PER NØRGÅRD (b.1932): Early Piano Works - Sonata determinata*, Miniature Concerto in G*, Sonata capricciosa, Trifoglio, Op. 7*, Sonata in One Movement, Op. 6, Toccata. * - First Recordings.

Description: This is considerably more than a collection of juvenilia for Nørgård completists, as even the earliest works are worth hearing in their own right. As a teenager, the precocious young composer was teeming with ideas, even before he possessed the technique to express them on paper in terms of conventional keys and meters. The very early 'Sonata for Piano' (1949) recently renamed by the composer Sonata capricciosa, is full of vitality and invention; a little clumsy and episodic perhaps, but by no means immature. The Toccata, incorporating a fugue and consisting of a series of episodes of contrasting character, suggesting the composer's study of Bach's counterpoint and the linear, layered thinking that is a feature of his mature style, along with a lack of fear of dissonance. Then he went to study with Holmboe, who insisted that he start using key signatures and time signatures, an early result being the Miniature Concerto and the four movement Sonata determinata, more 'correct' in form than the early sonata, and sounding like a mature work - if not by Nørgård, then by somebody. At the end of his period of study with Holmboe, he produced the Sonata in One Movement and Trifoglio, both of which show the influence of Holmboe and of Sibelius, and for the first time in Nørgård's output a definably 'Nordic' sound, and the unmistakable contours of his own compositional voice. Niklas Sivelöv (piano).