Fartein Valen, Symphony No. 4, Op. 43 (1949) (Bergen Philharmonic, Aldo Ceccato)

The most remarkable features of Fartein Valen's 4th Symphony are the inexhaustible melodic vein and the way he uses the knowledge inherited from the old masters of counterpoint. During the three movements of the symphony with a confronted with a very stringent polyphony, where a great variety of melodic lines are woven in a continuously moving whole. At the same time we notice through the entire 1st movement (Allegro) how he brings to maturity that wish for a simplified texture which he first demonstrated in the 3rd Symphony and later in the Serenade. As in chamber music, the tissue of lines is transparent and elegant, as if this late in life he wanted to rid himself of all remaining pathos in order to interiorize his emotions.

The 2nd movement (Larghetto) is also shorter and more concentrated than similar movements of his earlier symphonies. Being the middle one of only three movements, it has the double function of serving as a slow meditation and as a more airy scherzo. This, too, is a kind of ambiguity no unknown to Mozart.

In the 3rd movement (Chacone -- Moderato), Valen, as did Brahms for the Finale of his fourth symphony, goes back to a very old type of variations. As always in a chaconne, a bass theme is introduced and later wanders through all the instrumental groups, constantly accompanied by new counterthemes. Valen thus writes 18 variations, of which the last two also serve as a coda. The choice of this ancient form for a highly personal message in the atonal language clearly demonstrates Valen's belief in a timeless beauty.

The first sketches for the 4th Symphony were made in September 1947, but Valen had been stocking up ideas for this symphony, and even for a fifth one, since the spring of 1945, when he was still working on his 3rd Symphony. The symphony took him two years to write and was finished in September, 1949. These were eventful years. Fame seemed to be coming, at least, and he could no longer life completely hidden from the world. His Sonetto di Michelangelo for orchestra was successfully premiered at the 1947 ISCM festival in Copenhagen, and Valen had to spend weeks answering all the newspapers and reviewers that suddently wanted to know more about the man and his music. His 69th birthday was also duly publicized, and for the first time in nine years his friends managed to bring him to Oslo so that he could supervise the rehearsals for the first performance of his violin concerto in October, 1947. This performance, too, was a great success, as was the performance of the same concerto at the Amsterdam ISCM festival in 1949. At that moment, Valen had been a prize for his 3rd Symphony and had been offered a new contract by his publisher, so that he could afford to go to Amsterdam and savor his triumph in person.