Norwegian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-4 / Romeo & Juliet

Norwegian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-4 / Romeo & Juliet

• Norwegian
• Svendsen, J.
• Rhapsodies

Johan Svendsen remains pre-eminent among those 19th-century Norwegians who harnessed<br>Romantic Nationalism to Classical musical forms. Inspired by Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies<br>(8.554480 and 8.554481) the four Norwegian Rhapsodies spin traditional melodies into expansive<br>orchestral essays whose eloquence, ebullience and energy has ensured them wide appeal.<br>His Romeo and Juliet, completed prior to Tchaikovsky's fantasy-overture, and Zorahayda, based<br>on Washington Irving's tale of a Moorish princess and a Christian knight, are dreamy musical<br>evocations of two classic love stories. Svendsen's two symphonies are also available on 8.553898.