Hurum, Alf (Thorvald)
Hurum, Alf (Thorvald)
Hurum, Alf (Thorvald), Norwegian pianist, conductor, composer, and painter; b. Christiania, Sept. 21, 1882; d. Honolulu, Aug. 15, 1972. He studied with Max Bruch and Robert Kahn at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin (1905–09); later took additional courses in Paris and in Russia. He was a co-founder of the Soc. of Norwegian Composers in 1917. After touring as a concert pianist, he settled in Hawaii, where he established the Honolulu Sym. Orch. and was its conductor (1924–26). His 2nd career was that of a silk painter in the Japanese manner, which preoccupied him during his later years. In his music, he cultivated coloristic harmonies, somewhat in an impressionist mode.
Works
2 violin sonatas (1911, 1916); 3 Aquarelles for Piano (1912); String Quartet (1913); Exotic Suite for Violin and Piano (1916); Pastels, 4 pieces for Piano (1916); Eventyrland (Fairy Land), suite for Orch. or Piano (1920); Gotiske bilder, 6 pieces for Piano (1920); Norse Suite for Orch. (1920); Bendikt and Aarolilja, symphonic poem (1923); Sym. (1927); songs; motets.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire