Selim PALMGREN (1878 - 1951)
Sonata in D minor Op.11 (1900) [14:34]
May Night Op.27/4 (1908) [2:30]
Twenty-four Preludes Op.17 (1907) [39:09]
Henri Sigfridsson (piano)
rec. Järvenpää Hall, 17-18 April 2011 and 2 November
2011
ONDINE ODE 1192-2 [56:38]
Palmgren was already a proficient pianist when he registered
as a student at the Helsinki Music Institute in 1895. It is
thus not surprising that the bulk of his output is to be found
in his music for piano and particularly in his five piano concertos
(1904, 1911, 1914, 1926/7 and 1941). His style remained strongly
rooted in some post-romantic tradition of sorts with rare incursions
into some mild Impressionism. His Sonata in D minor Op.11
is his most extensive work for solo piano although it is fairly
compact. Moreover, as Kimmo Korhonen rightly remarks in his
informative notes, Palmgren's Piano Sonata was the first sonata
written by a significant pianist-composer, even Sibelius's slightly
earlier sonata cannot compare with Palmgren's. Although fairly
large Sibelius's output for piano does not include any really
important work, the bulk of it consisting of short pieces, some
of which might even be described as 'salon music'. Palmgren's
writing is completely idiomatic and this is clear throughout
his entire output for piano. Thus, his Sonata Op.11 is
a remarkably assured piece of music, not only as to the piano
writing but also the quality and memorable fibre of the thematic
content. It is obviously an ambitious work that achieves its
goal within a relatively short time span and with great formal
clarity.
The Twenty-four Preludes Op.17 were partly composed in
Italy where Palmgren had to seek refuge after having had an
affair with Maikki Järnefelt, who was married to conductor
and composer Armas Järnefelt. Palmgren married Maikki in
1910. However, this is not really important as far as the set
of preludes is concerned. The music is in no way related to
these events and is just some sort of summation of Palmgren's
piano music as so many sets of preludes written before and after
him. Of course in the intervening years Palmgren had somewhat
broadened his expressive outlook although the music still remains
firmly rooted in some Romantic tradition. As might be expected,
too, the preludes are quite varied and cover a fairly wide range
of atmospheres and the overall picture is somewhat uneven. Some
preludes still clearly hark back at, say, Chopin, i.e. at least
superficially. Some other, among the best as far as I am concern,
are laid-out “in folk style” and thus breath some
welcome fresh air. Some of these preludes, however, also have
a life of their own such as the twelfth prelude Meri
(“The Sea”) and the last one Sota (“The
War”). As a whole, however, Palmgren's Twenty-four
Preludes Op.17 are quite well worth hearing and I for one
enjoyed this fairly substantial set enormously.
The short May Night Op.27/4 is a good example of Palmgren
as miniaturist. This is a fairly simple but quite effective
vignette of great charm.
This is a very fine release indeed for Henri Sigfridsson plays
superbly, with commitment and impeccable technique and he obviously
relishes every ounce of the music. The recording is excellent
and Kimmo Korhonen's informative and detailed notes are yet
another asset.
In short this beautifully produced release should appeal to
anyone with a liking for superbly crafted music in a warmly
expressive Romantic idiom. I simply wish that the playing was
somewhat more generous by inclusion of some other shorter works.
Hubert Culot
A very fine release well worth investigating by all those with
a liking for warmly Romantic music.