HALVORSEN, JOHAN  BIOGRAPHY

Johan Halvorsen, violinist, conductor and composer, continued the nationalist Norwegian traditions established by Grieg, serving for thirty years as conductor of the Christiania National Theatre.

Orchestral Music

There is a place in popular repertoire for Halvorsen's Danses norvégiennes, for violin and orchestra, and for his Entry March of the Boyars. Less often heard are his three symphonies and two Rhapsodies on Norwegian folk-tunes.

Chamber Music

Halvorsen is regarded with gratitude by viola players for his arrangements of a Sarabande and a Passacaglia by Handel for violin and viola, transcriptions that call for a measure of virtuosity in both players.