Johan Halvorsen
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| Johan Halvorsen | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 15 March 1864 Drammen, Norway |
| Died | 4 December 1935 (age 71) Oslo, Norway |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, pedagogue, violinist |
| Instrument(s) | Violin |
| Associated acts | Oslo-Filharmonien |
Johan Halvorsen (15 March 1864 – 4 December 1935) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist.
Born in Drammen, Norway he was an accomplished violinist from a very early age and became a prominent figure in Norwegian musical life. He received his musical education in Kristiania (now Oslo) and Stockholm, and was a concertmaster in Bergen before joining the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. There followed eight years in which he worked and studied abroad, first as a concertmaster in Aberdeen, Scotland, then as a professor of music in Helsinki, and finally as a student once again, in St Petersburg, Berlin, and Liège.
Returning to Norway in 1893, he worked as conductor of the theatre orchestra at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen and of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. He became concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic in 1885, and principal conductor in 1893. In 1899 he was appointed conductor of the orchestra at the newly-opened National Theatre in Kristiania, a position he held for 30 years until his retirement in 1929.
As well as theatre music, Halvorsen conducted performances of over 30 operas and also wrote the incidental music for more than 30 plays. Following his retirement from the theatre he finally had time to concentrate on the composition of his three great symphonies and two well-known Norwegian rhapsodies.
Halvorsen's compositions were a development of the national romantic tradition exemplified by Edvard Grieg though written in a distinctive style marked by brilliant orchestration. Halvorsen married Grieg's niece, and orchestrated some of his piano works, such as a funeral march which was played at Grieg's funeral.
His two best known works today are the Bojarenes inntogsmarsj (Entry March of the Boyars) and Bergensiana, along with his passacaglia and sarabande on a theme by Handel for violin and viola.
[edit] External links
- Johan Halvorsen — Beyond the Transitory
- Johan Halvorsen was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
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