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Halvor Haug - Essay for Alto Trombone and String Quartet (1987)
(b. Trondheim, 20. february 1952)
First performance:
Oslo University Aula, May 19th 1987
Synnøve Hannisdal, alto trombone with a student string quartet
Halvor Haug grew up in Bærum (near Oslo). He learned to play the piano and the trumpet, playing the latter for several years in a local wind band. His theory teacher at the conservatoire, Kolbjørn Ofstad (1917 - 1996), recognised a creative talent in young Halvor and encouraged him to write some music of his own. This resulted in three small piano pieces which Ofstad asked him to orchestrate. Two of the orchestrations were performed in the Oslo University Aula by the conservatoire orchestra, thus giving Haug the first taste of what would become the main focus of his creative life: symphonic music.
Further studies in Helsinki brought him, in 1973, in contact with Einar Englund (1916 – 1999) and Erik Bergman (1911 – 2006) who where his teachers for a year. Bergman was one of the pioneers of modernism in Finland. Englund (one of the foremost Finnish symphonists in the generation after Sibelius) taught Haug mainly orchestration. These two impulses proved to be of great importance for the development of Haug’s artistic personality. In 1978 Haug received advice from the English composer Robert Simpson (1921 - 1997), another great symphonist in the second half of the Twentieth Century.
The 1976 work “Symfonisk Bilde” (Symphonic Picture) marks Haug’s first truly independent composition, written without outside guidance. Further works such as “Stillhet” (Silence) for strings and the orchestral pieces “Poema Sonoro”, “Poema Patetico” and “Furuenes Sang” (Song of the pines) established Haug as one of Norway’s foremost symphonic voices. Five symphonies followed, the last three of which were commissioned, nos. 3 and 5 by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and no. 4 by the Oslo Philharmonic.
The work “Insignia” was commissioned for the Lillehammer Olympic Games in 1994. It became one of Haug’s most often performed works internationally. Other commissions include the symphonic song cycle “Glem aldri henne” (‘Never forget her’ – Trondheim S.O. for the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the city of Trondheim, 2000) and “Il Preludio dell’ Ignoto” (Ungdomssymfonikerne).
Haug has also written a number of remarkable chamber works, amongst which the most prominent are his two string quartets (1985 and 1996) and the Piano Trio (1995). The second string quartet was premiered at the 1996 Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, where Haug was festival composer that year. Other pieces in smaller format include the early “Sonatine” for violin and piano (1973), “Duetto Bramoso” for violin and guitar (1976) a Brass Quintet from 1981 and “Essay” for alto trombone and string quartet (1987).
Christoph Schlüren, one of Halvor Haug’s tireless advocates, has the following to say about his music:
Haug’s dissonance treatment, his chordal collisions which flow like molten lava, and his diatonically led, chromatically regulated strong sense of melody are evidence of a composer of immense and refined sensibilities.[…]
Halvor Haug is among the minority of composers who are fully in control of the orchestra as an instrument. He knows how best to calculate orchestral effects and is aware of new instrumental combinations. A virtuoso in the use of orchestral chiaroscuro and timbral change, he integrates competing qualities of sound in the service of absolute musical drama. […]
The composer, however, is not party to a philosophy of avoidance or negation, preferring to see his output as one that has emerged from a Nordic symphonic tradition still in its infancy. His grammatical style obeys other rules that those of his predecessors. His syntax is extremely personal. And the content is what holds the whole thing together, having its roots in a uniquely personal soil. Again and again, we recognise that it is not the ‘what’ but the ‘how’ which determines the artistic success of any piece of music. Halvor Haug’s musical language may be full of allusions, but it never runs out of ideas, just as a good film is more than the sum of the individual scenes. It is up to the listener to identify the main theme, and to align himself with the wishes of the protagonist. For the protagonist is not just an acoustic phenomenon, but a living being. But life itself is inscrutable in that the distinctness of one who lives and that which is lived remains part of the act of living.
(Christoph Schlüren: “Halvor Haug – Music’s inscrutable Life” 1997)
Essay was commissioned by the Norwegian State Academy of Music for the final master exam of the trombonist Synnøve Hannisdal. The composer writes
I decided to write a work that avoided the effect most closely associated with the trombone, namely: glissando. At the same time I wished for the work to be challenging to play without sacrificing its musical qualities. The alto trombone has a relatively limited range, which led to many considerations along the way. The music speaks in my unmistakable language
Haug's language is here, as always, contained within a serious musical discourse. The melodic aspect is the main focus, with voices moving independently often within sustained harmonies. The polyphony is mostly dissonant, creating a state of tension and yearning that is amply rewarded by the final sustained A Major chord. Along the way, long held triads momentarily allow the listener to relax before continuing in the same tonally complex manner.
The alto trombone presents two motifs in measures 4 and 6. They are linked by a long note, as if to differentiate them clearly. These two motifs constitute the main material of the work and are restated and transformed throughout, very much in the manner of an essay.
Although lyrical on the whole, the work also contains a few moments of drama. The most extended of these occurs between measures 70 and 91 with the intense tremolos and trombone solo. This is echoed briefly in mm. 129-141, which can be seen as the emotional peak of the piece.
Haug has wisely avoided using glissandos in the trombone part. He makes up for the absence of this typical trombone effect by using a technique that is less common but very effective: between mm.100 and 109 and 115-117 the trombonist is asked to sing and play different notes simultaneously. Together with the cello pizzicatos and the tremolos in the other strings, and with the overtly tonal harmonies this effect creates an atmosphere that is both peaceful and eerie.
With Essay for Trombone and String Quartet Halvor Haug has made a very worthy contribution to the literature for a very rare instrumental combination.
Ricardo Odriozola 31. December 2022
No German Preface available ...
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