Geirr Tveitt, born Nils Tveit (October 19, 1908 – February 1, 1981) was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s.

Early years

Tveitt was born in Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

, where his father briefly worked as a teacher. His parents were Håkonson Lars Tveit (1878–1951) and Johanna Nilsdotter Heradstveit (1882–1966). His family were of farmer stock, and still retained Tveit, their ancestral land in Kvam

Kvam

Kvam is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The parish of Vikør was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Parts of Strandebarm were merged with Kvam on 1 January 1965...

 - a secluded village on the scenic Hardangerfjord

Hardangerfjord

With a length of , the Hardangerfjord in the county of Hordaland in Norway is the third largest fjord in the world and the second largest in Norway. The surrounding district is called Hardanger....

. The Tveit family would relocate to Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

 in the winter to work, but return to Hardanger in the summer to farm. Thus Tveitt enjoyed both a countryside existence and city life. Tveitt had originally been christened Nils, but following his increasing interest in Norwegian heritage, he thought the name 'not Norwegian enough' and changed it to Geir. He later added an extra r to his first name and an extra t to Tveit to indicate more clearly to non-Norwegians the desired pronunciation of his name. It was during his childhood summers in Hardanger that Tveitt gained knowledge of the rich folk-music traditions of the area. Historically, Hardanger's relative isolation allowed for the development of a unique musical culture, with which Tveitt became infatuated. Tveitt was no child prodigy, but discovered that he possessed musical talent, and learned to play both the violin and the piano. And, after having been encouraged by Norwegian composer Christian Sinding

Christian Sinding

Christian August Sinding was a Norwegian composer.-Personal life:He was born in Kongsberg as a son of mine superindendent Matthias Wilhelm Sinding and Cecilie Marie Mejdell . He was a brother of the painter Otto Sinding and the sculptor Stephan Sinding...

, Tveitt decided to try his hand at writing music.

Leipzig

In 1928 Tveitt left Norway to be educated. He headed for Germany - to Leipzig and its Conservatory, which had been the hub of European musical learning and culture for so long. It was an intense time for Tveitt. He studied composition with Hermann Grabner

Hermann Grabner

Hermann Grabner was an Austrian composer and music teacher.Grabner was born in Graz in 1886. He studied law at the University of Graz graduating in 1909. In parallel he studied music with Leopold Suchsland until 1910. He also played temporarily the viola for the Grazer Theatherorchester...

 and Leopold Wenninger, and the piano with Otto Weinreich, making extraordinary progress in both fields. The joy of learning from some of the best German educators of the time were often overshadowed by his almost chronic lack of funds - Tveitt having to rely upon translation work and donations to support himself. The Norwegian composer David Monrad Johansen

David Monrad Johansen

David Monrad Johansen was a Norwegian composer.He was born in Vefsn and grew up near Mosjøen, where he received his first piano lessons. He came to Christiania in 1904 to study at the conservatory there, and he continued taking lessons with Catharinus Elling, Iver Holter and others until he went...

  through the student years. Perhaps it was the expatriation from Norway that kindled in Tveitt a strong desire to embrace completely his Norwegian heritage. Tveitt's profound interest in the modal scales (which forms the basis of the folk-music of many countries) often tested Grabner's patience. However, the latter must have felt great pride when Tveitt had his 12 Two-part Inventions in Lydian, Dorian and Phrygian accepted for publishing by Breitkopf & Hartel in 1930. The following year the Leipzig Radio Orchestra premiered Tveitt's first Piano Concerto - a composition that reflects Tveitt's search for an individual and Norwegian voice.

Amongst the great in Europe

In 1932 Tveitt headed on to Paris. Tveitt had become increasingly frustrated with the teaching in Leipzig, but found a new freedom and inspiration. Here he obtained lessons from some of the greatest and most well-known composers of the times: Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...

 and Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...

 both agreed to see Tveitt. He further managed to enroll in the classes of Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...

. Tveitt also made a visit to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, where he was able to study for some time with Austrian composer Egon J. Wellesz

Egon Wellesz

Egon Joseph Wellesz was an Austrian-born British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music.- Life :...

, a former pupil of Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...

