The 45th Spellemann Award took place on Saturday 28th January 2017. Ingfrid Breie Nyhus and Åshild Breie Nyhus were nominated for the record «Halvorsen – Kvandal – Nyhus». Fragaria Vesca was nominated for the record «David Monrad Johansen: Chamber Music». Music by father and son!
Kjell Bækkelund: Hans klangverden er internasjonal
Når dagens Musikk-Norge inntar en selvfølgelig plass på det internasjonale ‘kartet’, skyldes det ikke utelukkende orkestre og større ensembler, men enkeltpersoner hvis kapasitet og innsats bidrar til standarden. Som for eksempel flere av våre komponister. Her inntar den nå 75 år gamle Johan Kvandal en selvfølgelig plass.
Scandinavian Future: Treasures from the Nordic chamber music repertoire
The Dutch ensemble De Bezetting Speelt has discovered Quintet for Hardanger fiddle and string quartet, op. 50 (1978). With the 2012- 13 concert series Nordic Light and Scandinavian Innovators, De Bezetting Speelt aims to put spotlight on Nordic treasures from the chamber music repertoire. The work is again on the ensemble´s programme for 2017.
A keyword for the concert series is ‘Scandinavian future’, and the hardanger fiddle quintet by Kvandal is emphasized as one of few classical, complex works composed for this unique folk music instrument. The ensemble has performed the quintet on numerous occasions in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and other main Dutch cities, most recently in December 2013. On the programme is also works by Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius.
Listen to the work on De Bezetting Speelt’s channel on Youtube.
Johan Kvandal on himself
One’s musical expression really has more to do with instinct, a kind of voice of the heart, than with the outer intellect. All I have heard and studied, however, has strenghtened my belief in the tonal principle.
Doctoral degree in Kvandal’s music
Nathalie Hippel-Laabs has done her doctoral degree on Johan Kvandal`s life and music at the University of Münster in Germany. She has done a biographical-analytical study with special attention to Kvandal´s free modern tonality.