A Hundred Hardanger Tunes

A Hundred Hardanger Tunes (Op. 151, Hundrad hardingtonar for orkester) is a collection of folk songs from the Hardanger region of Norway arranged for orchestra by the composer Geirr Tveitt between 1954 and 1963. Of the originally planned 100 tunes, 4 suites with a total of 60 songs are extant.

Background
Geirr Tveitt (1908 – 1981) began to collect folk songs from the Hardanger region of Norway in the mid 1930s and continued throughout World War II. Of the more than 1000 tunes he collected, he first arranged 50 for piano as his opus 150. He then undertook the larger project of opus 151, A Hundred Hardanger Tunes for orchestra. Some of the songs are entirely Tveitt's own compositions. The songs are arranged into suites, of which number three (31–45) has been lost and number five (61–75) is the last, giving a total of 60 extant songs.

Suite nr. 1, 1–15
Adapted from a suite of twelve songs arranged for opus 150 in 1950. Composed in its final form in the autumn of 1954 and first performed in 1954 by the conductor Odd Grüner-Hegge and the Oslo Philharmonic. 1.

2. Velkomne med æra

3. Flyteljod

4. Fagraste viso pao joræ

5. Moltor og myrabær

6. Stavkyrkjestev

7. Å naoe meg no fø mi tusta

8. Upskoka

9. Syrgjeleg song um ein tom brennevinsdunk

10. Langeleiklåt

11. Stølstone

12. Hastverksbrudlaup

13. Guds godhet og Guds storhet

14. Vise folks folkevisa um visse folk

15. Storskrytarstev

16. Siste farvel

Suite nr. 2 Fjellstev nr. 16–30
Composed in 1955 and first performed on 7 June 1955 at the Bergen Festival, by the conductor Odd Grüner-Hegge and the Filharmonisk Selskap. 1. Langt, langt te fjells te Turid

2. Med ulvar og rein i uver pao viddæ

3. Høno, hunden, kjyræ og hesten

4. Fjell-lokk

5. Med sterkt øl te fjells

6. Seljeflyta yver stillt fjellvatn

7. Gamle-Erik sin klagesong

8. Rjupo pao Folgafodne

9. Å! høyre du songjen i fossaduren?

10. Huldraslaotten hans Haltelars

11. Songjen inne i Huldrahaugjen

12. Eldebrand i skjegget

13. Munnharpeljod

14. Fjedlmansjento up i lid

15. Eg saog meg ut so vida

Suite nr. 3, 31–45 (lost)
Never performed. According to Tveitt, the songs were about farming and old customs. The scores were lost when Tveitt's home burned down in 1970.

Suite nr. 4 Brudlaupssuiten nr. 46-60
Composed in 1958 and first performed the same year in Bergen by Odd Grüner-Hegge and the Filharmonisk Selskap. 1. Du

2. Friarføter

3. Eit gamalt sel fortel

4. Belaresveinen

5. Pao veg te brudlaupsgarden

6. Krunebrure

7. Graot og laott aot ein gamadlu baot

8. So stillt dei ror pao Glitrefjord

9. Kjømeistervisa

10. Dei kvite skaut i sumarbrisen bylgjer

11. Rikje-Ragna med jarnhendene

12. Skottrarar

13. Bruradrammane

14. Fyllesnakk

15. Haringøl

Suite nr. 5 Trolltonar nr. 61–75
First performed in 1963 in Bergen by the conductor Arvid Fladmoe and Harmonien. 1. Trollstemt fele

2. Huldrebufora

3. Huldre-bånsull

4. Huldre-nøring

5. Bytingen

6. Folgafodne fortel ingjenting

7. Trollsylvet

8. Galdresong

9. Krokharpa som kunde tala

10. Gardvoren dansar

11. Nykken spelar

12. Tussmyrkre (first title: Frå Fykse)

13. Tusseflyta

14. Dvergmålet

15. Domedag

Tveitt made sketches for more suites, but they were lost in the fire in 1970.

Discography
Simax Classics released a recording of suite one in 1989, performed by Per Dreier and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. BIS Records released suites one and two on CD in December 1998, titled 100 Folk-tunes from Hardanger and performed by the conductor Ole Kristian Ruud and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. In July 2001 and January 2002, Naxos released two CDs with performances by the conductor Bjarte Engeset and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, under the title A Hundred Hardanger Tunes. The first CD features suites one and four, and the second features suites two and five.