. Tveitt made one last educational stopover in Paris in 1938 before heading home to Norway to work. Compared to other Norwegian composers contemporary with Tveitt, he had perhaps the most diverse education - and he had already started to make a name for himself. His writings and compositions made quite a stir amongst the establishment in Oslo. In the years leading up to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Tveitt derived most of his income working as music critic to Sjofartstidende (The Naval Times). Tveitt's highly opinionated reviews contributed to his securing strong opponents - one of these were the Norwegian composer, Pauline Hall

Pauline Hall (composer)

Pauline Margrete Hall was a Norwegian writer, music critic, organizer and composer. She was born in Hamar and began her study of music in Oslo, continuing in Paris from 1912-13, After completing her studies, she worked as a composer and music critic for the Oslo daily newspaper Dagbladet.Hall was...

. Tveitt focused his energies on composing. As soon as the Second World War had ended, Tveitt brought his scores with him to Europe, touring extensively - often performing own piano works with similar works by other composers, i.e. Grieg and Chopin. Many of the concerts were great personal and artistic successes for the Norwegian composer, and especially so the 1947 concert in Paris. Here Tveitt premiered his Piano Sonatas nos 1 and 29, some of his adaptations of Hardanger Folk-Songs and also the Fourth Concerto for Piano and Orchestra - Aurora Borealis. The piano concerto was performed in a two-piano version, Tveitt assisted by the French pianist Genevieve Joy

Genevieve Joy

Geneviève Joy was a French classical and modernist pianist who, at the end of World War II in 1945, formed a critically acclaimed duo-piano partnership with Jacqueline Robin which lasted for forty-five years, until 1990...

. According to reviews, the concerto had thrown the Parisian audience into a paroxysm of ecstasy. Tveitt's intense, glittering, French-Impressionist flavoured rendition of the dancing and mystical northern winter sky, earned him the acclaim of his former teacher Nadia Boulanger in her following review.

Burned to the ground

In spite of Tveitt's glorious successes internationally, the contemporary Norwegian establishment remained aloof. Following the upheaval of the Second World War, anything that resembled nationalism or purism was quickly disdained by the post-war intellectuals. Tveitt's aesthetic and music were fundamentally unfashionable. Tveitt struggled financially and became increasingly isolated. He spent more and more time at the family farm in Kvam, keeping his music to himself - all manuscripts neatly filed in wooden chests. The catastrophe could therefore hardly have been any worse when his house burned to the ground in 1970. Tveitt despaired - the original manuscripts to almost 300 opuses (including six piano concertos and two concertos for Hardanger fiddle and orchestra) were reduced to singed bricks of paper - deformed and inseparable. The Norwegian Music Information Centre agreed to archive the remains, but the reality was that 4/5 of Tveitt's production was gone - seemingly forever. Tveitt now found it very difficult to compose and gradually succumbed to alcoholism. Several commentators imagine that his many hardships contributed to these conditions. Tveitt died in Norheimsund

Norheimsund

Norheimsund is the municipal administrative centre of Kvam, Norway. The village is located on the northern side of the Hardangerfjord, about 80 km from Bergen. The waterfall Steinsdalsfossen, as of 2006 the 6th most visited natural tourist attraction in Norway, is located near Norheimsund. In...

, Hardanger

Hardanger

Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam and Jondal, and is located inside the county of Hordaland....

, reduced and largely embittered, with little hope for the legacy of his professional work.

A great controversy

One of the most delicate and controversial areas of Tveitt's biography is his affiliation with the so-called Neo-Heathenistic movement, which centered around the Norwegian philosopher Hans S. Jacobsen (1901–1980) in the 1930s in Oslo. This is a topic that frequently returns in Norwegian public debate. Jacobsen's main thesis, inspired by the theories of the German theologist Jakob Wilhelm Hauer

Jakob Wilhelm Hauer

Jakob Wilhelm Hauer was a German Indologist and religious studies writer. He was the founder of the German Faith Movement.-Biography:...

,was the total refutation of Christianity in favour of a new heathen system based upon Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

 and the Edda

Edda

The term Edda applies to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching into the Viking Age...

 poetry. The movement refuted Christianity and sought to re-introduce the Norse pre-Christian system of belief - the adoration of Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

, Thor

Thor

In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...

 and Balder

Balder

Baldr is a god in Norse mythology.In the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerized account of his story...

