Because Hilding Hallnäs' music was shaped by Nordic tradition and, for most of his maturity, tempered by Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, it often has a hard, steely edge and emotional reserve that many will find solemn, severe, and somewhat distancing. There are a few minor pieces in other styles, such as the quasi-Impressionistic, folk-flavored excerpts from En vintersaga, subtitled "Little Preludes for Children" (1946); the modal, mildly lyrical Triptyk (1947); and the delicate Pas de deux (1955), but these are ...
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Because Hilding Hallnäs' music was shaped by Nordic tradition and, for most of his maturity, tempered by Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, it often has a hard, steely edge and emotional reserve that many will find solemn, severe, and somewhat distancing. There are a few minor pieces in other styles, such as the quasi-Impressionistic, folk-flavored excerpts from En vintersaga, subtitled "Little Preludes for Children" (1946); the modal, mildly lyrical Triptyk (1947); and the delicate Pas de deux (1955), but these are exceptions to Hallnäs' largely dodecaphonic output, and their naïveté and comparative simplicity make them seem contrived as indifferent light music, nothing more. The majority of this program, though, is devoted to more typically rigorous fare, and the opening Largo from Pasteller (1970-1971), the four Piano Sonatas (1930-1983), and the Short Suite (1955) all display serious contrapuntal applications of the series, though with tonal leanings that some listeners may notice, especially in...
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