Classical Music Playlist, October 21, 2024
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen spent more than thirty years composing and conducting at the theaters in Bergen and Oslo. Only as he approached and finally entered retirement would he have time to compose his three symphonies. Halvorsen titled his Symphony No. 2 “Fatum” or “Fate” and, like Beethoven’s 5th and Tchaikovsky’s 6th, a “fate” motive recurs throughout the symphony. Composed with a spritely, colorful and eloquent voice developed from decades of writing theater music and considered to be his best symphony, the 1928 Symphony No. 2 by Johan Halvorsen is today’s Midday Masterpiece.