Kenneth Sivertsen – ”HÅP” (Hope). Symphony No. 1 (1981-82)
(b. Mosterhamn [Bømlo], 16 January 1961 – d. Bergen, 24 December 2006)
Kenneth Sivertsen was arguably the most staggering musical talent to emerge from Norway at the tail end of the 20th century. Born in the island of Bømlo (south of Bergen) he learned to play the guitar at a very young age, soon forming a pop band with two of his older siblings and becoming very active in the local music scene. He took composition lessons from Magnar Åm (b. 1952) for a year and guitar lessons from Arild Hansson for a short period. Other than this Sivertsen was essentially self-taught. He wrote his first symphony at the age of twenty. At twenty five he was the youngest Norwegian to be accepted into the Norwegian Composers’ Union. His work For Ope Hav was chosen to represent Norway in the 1986 edition of Nordic Music Days in Iceland.
Sivertsen was equally active as a composer and performer. He was a world class guitarist and an able singer and pianist. Being of a restless and inquisitive nature he worked and excelled in many different musical genres: contemporary classical music, popular song, jazz and rock. He wrote two symphonies, numerous chamber works, many songs, an oratorio, a trumpet concerto, ballet music and a Requiem, besides countless arrangements. The recordings he left behind attest to his baffling versatility. These include several CDs of songs in popular style, an album of guitar compositions, ballet music, religious songs, chamber music and three acclaimed jazz albums in which he played with some of the world’s finest jazz musicians at the time.
Kenneth Sivertsen became a very public figure in Norway, particularly from the early 1990s. Besides his musical ability, he possessed an uncanny comical talent. The latter was exploited relentlessly by the media and made him a darling of the entertainment circuit in Norway for many years. The chaos of life of the road eventually took its toll on Sivertsen’s health. After several years of intermittent illness he died on Christmas Eve 2006.
Sivertsen’s music defies categorization. Surprising and unpredictable as life itself, it often changes atmosphere and style radically, even within the same composition. Sivertsen was a master at creating moods that draw the listener close to the music. He wrote some of the most beautiful and gripping music ever to come from a Norwegian composer.
HÅP (“Hope”) Symphony no. 1 – 1981-82
Original score available from the Norwegian National Library (www.mic.no)
In the inner sleeve of the title page of the manuscript of Håp the composer wrote (his own English translation, left here intact for authenticity’s sake):
“Considering the large stock I have used, one perhaps expects a “pompous” use of the orchestra and instrumentation, sonorous figures and volume. This does not appear in “Håp”. I have instead chosen to use the orchestra more often in a low-voiced and turned inwards manner, where I intend to let the different main groups and solo instruments clearly make one’s way with its tidings. This also to utter various sonorous figures (liked the changeful pictures inside us).
I have also used the great power and strength in such a stock, but as a link to present hope as it appears, rises and rises towards the sky, but suddenly as so many times before gets crushed. But as the storm has reached its height, and everything becomes quiet… the hope again finds its shape, and again finds strength and growth.
“Håp” ends with a single tone from a single human voice, as a hope… as a question.”
Sivertsen composed Håp (Hope; the first of his two symphonies) between August 21st 1981 and April 1st 1982 (he was usually very meticulous in documenting the time spent in his compositional work). Written in one movement, and lasting roughly half an hour, this is a singular conception for a man of twenty/twenty-one. Any expectations one might entertain of youthful optimism or joie de vivre are cast aside from the very beginning. This is the music of a young man trying to come to terms with his inner turmoil. Only the strings play in the first seven and a half minutes, during which time a menacing 4-note motif appears (measure 49, on second violins) that keeps turning up in the course of the work. It is, for the most part, slow and brooding music in a freely atonal language. After these seven and a half minutes a solo flute enters (m. 64), soon answered, sphinx-like, by a severe chord from the brass (m. 69). Soon thereafter the percussion breaks into thunderous uproar introducing the first of a few fortissimo outbursts (and the only sequence in the entire symphony to be played at a high tempo), in this case an anguished low brass fanfare. The contrast between the mysterious, the vulnerable and the brutal sets the scene for the entire work, which can be heard as a search for balance among these contradicting forces (essentially: the intellectual, the emotional and the physical). Solo instrumental voices are important throughout the symphony. The flute, cor anglais, horn, violin and cello are all given very expressive solos. After nineteen and a half minutes a solo classical guitar enters (m. 217), lending the music an air of innocence. One minute later the human voice joins in (m. 239). It is a soprano vocalise that finally affords a properly human element to the music. Merciless brutality makes one last attempt at wrecking the peace, but without success (m. 274). Supported by angelic strings, the soprano is left to finish the work before fading out on a single note.
Håp is a remarkable symphony of clear but not traditional conception, which makes it all the more fascinating. Sivertsen extracts many enchanting sounds from the orchestra. His use of tuned percussion is particularly evocative and captivating. The choice of introducing a solo guitar and a soprano in the second half of the piece only strengthens the strongly introspective atmosphere created in the first half. Except for the short and scarce tutti outbursts, the texture of the music is very sparse, with instruments often playing in small groups, pairs or even alone. This music belies Sivertsen’s later acquired reputation as a comedian and will surprise anyone who only remembers him in that capacity. Uniquely personal as it is, it would not be too farfetched to place Håp in a line of tradition from Mahler through Shostakovich (albeit at their most gloomy and desolate). This symphony requires (as does the vast majority of Sivertsen’s music) the full committed attention of the listener and will not reveal its treasures to a fidgety concert audience, particularly as there are so many soft passages in it.
The work was premiered on November 12th 1984 in Oslo by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alf Årdal. At the time of this writing it is still awaiting a long overdue second performance.
Note:
After consultation with Peter Kates (solo percussionist in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra) I have redistributed the percussion instruments among the players in a way that deviates slightly from the original score. This was done in order to make a more practical arrangement for the percussionists.
Ricardo Odriozola, April 11th 2019