Edvard Grieg Cello Works Hi Res

Edvard Grieg, arguably the most popular composer ever to emerge from the Scandinavian peninsula, made substantial contributions to the chamber music canon with his violin sonatas rather than with his works for cello: only one sonata for cello and piano (Op. 36) was written for this line-up.

1883 was a fruitful year for cello composition as Christoph Croise's new recording reveals. That year marked Edvard Grieg's return to composition after a period of conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Sonata in A minor, his only work for cello and piano. Also that year, Richard Strauss was writing for the same combination at the age of just 19, producing his Sonata in F. Gabriel Faure embarked on a cello sonata in 1880; only the slow movement transpired and was published and premiered as the stand-alone piece Elegie in 1883. Christoph's regular performing partner, Oxana Shevchenko, joins him in this beautifully balanced recording of works for cello and piano.

The record coverts two musical centuries, the nineteenth and the twentieth, presenting two composers who epitomized European music of that period: Edvard Grieg and Bohuslav Martinu. These two figures shared common ground in that lived through the final stages of German romanticism and used its influence in their own works.

After seven years of violin studies during his childhood, Åsmund Feidje founded the Norwegian experimental rock band RAIN in 1967. In 1969, the group was employed by the National Theatre in Oslo to take part in the pop musical Din egen vri (Your own thing). Ever since then, Feidje has worked primarily with theatre music, both individually and in collaboration with the other members of RAIN. He was permanently employed at the theatre in 1973, playing in numerous productions over a wide range of styles, yielding him countless experiences within several musical genres. He also played with the Terje Rypdal Ensemble, and would later co-found the contemporary music ensemble Octoband.

With "Røta", her debut Album on Berlin Classics, presented Ragnhild Hemsing on the violin and Hardanger fiddle their Norwegian roots, explores identity and the connection to your musical education.

Ragnhild Hemsing is thus not only an interpreter and representative of Norwegian musical tradition, but also preserves it and leads it into the modern age. In keeping with the pre-Christmas season, she dives deep into the musical tradition of her home region of Valdres on her new album "Vetra". Winter is the central theme in all her works. The word "Vetra" comes from the dialect spoken in Valdes and means winter. In addition, she has gathered a group of outstanding musicians around her, all of whom are also very familiar with Norwegian musical history.

Seekers after extreme landscapes and rugged coastlines are well provided for in Scandinavia – as they are in its music. On his new album, Sebastian Manz engages with the clarinet concertos of the Danish composer Carl Nielsen and Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. Both are well known for their elemental, abstract sound stuctures, summoning up the natural world of their homelands for listeners as if painting in sound.