Halfdan Cleve born Halfdan Klewe (5 October 1879 – 6 April 1951) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and father or the pianist and composer Cissi Cleve.

Biography

Cleve was born and raised in

Kongsberg, Norway Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...

. He lived some time in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Some examples on his output as a composer are

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

s, other

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

works, and some

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. He was described as a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

. He married pianist Berit Winderen (10 February 1878 – 23 September 1964) and they had four children. Throughout his early childhood he was tutored with a firm hand by his father, the organist Andreas Klewe. A child prodigy, he made his first appearances on the concert stage at the age of five. The strictness of his training is exemplified by the fact that he was not allowed to play anything other than the works of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

until he was sixteen. For the next three years his musical training was undertaken by Otto Winter-Hjelm, after which he studied in Berlin under Professor Raif and the brothers Xaver and

Philipp Scharwenka Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka (16 February 1847, in Szamotuły amter Grand Duchy of Posen – 16 July 1917, in Bad Nauheim) was a German-Polish composer and teacher of music. He was the older brother of Xaver Scharwenka. Early training Scharwenka w ...

. In 1902, Cleve debuted his First Piano Concerto in Berlin. That same year, he married Berit Winderen, a student of

Teresa Carreño María Teresa Gertrudis de Jesús Carreño García (December 22, 1853June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, soprano, composer, and conductor. Over the course of her 54-year concert career, she became an internationally renowned virtuoso pia ...

, and made numerous concert appearances together, both in Norway and abroad. Cleve composed five piano concertos, a violin sonata, a piano quintet, songs with orchestral accompaniment and over one hundred piano pieces. In the last period of his life (1926–50), he worked as piano teacher at Music Conservatory in Oslo and died 1951 in Oslo.

Works

* 1900: ''7 Klaverstykker'', op. 1 * 1901: ''Klaverkonsert nr. 1'', op. 3 * 1904: ''Klaverkonsert nr. 2'', op. 6 * 1907: ''Klaverkonsert nr. 3'', op. 9 * 1908: ''Four songs with orchestra to palms by Olaf Schou'', op. 11 * 1912: ''Klaverkonsert nr. 4'', op. 12 * 1915: ''Klaverkonsert nr. 5'', op. 20 * 1931: ''Sonata for violin and piano'', op. 21 (op. 33–36 is not released)

Discography

* 1980: ''Halfdan Cleve, Einar Steen-Nøkleberg, New Symphony Orchestra of London, Roy Wales - Klaverkonsert Nr. 4 A-Moll / Klaversonate D-Moll - Etyde Fiss-Dur - Vårbølger Dess-Dur'' (Norsk Kulturråds Klassikerserie) * 1992: ''Halfdan Cleve, Geir Henning Braaten - Piano Works'' (Norsk Kulturråds Klassikerserie) * 2018: ''Ballade Tragica, Halfdan Cleve Chamber Works'' (SIMAX)

References

External links

* 1879 births 1951 deaths Norwegian classical composers Musicians from Kongsberg {{Norway-composer-stub