MARTIN ROMBERG (b.1978): Valaquenta, Tableaux Fantastiques.

Description: A Norwegian residing in Paris, Romberg writes in a post-Romantic tonal language and many of his works are inspired by themes from fantasy literature, the visual arts, Celtic mythology and comic strips. The first two of these come into play here: Valaquenta is the second chapter of Tolkien's Silmarillion, the creation myth of Middle-Earth. The seven pieces in this suite depict each of the seven principal male deities of the pantheon. The ten Tableaux are inspired by paintings by the Pole Jacek Yerka, who blends dream images with pictuesque scenes from the eastern European countryside. The latter especially seem to draw out the influences of Satie and of French Impressionism while the list of gods casts its post-Romantic net far more widely, even embracing elements which some might find "New Age"-ey. Aimo Pagin (piano).