08 jan ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE REVIEW PUBLISHED IN KLASSEKAMPEN

Review – Klassekampen Jan. 2025

2024 was a major year of record releases for composer Knut Vaage 

Den som våger, vinner (Who dares, wins) 

When composer Knut Vaage received the Lindeman Prize 2024 in September, he referred to himself as a “maximalist” because he does not confine himself to a single style, genre or form of expression: he permits himself to make use of the entire palette. My first encounter with Vaage was through his opera Nokon kjem til å komme (2000), libretto by Jon Fosse, and for this encounter the term “indelible impression” seems particularly apt. 

Many years on, I still recall the abrupt changes of melodic direction, the way he brought out the words, one at a time, and not least I still shiver at the memory of the work’s atmosphere, how Vaage led us into a Hitchcockian world where fear itself is greater than the thing we are afraid of. Perhaps it was this quality that sparked all the attention the work received in Norway and abroad –  there is so much to be afraid of, especially those things we do not know. 

In the course of 2024 LAWO Classics released three recordings dedicated exclusively to Vaage’s music, and he is additionally featured with two works on a recording from Jansson Recordings – a remarkable achievement. Among the works on these discs is Relieff, which I wrote about in conjunction with the premier performance in Bergen (12 April, 2021). This work was commissioned by cellist Amalie Stalheim, recipient of The Norwegian Composers’ Society “Performer of the Year” award for 2024. She is such a superb performer that the path to a traditional solo career lies wide open. Stalheim, however, devotes substantial energy to first performances and commissions, expanding the contemporary music palette with the quality of her musicianship. 

Relieff is a gem of the art of orchestration in which the cello too is orchestrated. The work opens, for example, with a tremolo that gradually changes the structure of its harmonic spectrum depending on where Stalheim places the bow on the strings. The harmonics are thrown into relief by the predominant note, low C on open string; the cello is thrown into relief by the orchestra. Not that there is anything unique in the history of music about exploring textural contrast, but Vaage presents us with an intricate play of colour and sensate delight so great that most listeners will discover something new in that incredible organism known as the symphony orchestra. Moreover, Vaage succeeds in maintaining dramatic tension throughout the work’s 27-minute duration, which is no mean feat. 

In conjunction with Relieff Vaage talked about the opportunities art music presents of “giving insight into the times in which we live. Perhaps because the palette is expanded, and new and unexpected sounds scratch at the surface of things deep within our souls in a distinctive way, providing listeners with new experiences.” Does this not touch upon the fear of things we do not know? In any case you will always find intriguing thoughts behind Vaage’s work, sometimes so shrewd that the compositions themselves appear quite subtle or even humoristic, something which is evident in Skråblikk på Haugtussa. 

When we speak of Haugtussa in a classical music context, it is just as much Grieg’s setting as it is Garborg’s poetry we are referring to. That is, it is the eight poems Grieg chose to set and his treatment of those words that lies at the back of the mind of many music lovers. In Vaage’s Skråblikk he constantly touches upon a figure, a harmonic progression or something else from Grieg’s Haugtussa. At the same time, the vocal part is more or less reduced to utterances such as groaning, breathing, clicking, and individual syllables as opposed to words; in this way the voice expresses emotions directly. 

In addition to piano, the work is also scored for a voice which recites different excerpts from Haugtussa from those Grieg used, thereby putting Grieg’s Haugtussa into unique perspective, throwing it into relief. Vaage has also composed his own unique take on Beethoven, which was recorded in 2024. 

Vaage’s maximalism, if that is what it can be called, is also evident in his works for electronics. (His piece multiMORFV-VII was also scored for video design, which naturally cannot be heard on the recordings.) On multiMORF V-VIIThorolf Thuestad is responsible for the electronics. multiMORF V-VII takes the form of a dialogue within the structure of the sounds, where the boundary between the wind quintet and the electronically generated material is not always easy to discern. Much of the work is based on sounds from nature, which does not only have musical consequences for the resultant changing soundscapes, but also introduces philosophical, existential and environmental perspectives to the music. 

The main work on the final Vaage release of 2024 is Janus, which is also the title of the recording. The subtitle reads Works for Flute, and the recording contributes to expanding our understanding of Vaage as a composer. Listening to these works has increased my admiration for the sounds and textures he produces, for the fascinating material he carves out, and not least for the way in which Knut Vaage constructs extended musical form that retains its dramatic nerve throughout. 

Magnus Andersson 
musikk@klassekampen.no 

Translated by Andrew Smith