Valen, Fartein

Valen, Fartein – Symphony No. 2 Op. 40

(b. Stavanger, August 25, 1887 – d. Valevåg, December 14, 1952)

Allegro con brio p.2
Adagio p.54
Allegretto p.93
Finale. Allegro molto p.114

Preface
“Fartein Valen is the key figure within newer Norwegian music. Not by way of being more popular than other younger composers, but because he aims at things higher, which he is fully confident of being able to reach since he commands all techniques. But there is a price to pay for reaching above the ordinary, and there is a price to pay for demanding more than the ordinary from the listeners. This is something Valen has experienced”.1

Born on August 25, 1887, in Stavanger, Fartein Valen was the son of a Norwegian missionary and his wife, who preached the Christian message in Madagascar. The deep religiosity of his family home would shape the rest of his life and found expression in his music, although it did not have a distinctly religious character. Valen studied languages at the University of Oslo, and with his extraordinary talent, he read texts in nine languages and soon spoke English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish fluently—he studied the New Testament in Ancient Greek. Having already composed several pieces in the style of the German Romantics as a young man, he went to Oslo and took lessons in music theory and organ with Catharinus Elling at the city’s conservatory. …

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