Harald Saeverud - Symphony No.3; Violin Concerto

Harald Sæverud (1897-1992)

 Symphony No. 3; Violin Concerto

Ole Kristian Ruud / Trond Sæverud / Stavanger Symphony Orchestra

I'm not by any means an expert on Harald Sæverud's works, but I've come to like these two very much indeed. The violin concerto is the better-known. It's played here by the composer's grandson Trond Sæverud, and it's a wonderful piece of work with the composer's typically intricate interweaving of downbeat melodies, a tensile strength, in the end a feeling of warm welcome in this music that at first may seem rather forbidding. Hard to say who Sæverud really reminds me of most, he's one of those originals that I use as a benchmark when trying to define who other composers sound like. It definitely isn't Grieg or Sibelius! (though maybe a touch of Nielsen). For all the lack of instant appeal, this music feels to me like "the real thing".

The early third symphony was a piece that the composer wasn't satisfied with in its original form and this version is slightly revised, but not by Sæverud himself, who never got around to it, but as a performing edition prepared by Rønnes with Sæverud's sanction. It's the kind of complicated history that lowers expectations, but in this case that's completely wrong. This is a major symphony, 45 minutes and a thrill from its opening notes, the slow certainty of a composer who knows exactly the path he's carving and is prepared to take his time to get there. Tremendous playing by the Stavanger SO with Ole Kristian Ruud.