Holter, Iver

Iver Holter – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in a minor, Op. 22

(b. Østre Gausdal , 13. Dezember 1850 – d. Oslo, 27. Januar 1941)

Allegro, molto moderato. p. 3
Romance, lento. p. 55
Vigoroso et vivace. p.71

Preface
Iver Holter was born in 1850 in the small farming and logging community of Gausdal, Norway, located c. 230 km north of Oslo. He began violin lessons at an early age and later studied medicine in Christiania (Oslo). By age 26, he had given up on the idea of a medical career and devoted himself to music. Initially his teacher was Johan Svendsen, the famous Norwegian pedagogue, composer, conductor, and violinist. Moving to Germany, Holter studied theory and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory with Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn from 1876-79 and in Berlin from 1879-81. Upon his return to Norway in 1882, he was named music director and conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra (Musikselskabet Harmonien) in Bergen, where his predecessor had been Edvard Grieg. In 1886, he became conductor and music director of the Christiana Musikforening, an orchestra that would eventually become the Oslo Philharmonic—a position he held for 25 years. During this time, Holter became one of Norway’s most influential musical personalities, premiering numerous works by Norwegian composers and introducing the music of internationally recognized masters such as Wagner, Bruckner, Brahms, Sibelius, and Nielsen. His compositional activities were limited; much of his time was spent as a conductor, music director, administrator, editor, educator, and author. In addition to his duties in Oslo, he regularly guest-conducted in Europe and Scandinavia. His compositional output included an opera (never staged or performed), songs, works for solo piano, choral music, a symphony, and two string quartets. In Leipzig and Berlin, he had studied classical formal traditions infused with Mendelsohn and Schumann’s early romantic harmonic and melodic practices. These became the hallmarks of his compositional style. There are subtle influences of Norwegian nationalism in his music, but not as overtly prominent as found in Edvard Grieg or Holter’s mentor Johan Svendsen. …

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