Halfdan Jebe (1868–1937)

[tpaloj]

Halfdan Jebe (1868–1937) was a Norwegian composer, violinist and conductor. He received his education in Oslo, Leipzig, Berlin and Paris, and was a close friend of Frederick Delius.

In the early 1900s Jebe moved to Mérida, the capital of Yucatan region in Mexico. He became fascinated with Mayan culture, customs and folk music and began composing music in that idiom. After settling in Mérida he largely withdrew from Norwegian musical life, but was always greeted with interest and enthusiasm whenever his music was performed in his homeland. Jebe attempted to introduce music of Mexican composers in Norway, but these attempts did not meet with any lasting success. His legacy is nearly completely forgotten nowadays and there are no recordings of his orchestral music whatsoever.

His best known works were the operas Maya dignidad and Vesle Kari Rud, the overture Uxmal, two ballets based on Mayan legends, a children's suite/ballet La ardilla (The squirrel) and his only Symphony in A minor. He also composed other orchestral music including suites, festival music and an orchestral paraphrase on Sobre las olas.

For more information on Jebe, this book has the most complete biographical account on his life that I've been able to find: LINK. There's also this paper by the Frederick Delius society with a chapter on Jebe: LINK.


     Symphony in A minor

Jebe's Symphony in A minor bears the subtitle Desde el destino hacia el ideal (From destiny towards the ideal) and was composed in the memory of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a socialist Yucatan governor who was executed in 1924. Jebe, who was a friend and supporter of Puerto, tells in an interview that he was at a classroom in a nearby building and heard the gunshots when Puerto was shot. The event affected him deeply and inspired him to write this symphony.

Jebe's autograph(s) for this work are pretty messy, and he was haphazard in his notation in certain aspects. For example dynamic markings are rarely given for instrument entrances, and it's often left ambigious whether 1 or a2 instruments in a staff should be playing. Despite the difficulties of the draft-like sources I had to work with I think the results sound passable in Noteperformer.

Such a bizarre musical curiosity, isn't it! This was a difficult, but very rewarding project to study and put together. There's hardly any symphony from a Nordic composer written under stranger circumstances than this one. What do you think?

YOUTUBE

[Wheesht]

Thank you very much for making Jebe's symphony available, I look forward to listening to it. There was a documentary on Norwegian NRK TV, Jebe i Mayaland, from 2018, but it is no longer available. I did manage to record it, though.

[Ilja]

Hi Tuomas, thank you for this. "Peripheral" composers such as Jebe can be very interesting when they develop independently, away from major centers of influence. I know it's a cliché, but to my ears it does sound a bit like late Sinding with a Mariachi band (that opening of the Finale!).

[tpaloj]

Thank you very much for making Jebe's symphony available, I look forward to listening to it. There was a documentary on Norwegian NRK TV, Jebe i Mayaland, from 2018, but it is no longer available. I did manage to record it, though.

You're very welcome, Wheesht and Ilja. I also saw this documentary being mentioned somewhere but could not find and watch it. Was it subtitled?

to my ears it does sound a bit like late Sinding with a Mariachi band (that opening of the Finale!).

 

...Now that I listen to it, I'm noticing that Dorico appears to add an unwanted fade-in effect to start of each movement in this audio. I didn't catch it before. It's unfortunate that the way Dorico sometimes goes about its features is first of all not to inform the user and secondly having no way to turn said features off when desired.


But returning to Jebe, I'd be amiss not to include this timeless quote from the memoirs of a Mexican musician Daniel Ayala, which perfectly summarizes Jebe's eccentric character...

... he was always disheveled, dirty, very drunk most of the time, and many times he forgot his engagements as orchestra conductor or violinist. ... He lived alone in a small cottage – a country-house – provided by Sarita, where he composed his works with a surprising mastery, working almost the way real geniuses do. The natural disorder of the "Study," with sheets of music strewn on the floor, a bad odor from the jumble of wrapping paper bearing decomposed food – tins, mostly – and his overall appearance in his daily life gave him the appearance of a true "bohemian." Many times in a rehearsal or performance, upon opening his instrument case a bad smell assaulted the noses of his companions because along with the violin or viola, in the case there were also some bits of rotten raw meat, stored and forgotten as his food.

This symphony was performed in Oslo in 1932 as part of a concert featuring some of Jebe's works, alongside the overture Uxmal and selections from his ballet Caves of Loltun among other works. There are some cuts in the manuscript for the 1st, 3rd and 4th movements that I opted to take in this reconstruction. While I cannot be certain for the reason of these cuts, I'm guessing they were made for practical considerations for the 1932 concert either by Jebe or the concert's conductor Olav Kielland. Notably, in the 1st movement, the whole of recapitulation is cut (!).

[Wheesht]

I also saw this documentary being mentioned somewhere but could not find and watch it. Was it subtitled?

As far as I remember it came with SDH subtitles in Norwegian but I was not able to record these. I'm away from home just now and cannot check this.