. Jacobsen later became a member of Nasjonal Samling ('National Assembly'), which led the interim, pro-Hitler puppet government during the German occupation of Norway. Even though Geirr Tveitt displayed a deep interest in the theories of the movement, he never enrolled as a member of Nasjonal Samling. His preoccupation with Jacobsen's thinking however, materialised in conspicuous ways; for example Tveitt invented his own non-Christian timeline based upon the arrival of Leif Erikson in what is now Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Traces of Antisemitism are often found in his correspondence from the 1930s. The Neo-Heathen system of thought found its way into Tveitt's music; his perhaps most intensely such composition is the ballet Baldur's Dreams. In it, one could argue, Tveitt seeks to establish a link between this world - its creation, cycle and dwellers - and the eternal battle between the benevolent heathen Norse gods and their opponents, the evil jotuns. Tveitt began work on the ballet whilst studying in Leipzig, where it was first performed on 24 February 1938. There Baldur's Dreams became a remarkable success, and performances were later given in Berlin, Tübingen, Bergen and Oslo.

Another result of Tveitt's Norse purism was his development of the theory that the modal scales originally were Norwegian, renaming them in honor of Norse gods. He also developed an intricate diatonic theory, which interconnected the modal scales through a system of double leading notes. These ideas were published in his 1937 argument Tonalitätstheorie des parallellen Leittonsystems. Even though most musicologists agree that Tveitt's theories are colored by his personal convictions - his thesis is intelligent, challenging and thought-provoking.

The issue of Tveitt's inglorious relationship with so-called 'nazi-ideologies' is so delicate that most scholars have avoided it altogether. Some commentators have noticed that one of the foremost Norwegian authorities on Tveitt, Hallgjerd Aksnes, Professor of Music at the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

, did not address this question in her article on Tveitt in Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...

. Tveitt's connection to far-right German thinking is perhaps a question scholars will return to as the world understand the dynamics of a troubled period in European history more fully. For Tveitt, the question proved devastating to his reputation, and contributed significantly to his becoming a persona-non-grata in the post-war musical establishment in Norway. However, as the most traumatic years of European history is now becoming more distant, a new generation of academics and musicians are approaching Tveitt and his music. Most of Tveitt's remaining music is now commercially available on records.

Introduction

His music draws from many styles and traditions, most notably the barbarism of Stravinsky's early ballets, the unique rhythms and textures of Bartók's music and the floating and mystic moods of Debussy and Ravel's music - always underpinned by idioms derived from Norwegian folk-music. Very few of Tveitt's works had been published or properly archived at institutions - aggravating the effects of the 1970 fire. Tveitt himself made visits to universities across Norway, and wrote to friends, asking for spare copies and parts - but little was found. However, over the years, copies of quite a few scores have turned up, and others have been reconstructed from orchestral parts, or from radio and magnetic tape recordings.

The great treasure of Hardanger

Tveitt's perhaps greatest musical project was the collection and adaptation of traditional folk melodies from the Hardanger

Hardanger

Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam and Jondal, and is located inside the county of Hordaland....

 district. Many composers and musicologists (including Norway's internationally recognised Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...

) had successfully researched and collected the music of Hardanger long before Tveitt. However, from 1940 onwards, when Tveitt settled permanently in Hardanger, he became one of the locals, and spent much time working and playing with folk-musicians. He thus happened upon a treasure of unknown tunes, claiming to have discovered almost one thousand melodies, and incorporated one hundred of these into his work list; Fifty folktunes from Hardanger for piano op. 150, and Hundred Hardanger Tunes for Orchestra op. 151. Musicologist David Gallagher might speak for many when he suggests that in these two opuses - their universe, music and history - are found the very best of Tveitt's qualities as a composer. The tunes reflect both profound (in fact) Christian values and a parallel universe dominated by the mysticism of nature itself and not only the worldly, but also nether worldly creatures that inhabit it - according to traditional folklore. The major part of the tunes is directly concerned with Hardanger life, which Tveitt was a part of. In his adaptations, therefore, he sought to bring forth not only the melody itself, but also the atmosphere, mood and scenery in which it belonged. Tveitt utilised his profound knowledge of traditional and avant-garde use of harmony and instruments when he scored the tunes - achieving an individual and recognisable texture. Copies of the piano versions and orchestral suites nos 1, 2, 4 and 5 were elsewhere during that tragic fire in 1970, so these works survive. Norwegian musicologists hope that suite nos 3 and 6 might be restored from the burned-out remnants held at the archives in Oslo.

