Works by Apollyon, Skouen and Åm Geir Inge Lotsberg

• Nicolay Apollyon (1945-2015)
• 1 Èpiseme. 1: Ictu 08:16
• 2 Èpiseme. 2: Cantii figuri 05:58
• 3 Èpiseme. 3: Fugue 04:48
• Synne Skouen (1950)
• 4 Une Soiree d'ètè... 06:47
• Magnar Åm (1952)
• 5 aching soft, aching hard 19:23
• Total Runtime 45:12

Info for Works by Apollyon, Skouen and Åm

This is the first solo-violin album by the Norwegian violinist Geir Inge Lotsberg, released in 2005. Three different venues with with special acustical qualities were used for the recording. The works by Apollyon and Åm were commisioned and premiered by Lotsberg in the early 2000. Apollyon (1945-2015), Skouen (1950) and Åm (1952) are among the most profiled composers of their generation in Norway, representing a wide stylistic and estetic range.

Épisème connects to the traditions of Byzantine and Venezian music. But even more, it connects to the melodic and rhythmic representation of neumes (gregorian chant): ictus and intensity, ictus and the tonique accent, ictus and the horisontal and vertical épisème (the dilatation and accent of rhythmic phrases), all which date back to the origin of music.

Notation (Paleography and Semiology) Paleography is the study of ancient handwriting in order to establish its interpretation, date and place of origin. The term refers mainly to the study of Greek and Latin handwriting. In an analogous manner, one can speak of musical paleography, defining its science of ancient systems of notation employed to express music in the visual domaine. In a large sense, its object is the reading of ancient manuscripts in view of a musical interpretation and restoration. In a more precise sense, musical paleography is today limited exclusively to the study of musical symbols, their various forms, their history and their graphic distribution. In short: Paleography is the study of neumatic signs and melodic signification, Semiology is the study which examines the reason (logos) for the diversity of the signs (semeion) in order to deduce the fundamental principles for an authentic and objective interpretation. Instead of drawing on modern aestetic concept of rhythms foreign to the Gregorian era, this interpretation must be guided by the facts that comparative work or the diverse signs reveal to us. …

Geir Inge Lotsberg, violin

Recorded 2004/2005 at Sofienberg Church, Ris Church and the Emanuel Vigeland Museum, all in Oslo Engineered by Audun Strype

Recorded to a Nagra V digital two-track recorder at 24bit/96 kHz using two Neumann KM 140 cardiode microphones. Edited in Sequoia daw

Geir Inge Lotsberg
began his professional career at a young age and has distinguished himself as one of Norway’s most active chamber musicians. He studied with Leif Jørgensen in Oslo, Sandor Vègh in Salzburg, Camilla Wicks in Houston and Ana Chumachenco in Munich, and in 1991 he became one of the founding members of Oslo String Quartet.

He is a widely experienced musician and has been a member of ensembles such as the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Academica Salzburg, and concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic and Norwegian National Opera orchestras. In addition to collaborations with other musicians including Håvard Gimse, Einar Steen-Nøkleberg and Kåre Nordstoga, Lotsberg has performed as a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Camerata Academica Salzburg. He released a number of CD recordings featuring works by J. S. Bach, Carl Nielsen and Edvard Grieg, and two recordings of contemporary music for solo violin.

Lotsberg is much in demand as a teacher and orchestra leader, working regularly in recent years with TrondheimSolistene and as a teacher at the Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo.

Since 2007 Geir Inge Lotsberg has played a Joseph Guarnerius filius Andrae from 1703, provided by Dextra Musica AS.

Booklet for Works by Apollyon, Skouen and Åm