New album with violinist Magnus Boye Hansen was just released on Lawo! On our first duo endevour, we dived deep into the wild musical world of norwegian mavrick composer Christian Sinding. This album presents all his three numbered sonatas, all of which combined presents a rich view of the composers ideas and musical instincts.
Listen to the full thing here: Christian Sinding: Violin Sonatas 1-3 (orcd.co)
Christin Sinding is a late romantic composer, caught between the Norwegian national romantic ideals of Grieg, and the wild post - wagnerian musical ideals. His response to both is very different than many of his piers, and portrays a character with a very unpretentious view of his own art. His music is bold, unpredictable, often impulsive and very willing to share power with the performing musicians (in opposition to Mahler, Schoenberg and other same-timers). He is known as a provocative presence while still alive, both at home and abroad (writing cabaret songs with titles such as “cocaine”) etc.
These sonatas show the breath of his changing attitudes, from the wild 1st sonata (full of radical, audaciously chromatic and often symphonic approaches to chamber writing) to the lyrical, melodically oriented but often almost sleazy 3rd sonata.
I really love both playing and working on his music - especially how it often turns into what feels like puzzle solving, working hard to figure out what he’s up to (where the music lies) in a particular phrase or section. I also find Sinding to be among the most human of composers: He is funny, romantic (his melodic and harmonic sense is very, very well developed), both self ironic, funny and brave at the same time (my read on his hazardous technical instrumental writing) and the light way he treats his own art.
His music (in my view) is often misunderstood and perceived as heavy and frustrating. I strongly disagree, and hope that this new album projects our reading of this wonderful and eclectic composer. I strongly encourage you to have listen - just be warned: His music contains some dangerously good tunes.