Don Satz on P-B;

>I'm glad to freshen up the day, but I didn't think I was accusing P-B of
>anything, just noting that after listening to a disc of his symphonies, I
>couldn't remember any of the melodies.  But, as I already noted, I'm not
>finished with the man.  There is something about his music that draws me
>in; I just haven't figured out what it is.  And this bothers me some for
>there sure isn't anything particularly complicated or innovative about his
>music.  In fact, although both P-B and Borresen are in the late romantic
>time period, I find their music more romantic than late.  Zemlinsky they
>aren't.

No, P-B is following in the footsteps of Grieg.  But by Swedish (and
Scandinavian) standards, his harmonies are pretty advanced.  A sort of
impressionistic, national romantic.  He also allows himself a certain
amount of exotism in some of the movements, writing in 5/8 (second
Symphony) or 10/8 (third Symhony).  As a composer, he is working with the
contrast between "North" and "South" (Apollo and Dionysos respectively,
to put in his own words).

Mikael
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