Presents
Gerhard Rosenkrone Schjelderup
Music to Strindberg's Play Easter for String Trio
Gerhard Rosenkrone Schjelderup (1859-1933) was born in the Norwegian town of Kristiansand. After studying the cello locally and then in Oslo, he traveled to Paris and he entered the Paris Conservatory studying cello with Auguste Franchomme and composition with Jules Massenet. He was influenced by Wagner and became an important Norwegian composer of opera. He also was a co-founder of the Norwegian Society of Composers and despite living abroad most of his life, promoted foreign performance of Norwegian music. He also wrote biographies of Edvard Grieg and Wagner. Because of his infatuation with Wagner, he spent most of his life in Bavaria. He did not write much in the way of chamber music. A copy of the manuscript to his Music to Strindberg's Play Easter can be found in the State archives of Leipzig. It is not clear whether it is not clear if it was intended for string orchestra or a smaller ensemble such as string trio ensemble.
The Swedish playwright August Strindberg, like the Norwegian Ibsen, became world famous for his plays and their trenchant social commentary. Schjelderup's Music for Strindberg's Play Easter was composed around 1932, the year before his death when he was already in failing health, which perhaps was the impetus for writing the music. The play Easter (Pask in Swedish) was composed in 1900. Unlike many of the plays for which Strindberg became famous, Easter is a play about redemption and reconciliation. The play is set in the Swedish town of Lund, where Strindberg had lived and had not been particularly happy. It follows the tribulations of a Swedish family and the entire action takes place between Maundy Thursday and Easter Eve. Strindberg wanted the music from Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ to be used to accompany the drama. An ominous atmosphere grows stronger and stronger throughout the three acts of the play. At the end we are told ‘Life won’t give us everything – and nothing is gratis’. But the play ends in the sunlight of Easter Day as the family gathers with a new sense of forgiveness and hope which seems to imply that a transformation can be achieved through reconciliation and generosity.
Parts: $14.95
Parts & Score: $19.95