Songs for the common Norwegian

Tveitt's works remained largely misunderstood and unappreciated by his contemporary Norwegian musical establishment. However, Tveitt won the hearts of a whole nation with his radio programmes on folk music at the Norwegian National Broadcasting (NRK) in the 1960s and '70s. Tveitt worked as Assistant Producer to the radio, where he also premiered numerous songs written to texts by respected and well-known Norwegian poets like Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....

, Arnulf Overland, Aslaug Vaa

Aslaug Vaa

Aslaug Vaa was a Norwegian poet and playwright.-Biography:Aslaug Vaa was born on Nystog in Rauland, in Telemark county, Norway. Her lyrical debut was Nord i leite...

 and Herman Wildenvey

Herman Wildenvey

Herman Wildenvey , born Herman Theodor Portaas, was one of the most prominent Norwegian poets of the twentieth century. During his lifetime he published 44 books of his own poetry, in addition to translations of William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, and Heinrich Heine.- Biography :Wildenvey was...

. Many Norwegians remember perhaps Tveitt most fondly for his tune to Aslaug Laastad Lygre's poem We should not sleep in summer nights. Tveitt could not impress the musical intelligentsia with his complicated and refined scores, but won the affection of the commoner with simple lyrical tunes of a clearly Norwegian curve. In 1980 Tveitt was awarded the Lindeman prize for the work he had done through the NRK.

Recordings and research

Today Norway is seeing the advent of a new generation of musicians and musicologists, who seem to be primarily concerned with Tveitt's music and not so much with the controversies he inspired. Starting in the late 1990s the Norwegian government began to provide some funding for the examination and preservation of the remains of Tveitt's scores, and several startling discoveries have been made. Thought to have been lost for all time, Baldur's Dreams appeared amongst the damaged manuscripts, and its fate is illustrative. Tveitt made numerous versions of the ballet - in Paris he presented a reworked score Dances from Baldur's Dreams. Tveitt then sent it to the choreographer Serge Lifar

Serge Lifar

Serge Lifar ; 15 December 1986) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century.-Biography:Lifar was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire...

 in London, where the score allegedly was lost in the Blitz.

However, after the singed manuscripts held at the NMIC were examined in 1999, it became apparent that Tveitt indeed had a copy of the 1938 original score - and through tedious restoration work by Norwegian composer Kaare Dyvik Husby and Russian composer Alexej Rybnikov from the singed manuscripts, recording, and a piano version, the ballet literally rose from the ashes. It is now available on BIS-CD-1337/1338, where Ole Kristian Ruud

Ole Kristian Ruud

Ole Kristian Ruud is a Norwegian conductor.He studied clarinet with Richard Kjelstrup at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy and made his debut in Oslo with the National theater...

 conducts the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra

The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra from Stavanger, Norway. The SSO gives concerts primarily in the Stavanger Konserthus...

. A TV documentary program Baldur's Dreams on the incredible fate of the ballet, was broadcast in Norway on June 15, 2008 and attracted nationwide interest.

Another reconstruction project worth mentioning is the reconstruction of the solo piano piece Morild. The title alludes to the mysterious phenomenon of phosphorescence of the sea, and it was amongst the treasures lost in the 1970 fire. Fortunately, a recording of the work made by Tveitt for French national radio in 1952 has survived. It was issued for the first time on Simax in 1994. A reconstruction of the score was undertaken by the American transcription specialist Chris Eric Jensen in 2005 in collaboration with the pianist Håvard Gimse

Håvard Gimse

Håvard Gimse is a Norwegian classical pianist from Kongsvinger. He has received the Grieg Prize and the Steinway Prize . Gimse has done several recordings for Naim Audio, Naxos Records, Sony Classical Records, Chandos Records and Simax....

 who gave the piece its first performance on Tveitt's 100th birthday on October 19, 2008 - first time performance by another pianist but the composer himself.

Selected works

The major part of Tveitt's scores are published by the Norwegian Music Information Centre, and the archives of the Society of Norwegian Composers.

• Baldur's Dreams
  Baldurs draumar
  Baldurs draumar is the name of a ballet by the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt.The story in the ballet is heavily based on the eddaic poem "Baldrs draumar", but is rewritten to be more easily understood by the audience....
  
