Viewo f the Hardanger fjord and the surrounding montains, seen from the hillside above the Tveit farm
The Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt
Geirr Tveitt (1908-1981) was the most distinctive and productive Norwegian composer of the 20th century. He was also a particularly skilled concert pianist, touring Southern-Europe and North-Africa in the late 40's and early 50's. He also sung, played the harpsichord, conducted, and interviewd and worked as program producer for the many literature programs he created in NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. This web page tries to keep track of the compositions that exist and those that we know got lost when his farm-house burned down in the fatal fire in 1970. The work list shows which works exist in scores and manuscripts and which that only exists as recordings of concert performances. The discography shows the known album releases of his work, from short songs to large orchestral works. There is an overview of sound recordings made in radio and similar of what exists of television programs. There will also be an overview of interviews, articles, stories etc. in newspapers, books and magazines.
Ongoing update of the web page
Work on rebuilding the website without use of Flash is ongoing. The work has taken longer time than planned. This means that a lot of content is not currently available. Updated content will be informed about on the News folder when published. Please revisit!
The updated webpage will be available in English
After several requests, the updated www.geirrtveitt.com will be available in English. The new pages will be responsive so they easier can be read on tablets and mobile phones.
New releases:
Christian Grøvlen: Eventyr (SACD)
The new SACD recording from pianist Christian Grøvlen, called Eventyr (Adventure Fairy-tale) contains a world premiere recording of the tone poem for piano called; Eolsharpa (Aeolian harp). This version is based on the musical notation from 1946. This version is slightly different and longer (16:06) than the one Geirr Tveitt plays himself in 1949, released on the album named: Geirr Tveitt plays Geirr Tveitt (08:37) in 1994.
In addition to Eolsharpa, Grøvlen plays Christian Sinding: Sonata, op. 91, Alf Hurum: Wonderland, op. 16 and Edvard Grieg: Ballad, Op. 24. The album is released on the well-reputed label 2L.
"It is Grieg's Ballad and Geirr Tveitt's Eolsharpa that set the standard here..... On the other hand, Geirr Tveitt offers mystery, wonder, not least Eolsharpa (a harp in which the wind strikes the strings) is an illusion, a memory of something Geirr Tveitt had heard: "Since then I have thought of the soft, half-unreal tones, not least in the stormy and dark nights of life... the harp with wings is flying above stormy seas, high above, amongst stairs that shine on harp-strings". Well worth the record alone."
Olav Egil Aune, Vårt Land 12 June 2021
Read about other new record releases here.