Vagn Holmboe

“'Concertos' is an excellent place to start a collection of Holmboe's music, a path that all true music lovers should take unhesitatingly...the quality playing of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and two fine soloists, this disc, even with the sub-hour running time, adds up to a must-have.” MusicWeb International, 17th June 2013

“The grandeur Holmboe elicits from his small ensemble and basic thematic material is a lesson in compositional craft, the creation of a whole (considerably) greater than the sum of its parts...Excellent performances, superb sound: you will not hear a finer disc this year.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012

“As with all Holmboe's music, there are rewards in store for anyone who delights in following lines of pure musical thought. Nothing is gratuitous or extraneous; nor can the musical character ever be completely taken for granted...musical conversation is Holmboe's strong point, as it is for the excellent players on this cleanly recorded disc.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

“Despite this music’s strong visceral undertow, it appeals at least as much to the intellect: it is highly crafted and, at first exposure, emotionally cool – yet also driven by the kind of passion often associated with Shostakovich.” MusicWeb International, 20th May 2013

“The Danish Radio Sinfonietta plays with crisp ensemble, excellent tuning, and phrasing that gives direction to the composer's textures.” 10/10 Classics Today

“These four sinfonias for strings (1957-62) can be played either as independent pieces or – in a very particular sequence – as a large meta-symphony, Chairos, in which the four movements of Sinfonia IV frame and interlock with the single spans of IIII.
Dacapo present, intelligently, both versions, each on its own disc.
Holmboe explained that 'Chairos means “time” in the psychological sense, that is the passage of time as we sense it', in contrast to measured time (Chronos). Sinfonias I-III all embrace the main elements of traditional symphonism in their unbroken designs, the first two adopting broadly a slow-fast ground plan, III the reverse. If IV's sequence of prelude, interludes and postludes suggests something lightweight, this is misleading, for it's a highly impressive structure; the movement titles are relevant mostly for the larger composition.
It's unclear when Holmboe conceived this unusual double-form. The expressive characters and relative brevity of I and III suggest that he may have had a larger design in mind at first, though II, at 19 minutes, the longest by far of the four, hints at a totally separate genesis.
However the music started out, the achievement of Chairos is splendid testament to Holmboe's near-unique skill as a composer in the 20th century. In its larger form, it evinces a freedom of line and spontaneity of incident that suggests the tyranny of beat and bar-line had been cast off, yet in reality all is closely argued and achieved by total precision of means. Koivula and the Danish Radio Sinfonietta embrace this dichotomy in the music's soaring lines (which in the highest registers can sound just a touch thin) and multi-faceted fantasy.
Dacapo's sound is of demonstration quality.
Strongly recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“In form the symphonic metamorphosis is an offshoot of the symphonic fantasia (but of a kind radically different from Sibelius's Pohjola's Daughter), each of these four very different from its companions. The vigour and luminous orchestration of the symphonies are present, as are many of the internal developmental processes, but not the level of integration. Holmboe's priorities here are unlike those of many others of his pieces, yet the music coheres perfectly on its own terms. Hughes is fully inside Holmboe's idiom, whether in the single-minded determination of Monolith or in the visionary Epilog, one of the composer's most searching utterances, prefiguring both the Ninth Symphony (1969) and Requiem for Nietzsche. This is extraordinary music.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The conductor penetrates the score of the Eighth with a particular sensitivity, and the Aarhus orchestra is equally persuasive in the Ninth, a dark, powerful work, among the finest Holmboe has given us...Every credit is owed to Owain Arwel Hughes and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra for their fervent advocacy of all this music.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“expressive, advocative readings from the all too under-exposed Ensemble MidtVest and Dacapo's bright, intimate engineering.” MusicWeb International, 17th June 2013

“If you are searching - in terms of music and its presentation - for exemplary craftsmanship, subtlety of nuance and a profoundly satisfying experience, you need hear no further.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

“the composer is not at his most compelling when writing for guitar, the idioms usually sounding slightly contrived in Scandinavian (and for that matter eastern European) hands, yet Jesper Siveboek's recital, with friends, is still a very pleasant way to spend a reflective hour or so.” MusicWeb International, 17th June 2013