   - Music from the ballet
• Basun for tenor voice and orchestra (1971)
• Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra, Op. 5 (1927)
• Concerto No. 3 for piano and orchestra (This work exists only on a 1947 recording, with Tveitt himself playing the piano part.)
• Concerto No. 4 for piano and orchestra, Op. 130 - 'Aurora Borealis' (Nordljus / Northern Lights) (piano part reconstructed from full orchestral parts and a recording)
• Concerto No. 5 for piano and orchestra, Op. 156 (1954)
• Concerto No. 1 for Hardanger fiddle and orchestra
• Concerto No. 2 for Hardanger fiddle and orchestra - 'Three Fjords'
• Concerto No. 2 for harp and orchestra
• Dragaredokko
  Dragaredokko
  Dragaredokko is the name of an opera by the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt, performed in 1940. The entire score was destroyed in a fire in 1970, but an incomplete piano transcription still exists in the National Library of Norway....
  
  , opera
• Fifty Hardanger Tunes, Op. 150 - arranged for piano
• Four-part Inventions in Lydian, Dorian, and Phyrgian, Op. 4 for piano
• Halldor Meland
• A Hundred Hardanger Tunes, Op. 151 - Suite No. 1
• A Hundred Hardanger Tunes, Op. 151 - Suite No. 2
• A Hundred Hardanger Tunes, Op. 151 - Suite No. 4
• A Hundred Hardanger Tunes, Op. 151 - Suite No. 5
• Jeppe, opera
  Opera
  Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
  
  
• Nykken
  Nykken
  Nykken is a symphonic poem composed by the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt in 1957.It is written for orchestra and several solo instruments, although they do not have any solo roles. It was written on demand for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and survived a fire in 1970 by being kept safe...
  
   (The Water Sprite), symphonic poem
  Symphonic poem
  A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
  
   for large orchestra
• Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 129, 'Sonata Etere'
  Piano Sonata No. 29 (Geirr Tveitt)
  The Piano Sonata No. 29 Sonata Etere Op. 129 by Geirr Tveitt is Tveitt's only surviving piano sonata. The piece, though met with disdain by critics upon its publication in the early 1950s, has attained a prominent place among Norwegian piano sonatas....
  
  
• Prillar - Suite in Norwegian modes, 1931
• Sun God Symphony for orchestra (abridged version of Baldur's Dreams)
• Symphony No. 1 'Christmas, 1958. (Reconstructed for the 2008 Bergen Festival.)
• Telemarkin - Cantata for voice and orchestra
• The Turtle for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Text from Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
• Three-part Inventions in Lydian, Dorian, and Phrygian, Op. 3 for piano
• 12 Two-part Inventions in Lydian, Dorian, and Phrygian, Op. 2 for piano (1930)
• Variations on a Folk song from Hardanger, for two pianos and orchestra

Primary sources

• Aksnes, Hallgjerd, Perspectives of Musical Meaning: A Study Based on Selected Works by Geirr Tveitt, (doctoral dissertation, University of Oslo, 2002)
• Emberland, Terje, Religion og rase. Nyhedenskap og nazisme i Norge 1933-1945 (Oslo: Humanist Forlag, 2003).
• Storaas, Reidar, Tonediktaren Geirr Tveitt: Songjen i Fossaduren (Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo, 1990)
• Storaas, Reidar, Geir Tveitt: Mellom triumf og tragedie (2008)
• Tveit, Tore, Geirr Tveitt: Nordmann og Europeer: Hans Forhold til Den Nasjonale Retning i 1930-årene (doctoral dissertation, University of Oslo, 1983)

Other sources

• Gallagher, David, 'A Hundred Hardanger Tunes, Op. 151: Suites Nos. 2 and 5,' sleeve notes for compact disc NAXOS 8.555770, 2002, 3 - 4.
• Gallagher David, 'Piano Concerto No. 4 "Aurora Borealis",' sleeve notes for compact disc NAXOS 8.555761, 2002, 2 - 4.
• Storaas, Reidar, 'Geirr Tveitt and Baldur,' sleeve notes for compact disc BIS CD-1337/1338 DIGITAL, 2003, 3 - 6.

External links

• Geirr Tveitt website