Halvorsen, Johan

Johan Halvorsen ( Norwegian Johan Halvorsen ; March 15, 1864 , Drammen - December 4, 1935 , Oslo ) - Norwegian violinist , composer and conductor .

Johan Halvorsen Norwegian Johan halvorsen
basic information
Date of Birth	March 15, 1864 ( 1864-03-15 )
Place of Birth	Drumman
Date of death	December 4, 1935 ( 1935-12-04 ) (71 years old)
Place of death	Oslo
Buried
A country	Norway
Professions	musician
Instruments	violin
Genres

He played the violin from the age of seven, and in the city military band he also played the trumpet and piccolo flute. He studied in Stockholm , in 1885 made his debut as part of the orchestra of the Harmony Music Society (the future Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra ). In the same period he met with Edward Grieg , whose niece he later married. Then Halvorsen drove through Europe, in 1886 - 1888 . studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and played in the Gewandhaus orchestra , then spent some time in St. Petersburg , where he improved his violin skills under the leadership of Leopold Auer , in 1889 - 1892 . taught in Helsinki , where he was influenced by the young Busoni . Returning to Norway in 1893 , he headed the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Bergen Theater “National Stage”, and in 1899 he moved to Christiania (now Oslo) and for 30 years led the orchestra of the National Theater.

Among Halvorsen's compositions are three symphonies, the most significant of which is the Second, Fatum, D Minor ( 1924 , second edition 1928 ), music for 30 plays, including Shakespeare's “ How You Like It ” ( 1912 ), “ Much Ado About Nothing ” ( 1915 ) and Macbeth ( 1920 ). Halvorsen did a lot of processing Norwegian musical folklore - since, at the suggestion of Grieg, he first recorded a number of tunes from the folk musician Knut Dale; this experience was reflected in Halvorsen’s cycle “Norwegian Folk Songs and Dances” ( Norwegian Norske Vise og Danse ) and other compositions. Halvorsen’s small play “March of the Boyars” ( Norwegian Bojarenes inntogsmarsj ), inspired by his acquaintance with the history of Romania after Halvorsen received an invitation to teach in Bucharest, is famous. Halvorsen also performed a number of transcriptions and arrangements - in particular, he orchestrated the Grieg's Funeral March (this orchestral version was performed at the Grieg's funeral according to the will of the composer). To this day, the arrangement made by Halvorsen for the violin and viola of the famous Passacaglia from the Seventh Suite of Handel is most famous.

Halvorsen's son, Stein Grieg Halvorsen (born 1909 ) is a famous Norwegian theater actor.