Jón Leifs - 4 Piano Pieces, Op. 2
Icelandic composer Jón Leifs’s 4 Piano Pieces are among his earliest works. They are very nationalistic in essence, and derive from the musical traditions of the composer’s native country. The first piece starts in a bitonal clash between two independent paths in modulation. By the time the midsection arrives, the harmonies break down into dissonance and reemerges back to its original incarnation. The second piece is based on a folk “quintsong” (song that is sung in parallel fifths, and is also known as “tvísöngur” or twin-song) that is itself set to the author and naturalist Jónas Hallgrímsson’s 1835 poem “Ísland, farsældafrón!” (translated as “Iceland, Fortunate Isle!”). The poem was first published in the romantic Fjölnir journal. The third piece is based on a melody from the Icelandic national ballad tradition. These old ballads, some dating from the medieval era, are most often based on the sagas of old. The piece, like the ballads, constantly changes meter. The fourth and last piece takes four folksongs, two in the major and, in the trio section, two in the minor. Like the Icelandic Ballade, the Icelandic Scherzo also has rapidly changing meter. Leifs was one of the most important Icelandic composers and the only internationally successful Icelandic conductor by the time of his death. He was born as Jón Thorleifsson and he left his native country for Leipzig due to the sparse classical music tradition of Iceland during that time. Leifs studied with Ferruccio Busoni and traveled around Europe conducting various orchestras. Between 1925 and 1928, he returned to Iceland to record the folk music traditions; this would give him much inspiration and material for his own compositions. Leifs found love in Germany and married a Jewish woman, but due to fear of Nazi persecution, his family fled to Sweden. In 1946, he and his wife divorced, and in 1947, one of his daughters drowned while swimming off the Swedish coast. The grief from these losses gave Leifs the impetus to compose some of his most famous and most loved works. Leifs died of lung cancer in 1968, barely finishing his final composition. Catalogue: Op. 2 Order: No. 1 - Valse Lento: 0:08 No. 2 - Icelandic Prelude: 2:53 No. 3 - Icelandic Ballade: 5:21 No. 4 - Icelandic Scherzo: 8:35 Performer: Örn Magnússon on piano Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are only used for non-commercial purposes.
Icelandic composer Jón Leifs’s 4 Piano Pieces are among his earliest works. They are very nationalistic in essence, and derive from the musical traditions of the composer’s native country. The first piece starts in a bitonal clash between two independent paths in modulation. By the time the midsection arrives, the harmonies break down into dissonance and reemerges back to its original incarnation. The second piece is based on a folk “quintsong” (song that is sung in parallel fifths, and is also known as “tvísöngur” or twin-song) that is itself set to the author and naturalist Jónas Hallgrímsson’s 1835 poem “Ísland, farsældafrón!” (translated as “Iceland, Fortunate Isle!”). The poem was first published in the romantic Fjölnir journal. The third piece is based on a melody from the Icelandic national ballad tradition. These old ballads, some dating from the medieval era, are most often based on the sagas of old. The piece, like the ballads, constantly changes meter. The fourth and last piece takes four folksongs, two in the major and, in the trio section, two in the minor. Like the Icelandic Ballade, the Icelandic Scherzo also has rapidly changing meter. Leifs was one of the most important Icelandic composers and the only internationally successful Icelandic conductor by the time of his death. He was born as Jón Thorleifsson and he left his native country for Leipzig due to the sparse classical music tradition of Iceland during that time. Leifs studied with Ferruccio Busoni and traveled around Europe conducting various orchestras. Between 1925 and 1928, he returned to Iceland to record the folk music traditions; this would give him much inspiration and material for his own compositions. Leifs found love in Germany and married a Jewish woman, but due to fear of Nazi persecution, his family fled to Sweden. In 1946, he and his wife divorced, and in 1947, one of his daughters drowned while swimming off the Swedish coast. The grief from these losses gave Leifs the impetus to compose some of his most famous and most loved works. Leifs died of lung cancer in 1968, barely finishing his final composition. Catalogue: Op. 2 Order: No. 1 - Valse Lento: 0:08 No. 2 - Icelandic Prelude: 2:53 No. 3 - Icelandic Ballade: 5:21 No. 4 - Icelandic Scherzo: 8:35 Performer: Örn Magnússon on piano Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are only used for non-commercial purposes.