Thomas Søndergård
Leif Ove Andsnes Ørjan Matre
Richard Strauss

Ørjan Matre (b. 1979) has composed a number of solo concertos—for clarinet, harp, violin, percussion, and trombone. In Matre’s music, the soloist is not merely a virtuosic front figure but a driving force and a resource for the orchestra. His first collaboration with Leif Ove Andsnes was a special arrangement of Lyric Pieces. Matre’s Piano Concerto is written for Andsnes, who performs as the soloist in its world premiere.

When Ørjan Matre was commissioned to compose music for the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra based on historical material, he selected six of Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces for piano. His orchestral work Lyric Pieces premiered in 2019 and was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize the following year. Matre begins with Arietta and concludes with Efterklang—the first and last of Grieg’s 66 Lyric Pieces.

Richard Strauss (1864–1949) quotes his own music about 30 times in the virtuosic tone poem Ein Heldenleben (1898). Some interpreted A Hero’s Life as a self-portrait, depicting the artist’s achievements, adversaries, and allies. Strauss, however, stated that the work was not meant to represent “a single figure from literature or history, but rather a more general and free ideal of magnificent, manly heroism.”