Publishing
This month's featured work
Reminiscence
Reminiscence is mvt. 2 from
Flute Concerto No.1 Op.70
- dedicated to Emily Beynon.
Composer: Fred Jonny Berg
- Berg is one of a handful of composers who are able to create the rare experience of enchanted silence in their music – Berg's Flute Concerto No.1 Op.70 contains several such moments. Even though his tools are a "conventional" orchestra using "conventional" instruments, an unreal atmosphere of calm and celestial flight arises. One of the most fascinating aspects in this regard is that he does not use any minimalist or modernist devices at all; he simply allows the music and its inner qualities to speak in full. In our current age of constant hectic activity, where it is barely permitted to think a complete thought, music such as this is of the greatest importance: it gives the listener the chance to experience time as a benefit and not as a punishment. The concerto is dedicated to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's eminent flautist Emily Beynon, and it received its premier performance in London in February 2009.
- Wolfgang Plagge
Reminiscence - Information page
Not really Gone
Ragnvald Jacobsen (1905-1997)
Composer: Fred Jonny Berg
Not really Gone is a part of the four movements symphonic poem About my Grandfather Op.37 - written in memory of the composer´s grandfather who was a semi-professional athletic. Hence the titles of the movements. He often trained athletics with his grandson.
This work has appeared in the movie Montagna con Forza as well as on the CD with the same name, About my Grandfather.
Not really Gone - Information page
Interactive guide
- make a journey through a selection from the work list
On this page, you will be able to explore a selection of works by Fred Jonny Berg. Click on the pictures for direct online access to information pages with complete, full-length LowRes audio versions of the mentioned works by composer Fred Jonny Berg. You can also find out how to order relevant CDs or obtain sheet music on these information pages.
Flute Mystery Op.66b – Aside from being the album title of the Grammy nominated SACD & Blu-ray production Flute Mystery, this is also an independent symphonic poem for flute and orchestra. It is a melodious piece; at the same time appealing and complex, with many hidden layers. The work is dedicated the flutist Sir James Galway, and had its world premiere at the Kennedy Center (Washington) in 2006, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. On the recording in question, the work is performed by Emily and Catherine Beynon and the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Reminiscence Op.70 #2 is a tranquil piece for flute and strings, and is also from the recording Flute Mystery. This is movement #2 from the Flute Concerto No.1 Op.70.
Awakening Op.70 #4 features the rare instrument glass harmonica. This is movement #4 from the Flute Concerto No.1 Op.70.
Pastorale Op.32 #1 is an apparently bright and care-free composition which only after a while begins to worry us – this is due to the elegant use of bitonality which gives the piece a veritable Janus face. We are treated to another example of Berg's compositional ambiguity – one of the principal elements of his music – in a work which is open to interpretation in any direction. The home key is F, constantly "undermined" by C sharp minor and D flat major tonalities.
- Wolfgang Plagge
Heart Op.27 # 5 is written for tubular bells and strings. It is a free-standing element from the symphonic poem Randi Op. 27. It is a lyric piece and has previously been used in ballet. The work had its UK premiere in 2009, performed by Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Not Really Gone Op.37 might be seen as having an ethereal and delicate radiance. It is a part of the symphonic poem About my Grandfather Op.37 - written in memory of the composer´s grandfather who was a semi-professional athletic. Hence the titles of the movements. He often trained athletics with his grandson.
The Deal Op.19 is a synthesizer and percussion work with a lot of dreamlike, melodious sequences.
Waltz of the Queen Op.4a is a rather modest, repetitive solo-piano piece, displaying lyrical harmonies. Additionally, this work is used in the music and art films Montagna con Forza and Vicino alla Montagna.
Berg's tone-poem Warning Zero Op.54b is another example of his ability to paint sounds with energy. The brass are responsible for an almost apocalyptic assault on the listener – there is something threatening and inevitable about the music; even in the brighter woodwind passages the music does not rest, wandering in search of lost calm.
- Wolfgang Plagge
Fred Jonny Berg as pictorial artist is also abundantly present in his music – Vicino alla Montagna Op.58 is music to a film with the same title. Berg paints landscape panoramas with a steady, sure hand. And, from his point of view as a film maker, he seeks long lines in the artistic discourse – like Richard Strauss in his Alpensinfonie he uses the entire expressive register of the orchestra to describe the magnificent peaks in all their inward and outward facets. Unlike Strauss, however, Berg's portrayal is darker and more stringent: we are certainly not in the Alps, rather in the weatherbeaten mountains of northern Norway where nature, not man, decides
- Wolfgang Plagge
Then four beams struck through the atmosphere and hit Hedmark in different places, and they manifested themselves as the Four Elements From Hedmark.
