Folk Tunes and Songs

Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performs the Sonata no. 29 "Sonata etere" and "Folk Tunes" by Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt, as well as a selection of his songs - his sister Solveig Andsnes can also be heard here. It was a bold move when Leif Ove Andsnes decided to perform the Piano Sonata no. 29 "Sonata etere" by Geirr Tveitt in 35 concerts in Europe and North America in 2024 and 2025. Bold or not, the audience was enthusiastic and his performance of Geirr Tveitt's Sonata no. 29 at Carnegie Hall was praised by the New York Times as one of the 'best classical performances of 2025'. In 1970, a devastating fire destroyed the house of Geirr Tveitt and an estimated 300 compositions were reduced to ashes. Approximately 80% of his work was lost forever, including all the piano sonatas he wrote, with the exception of Sonata no. 29 "Sonata etere". This sonata survived only because it had been sent to Norsk Musikkforlag for publication. According to Andsnes, the "Sonata etere" is "a gigantic piece of music built on two simple melodies with many variations. It is a difficult piece to play, but very much worth it. With Russian rhythmic influences combined with echoes of French music and folk music, Tveitt truly finds himself in a world of his own. It is fantastically colorful in its composition for the instrument, full of tension in its architecture, harmony and rhythm. The 'Femti folkatonar frao Hardanger' (Fifty folk songs from Hardanger) are settings of poems by important Norwegian poets, in which Tveitt weaves folk elements with modernistic harmony.