Andreas Hallén

[Gerhard Griesel]

Amazon puts some CDs with works by Andreas Hallén into my list of recommended buys. I can't find any samples of his music there. I also notice that on UC there has not been a thread on him so far. I would love to read some discussion on him.

[Alan Howe]

It's always worth trying jpc.de to see whether they have any audio samples:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Andreas-Hallen-1846-1925-Gustav-Wasas-Saga/hnum/9101694
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Andreas-Hallen-1846-1925-Ett-Juloratorium/hnum/1586950

[petershott@btinternet.com]

There is very often a prejudice, frequently noted and challenged on this site, that off the beaten track composers might, at best, be 'interesting', but clearly can't be much good. For if they were good, the circuitous logic continues, then they would have withstood the possibility of neglect and would be well known to us.

Utter rot, of course. And in my view Hallen is a perfect example to counteract this ignorant prejudice.

Both these Sterling discs are extraordinarily good. He's sometimes referred to as the 'Swedish Wagner', for Wagner is, for good or ill, a dominant influence on his music. (Although of course you can't quite easily imagine Wagner composing a Christmas Oratorio!)

The orchestral music is wonderfully written, and the orchestral pieces from Hallen's operas make one regret that these are operas that one will never hear (at least in the opera house).

And both Sterling discs are excellent recordings. Hesitate not!

[edurban]

If you have access to Musica Sveciae MSCD 621, you can sample more than just orchestral excerpts from Hallen's operatic side...you can hear the whole Act III final scene from Harald der Wiking (1881).  It's about 30 minutes of music, and I was impressed, but after following it with the final scene of Tristan...let's just say the difference in inspiration was not flattering to the old viking, (to say nothing about originality.)  Of course the same might be said, imo, of the Wagnerism in Fervaal (D'Indy), Berenice (Magnard), Tirfling (Stenhammer), Mona (Parker), Mataswintha (Scharwenka)...well, you get the picture.  These works all have their good parts, but, in general, aping Wagner does not seem to have been a profitable path for men who could not match his musical and theatrical genius...

David

[Alan Howe]

Oh dear, I can't say that Hallén's music was a great discovery for me. Pretty derivative, I thought. Enjoyable? Yes. Worth hearing? Yes. Any more than that? No, 'fraid not.

However, I think I'll track down a copy of the Musica Sveciae CD. You never know; open mind and all that. Here are some audio samples:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hallen-Swedish-Rhapsody-Toteninsel-Harald/dp/B008BECU64/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk

[Alan Howe]

Well, the half-hour final scene from Harald der Wiking is as blatant a Wagner rip-off as I've ever heard. Great fun! I loved it!

[Justin]

Just listened to his Dammerungsschein (Twilight Glow) for the first time from the Sterling disc. Absolutely haunting as the night slowly approaches. It reminded me of Alfvén and Stenhammar, with deep string writing. You can hear the key change in the same theme later on in the work, symbolizing the darkness that has now overpowered the light.

[adriano]

"Die Toteninsel": Yes, Hallén is another composer who set Böcklin's painting "The Isle of Death" to music! The first version is that by Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen (1890), followed by Rachmaninov (1908), Max Reger (in his "Böcklin-Suite", 1911) and, among others, by Deszö Antalffy-Zsiross, Janis Zalitis and Fritz Hauser. Hans Huber, in his "Böcklin-Sinfonie", ignored this painting, of which the painter also produced various versions.

[Ilja]

In addition, there's Felix Woyrsch' Toteninsel, the first movement of his Drei Böcklin-Phantasien, Op. 53 (1910), recorded not too long ago by CPO.

[adriano]

Oh yes, of course, Ilja, sorry for having forgotten this! I like this cpo recording very much.
At the time I wrote the liner notes of the Schulz-Beuthen CD I did not know yet about the Woyrsch...

[Ilja]

I totally forgot, but Karl Weigl also wrote a piano piece based on Böcklin's Isle of the Dead in 1903.


For those interested in comparing the various musical interpretations, I've created a little (chronological) Spotify playlist.

[adriano]

Super, Ilja, thanks!

I just discover that there are some more listed in here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_the_Dead_(painting)#Music

The D'ANTALFFY-ZSIROSS organ piece can be seen and heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59B4GEFZ9LI

[Justin]

Would anyone know where one can find the libretto for his Ett Juloratorium (Christmas Oratorio), written by Annie Quiding-Åkerhielm?