- Fred Jonny Berg
Remote Galaxy Op.81 is the name of a one-movement symphonic poem, featuring rare instruments including viola da gamba, glass harmonica and tubular bells.
In this galaxy, we may encounter the Little Strange Army and the Queen of Galaxy.
About the music written by Fred Jonny Berg:
– Fred Jonny Berg is a major musical discovery. It would be necessary to rewind to the 1940s and Malcolm Arnold to find an emerging composer of such exceeding promise. His compositions are confidently tonal, fluently melodious and possessed of virtually supernatural penetrative power. The flute works receive achingly beautiful, indeed enchanting, performances from Emily Beynon and the Philharmonia under Vladimir Ashkenazy (Berg conducts the other pieces). This set is recommended for any collector seeking the refined side of contemporary music.La Scena, Canada, November, 2009
- Listening to this disc introduced the writer to the pleasant new discovery of the music of Fred Jonny Berg. This innovative Norwegian composer (born in 1973) has written prolifically for a wide range of instruments and instrumental combinations, including the flute and flute family, with compositions being dedicated and performed by such esteemed flautists as James Galway and Emily Beynon. His works are accessible yet distinctive, are largely tonal, colourful and melodic with a convincing emotional pull. The originality of his music can perhaps be linked to his wide experience in range of other areas such as film making, writing, directing and singing.
Flute Focus, April 2010
- The performances, it need hardly be said given the stature of the musicians, are impeccable. Emily Beynon is as good a flute player as has walked the earth, and she clearly enjoys playing this music. Few recordings have given me such pleasure.
PAN Magazine, September 2009
- Berg's musical paintings were brought to life by none other than the great Vladimir Ashkenazy leading the Philharmonia Orchestra. The performances match the compositions beautifully, covering the whole dynamic range from very quiet to thunderously majestic. (....) 2L has done it again. With beautiful renditions of Norwegian Fred Jonny Berg's music that have been flawlessly recorded, one can sit back and enjoy the visuals flashing by the inner eye while being surrounded by a fabulous sounding orchestra. As an avid film lover with a large number of movie scores in his CD collection, but also as a classical music aficionado and someone who appreciates well done surround recordings, I can only highly recommend this Blu-ray Audio Disc. Reference quality!
6moons, February 2010
- Music by Norwegian composer Fred Jonny Berg is featured on this CD. The impressive quality and clarity of the recording immediately stands out, portraying Berg's expressive and rich language in the best possible way.
Flutist Quartely, Spring 2010
- The aptly named 'Flute Mystery', the work that opens this programme, has an ethereal quality and immediate appeal due to its strong melodic content and transparent orchestration (flute, harp and strings). The outstanding principal flute of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Emily Beynon, and her sister the harpist Catherine Beynon play this ravishing piece with consummate skill, while Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia's accompaniment is wonderfully refined.
SA-CD.net, June 2009
- Berg's piece alluding to the mountains is from a score he created for a film with the same title. He depicts mountain panoramas in his own way, and rather than the alpine peaks of some romantic composers, his are the rougher peaks of northern Norway. The Flute Concerto returns to something of the quieter and more contemplative mood of the opening piece. An impression of calm pervades the music without the use of minimalism or other modern devices.
Audiophile Edition, June 2009
- Berg's original, soulful and richly rewarding music is brilliantly performed on this ground-breaking recording.
New Classics, June 2009
- The world premiere of the commissioned «Four Elements from Hedmark» by Fred Jonny Berg, was the concert's great climax. Not only had the composer created an impressive piece of music, but he also spun some intriguing yarns that enveloped the music. Or maybe it was the other way around. (...) His music is dramatic, intense, cheerful and overwhelming.
(Hamar Arbeiderblad, 03.10.2011)
– Galway formed a sinuous bond with the orchestra in the world premiere of Norwegian composer Fred Jonny Berg's "Flute Mystery," Concerto for Alto Flute and Orchestra. Berg writes music of a spare beauty. The 15-minute, one-movement piece merges cool restraint and rhythmic exactitude. Galway, to whom Berg dedicated the score, played his languid lines with sympathy and dark polish.
(Washington Post, October 6, 2006) Flute Mystery op.66a
– Fred Jonny Berg has given the world yet another timeless classic piece with Flute Sonata no.1 op.40 and should be heralded for his tremendous effort and choice of musicians for this grand masterpiece!
(Gods of Music, 2001). Flute Sonata no. 1 op.40
International reviews
Fred Jonny Berg © 2012. All rights reserved.
