Delius: Norwegian Masterworks

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

Bo Holten and the excellent Aarhus Symphony Orchestra include here a collection of Delius works inspired by Norway, a country to which he was specially attracted. His first major visit was in... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 20th Nov 2002
Catalogue No: DACOCD592
Label: Danacord
Series: Delius Masterworks
Length: 65 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

October 2002

Editor's Choice

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

British Music - up to 25% off

Special offer ends: 08/05/2024

Delius: Eventyr (once upon a time)

Work length15:20

$4.00

$5.15

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Bo Holten

Eventyr, "Once Upon a Time": Eventyr (Once upon a time)

Track length15:20

$4.00

$5.15

Delius: 3 Small Tone Poems

Work length5:49

$1.00

$1.30

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Bo Holten

3 Small Tone Poems: 3 Small Tone Poems: No. 2. Winter Night (Sleigh Ride)

Track length5:49

$1.00

$1.30

Delius: 5 Songs from the Norwegian (arr. B. Holten)

Work length18:33

$5.00

$6.50

Henriette Bonde-Hansen (soprano)
Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Bo Holten

5 Songs from the Norwegian (arr. B. Holten): No. 1. Slumber Song

Track length3:53

$1.00

$1.30

5 Songs from the Norwegian (arr. B. Holten): No. 2. The Nightingale

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

5 Songs from the Norwegian (arr. B. Holten): No. 3. Summer Eve

Track length3:37

$1.00

$1.30

5 Songs from the Norwegian (arr. B. Holten): No. 4. Longing

Track length3:19

$1.00

$1.30

5 Songs from the Norwegian (arr. B. Holten): No. 5. Sunset

Track length5:00

$1.00

$1.30

Delius: A Song of the High Hills

Work length25:58

Album only

John Kjoller (tenor), Helle Hoyer Hansen (soprano)
Aarhus University Choir, Hummerkoret, Aarhus Chamber Choir, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Bo Holten

Reviews
Explore

Reviews

2010

Bo Holten and the excellent Aarhus Symphony Orchestra include here a collection of Delius works inspired by Norway, a country to which he was specially attracted. His first major visit was in 1887 during a summer vacation while studying at the Leipzig Conservatory, when he spent more than six weeks joyfully exploring fjords, moors and mountains.
Later that year his Leipzig contemporary, Christian Sinding, introduced him to Grieg, for whom as a Christmas present Delius wrote Sleigh Ride, a piano piece buried for many years that finally surfaced in the composer's orchestration in 1946 long after his death. It's a jolly little piece, not at all Delian in style, that by rights should have been a popular hit from the start; here it's given a delightful, lightly sprung performance.
The Five Songs from the Norwegian were written the following year in 1888 in gratitude for Grieg's intervention with Delius's father over giving him an allowance so as to devote himself to composition. Dedicated to Grieg's wife, they're charming pieces, setting poems by Bjornsen and others that Grieg himself had set, and are here made the more seductive in Bo Holten's sensitive orchestrations, with Henriette Bonde-Hansen the fresh, pure-toned soprano. The most ambitious Delius work inspired by Norway is The Song of the High Hills, the most substantial item on the disc. Though Beecham recorded it in the days of 78, it has been curiously neglected on disc when over its 25-minute span it offers some of the most hauntingly atmospheric music that Delius ever wrote, notably in the passages for wordless choir. Holten conducts a beautiful, refined performance which keeps the music moving, never letting it meander, building to powerful climaxes thrillingly recorded. With a wide dynamic range the sound is evocatively atmospheric, not least in the offstage choral passages.

Offer,Delius: Norwegian Masterworks

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue