The Norwegian Radio Orchestra and conductor Thomas Rimul present three new works by Norwegian composer Jon Øivind Ness - the Piano Concerto ‘Sunburst’, the Guitar Concerto ‘Bury my Heart at Katnosa’, and the work which lends its title for this CD: the Concerto for two Trombones ‘Fierce Kentucky Mothers of Doom’.
Much of Jon Øivind Ness’s music has a darkly humorous streak, although in recent years his style has changed to something more serious which he himself labels “dark ambient”.
He regards all three of the concertos recorded here as reflecting a transitional phase between the two approaches. His Piano Concerto carries the title ‘Sunburst’ which reflects its bright, burnished sonorities, while the concerto for amplified guitar and orchestra ‘Bury my Heart at Katnosa’, conceived as a tribute to the scenically beautiful Katnosa Lake due north of Oslo, is both a genuine romantic nature poem in the tradition of Grieg and a gentle satire of that genre of music. ‘Fierce Kentucky Mothers of Doom’, a concerto for two trombones and orchestra, is influenced by the Quentin Tarantino’s vampire horror-comedy film ‘From Dusk till Dawn’.
Norwegian composer Jon Øivind Ness was born in 1968 and received a place at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in 1987 to study the guitar. In 1989 he made the transition to composition studies at the same institution, studying with amongst others, Olav Anton Thommessen and Lasse Thoresen.
Previous recordings of music by Jon Øivind Ness on the Aurora label include the title works on the 2007 album Bad news in the desert (ACD5053) and the 2012 CD Zvezdochka in Orbit (ACD5063). Another orchestral piece, ‘Mad Cap Tootling’ appeared on the 2011 album Catch Light, whilst in 2009 Simax released the CD Low Jive, an album devoted to his music, performed by the Oslo Philharmonic (PSC1278).
