Search - Niels Viggo Bentzon, Ole Schmidt, Århus Symphony Orchestra :: Bentzon:Symphony Nos.3 & 4

Niels Viggo Bentzon, Danish Master

Thomas F. Bertonneau | Oswego, NY United States | 10/07/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Niels Viggo Bentzon's (born 1919) Third (1947) and Fourth (1948) Symphonies belong to the extraordinary resurgence of Danish musical life after World War II. Bentzon, a student of Vagn Holmboe, took up his mentor's "metamorphic" approach to composition; the "metamorphic" style derives the complete "matter" of a given work from a few basic "cells" - intervals and rhythmic pulses - typically, but not always, deployed in the first bars of a given work. The method has something in common with Schoenbergian dodecaphony, except that, in practice, it remains within the boundaries of identifiable tonality. The Third Symphony boasts another characteristic: It reflects Carl Nielsen's (also Holmboe's) preoccupation with Danish folkmusic. Indeed, the opening horn-motif of the substantial (quarter-hour) First Movement of the Third Symphony is redolent of the balladry of Denmark itself and of the "Danish" region of Southern Sweden called Skåne (Scania - whence "Scandinavia"). The melody is bucolic in feeling, but undergoes extraordinary transformations in the course of the movement, developing into powerful, quasi-fugal counterpoint. The horn section colors the entire movement, whose impression of strength and purpose, of vital process, is overwhelming. The middle movement explores quieter moods; the Finale returns to the exuberance of the First Movement, and in it the presence of Holmboe is apparent. The Fourth Symphony also contains striking passages, although it operates with fewer big gestures than the Third. Ole Schmidt knows the pulse of this music and delivers fine performances. There is a second installment of the series, with the same forces essaying Bentzon's Fifth (1950) and Seventh (1953) Symphonies. It is also worth exploring."