Welcome to a new event in our new popular science series about music!
This Sunday evening at Siljustøl we will hear Geirr Tveitt's and Johann Sebastian Bach's two-part inventions in dialogue.
Buy ticketAbout the concert talk
As a young conservatory student in Leipzig, Geirr Tveitt (1908–1981) achieved in 1932 to publish his first opus on the world's oldest music publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel: 12 tvorøystes fyristudiar i lydisk, dorisk og frygisk.
The piano work caused a stir. In the journal Tonekunst, the court organist in Oslo, Arild Sandvold, wrote:
"This is perhaps the most significant piano piece written by a Norwegian composer in recent years. For the first time, we have succeeded in writing a polyphonic style, which in itself unites classical lines with a Norwegian sense of tone."
Tveitt's op. 1 were all referred to as inventions at the time. The parallel to Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685–1750) 15 two-part inventions (BWV 772–786) is obvious.
How did Tveitt go about filling a German composition form with melodies inspired by Norwegian harding fiddle music? What was his cultural policy idea behind the project? And what role has Bach's music played for other Norwegian composers?
These are questions that are discussed at Siljustøl, in a conversation between Sjur Haga Bringeland, research fellow at the Center for Grieg Research, and Johannes Holtmon, curator of music at Kode.
During the conversation, both Tveitt's and Bach's inventions are performed.
About the pianist
Pianist Si Un Fong has studied under Torleif Torgersen at the Grieg Academy in Bergen, and under Hamsa Juris at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
As both a chamber musician and solo pianist, he constantly plays concerts at home and abroad and has played concerts in, among other places, Macau, Hong Kong, Beijing, Italy, Finland and Norway.
Practical information
The concert ticket also includes entrance to the museum.
Duration: 75 minutes.
Pianist Si Un Fong (pictured left) performs Geir Tveitt's (right) and Bach's inventions.
