking out for and I hope soon to hear his
orchestral concert music.
This is music that weaves a hypnotic spell. It is deeply romantic and seems
to speak of losing the self in contemplation.
Rob Barnett
http://www.johanhammerth.com
This is music that weaves a hypnotic spell – deeply romantic – losing the
self in contemplation.