Allan Pettersson - Seven Sonatas for Two Violins (Duo Gelland)

Information

Composer: Allan Pettersson

• Sonatas Nos. 1–7
• Lamento, for piano
• Two Elegies, for violin and piano
• Romanza, for violin and piano
• Andante espressivo, for violin and piano

Duo Gelland

    Martin Gelland, violin

    Cecilia Gelland, violin

&

Lennart Wallin, piano

Date: 2000

Label: BIS

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Review

Allan Pettersson is best known, even notorious in some circles, for having composed some of the bleakest symphonic music of the post-war era, especially those works cast in a single, uninterrupted movement filling a vast, grim canvass. Among his earliest mature compositions, however, stands this remarkable cycle of seven sonatas for two violins, all written in 1951. These are compact works ranging from three-and-a-half to 13 minutes in length. Each foam at the mouth with nervous, creative energy and relentless virtuosic demands. Folk-related themes plus fingerprint ostinatos and repeated notes morph into twisted images in a room full of fun house mirrors. Shrieking glissandos and stabbing pizzicatos spruce up Pettersson’s visionary string deployment, which often gives the illusion of more than a mere pair of fiddlers. For the most part, Martin and Cecilia Gelland bring out the music’s unbridled, daring aspects to more cogent effect than the Grünfarb/Mannberg violin duo that pioneered the sonatas in the late 1970s on the Caprice label. Some listeners, though, may prefer the earlier duo’s suaver and steadier opening in the First Sonata. A group of violin/piano miniatures fills out the disc. These early, brooding character pieces are both somber and fragile, and are sensitively played by Martin Gelland and pianist Lennart Wallin. There’s little to choose between Wallin’s stark reading of Petterson’s 1945 Lamento and Volker Banfield’s slightly more animated, flowing version on CPO. Alexander Keuk’s clear and useful annotations will appeal to curious Pettersson neophytes. If you’ve never encountered Pettersson’s uncompromising brand of modernism, the sonatas for two violins are the best place to start.

— Jed Distler

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Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers. He studied at the Swedish Royal Academy of Music, and later in Paris with René Leibowitz, Arthur Honegger, Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud. Pettersson was best known as the creator of Barfotasånger, a collection of 24 songs for voice and piano set to his own lyrics. He also wrote 16 symphonies, choral and chamber music, and a number of orchestral pieces. His symphonies are often compared to Mahler's symphonic output.

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Duo Gelland is a Swedish-German violin duo which was founded in 1994. The teachers of the violinists include such musicians as Max Rostal, Walter Levin, members of the LaSalle Quartet, and Wolfgang Schneiderhan, among others. Their early recordings of Cantus gemellus by Dieter Acker and the fiercely demanding one-hour-long cycle for two violins (1951) by Allan Pettersson showed the true potentials of the violin duo, inspiring many composers to turn to this medium. They also revive forgotten gems with historically inspired insight, and in close collaboration with composers they bring new scores to life - so far nearly 200.

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