Ole Hjellemo: Orchestral Works

“…Hjellemo hailed from Dovre in the centre of Norway... From early on he was exposed to the country’s rich folk music tradition. Musical talent manifested itself early and he learned to play the violin. Aged 20 he relocated to Kristiania, now Oslo. The only door open to him at the time was to join the army as a way of learning music. Eventually he could play several instruments including wind, percussion and piano. He directed the Dombås Music Society from 1895 to 1906. As time passed he was able to study under Gudbrand Bøhn and Iver Holter. He played the violin in orchestras, and retired from the army in 1930. From 1919 to 1932 he taught violin, harmony, and composition at the Oslo Conservatory. He died in Oslo in 1938.

The earliest work here in the Second Symphony in B minor, written between 1922-1926. Hjellemo’s First Symphony of 1912 had been disparaged by the critics, hence the lapse of some ten years… Scored for large orchestra, it was premiered in 1926. It’s an epic and ambitious work which struts out with confidence and depicts a mountain climb in Norway. The opening movement seems inspired by the mountainous landscapes that surrounded him, and some of the brass sections remind me of Wagner. Everything appears writ large. A much less grandiose slow movement follows. The composer described it as “mist and emerging sunshine through skies”. The disposition is mysterious, lyrical and elemental, with some glorious pastoral whispers from the woodwind. The third movement… which contrasts moments of invigorating freshness with more solemn moments....
The first mention of the Violin Concerto is on a concert programme in May 1934...The opening movement… inhabits sunny pastures and exudes a comforting warmth. The Andante has a melancholic introspection. I find it the most interesting and finest of the three movements. It employs some vivid colourful orchestration, around which Christopher Tun Andersen weaves a luminous web of sound. The finale follows without a break…
The Norsk Caprice was premiered in June 1936 and was graced with several performances after the composer’s death… It’s based on a traditional Norwegian Halling, which is a folk dance. The fact that Hjellemo was a violinist himself is reflected in the virtuoso writing of the solo part… It’s an attractive score of catchy rhythms, with plenty of swirl and swing.

All three of these rare works are superbly recorded and receive excellent and persuasive performances. As is the norm with Sterling, they are spectacularly well documented. The liner notes are written by the conductor of these works, Jørn Fossheim. Don’t miss this disc if you are well disposed to tonally pleasing late Romantic music."Full review here

Stephen Greenbank

"…The Violin Concerto (1933)…At 18 minutes it’s compact in the extreme and formally odd with a first movement longer than the other two combined. The violin pitches in from the start and begins a rather peripatetic journey…Dating from a couple of years after the Violin Concerto, the Norwegian Caprice is an essay in folkoric charm for solo violin and orchestra. There is much pirouetting over a somewhat generic orchestral wash…that manages to generate an open-air warmth…His… Second Symphony which was premiered in 1926…opens with misty evocations and herd-girl chants in the winds, before the strings take over with their own song. Rich lower brass appear as the music develops. The second movement is another nature study, focusing on sunlight….the music softens to Alpine verdancy and horn calls proliferate sinking to a contented close…

The booklet art is an appropriate and attractive painting by Harald Sohlberg (1869-1935)."

Full review here

Jonathan Woolf