Harald Lie Explained

Harald Lie (21 November 1902 – 23 May 1942) was a Norwegian composer. He died young of tuberculosis and is mainly remembered for one composition, Skindvengbrev ("A Bat's Letter"), an orchestral song after his own wind quintet.^[1]

The poem Skinnvengbrev ("A Bat's Letter") is by Aslaug Vaa and was also later set by Geirr Tveitt; it begins "Eg trudde eingong du hadde gøymt deg, at både du og Gud ha gløymt meg,.." (English: "Once I thought you had gone hiding, that I was forgotten by you and By God, and I was the least of created things"). Kirsten Flagstad recorded Lie's orchestral song, together with a less well known song by Lie, Nykelen ("The Key"), with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Øivin Fjeldstad.

Notes and References

1. Listen to Norway – Volumes 7–8 1999 "Some composers have the misfortune to be remembered solely for one composition, as was the European-oriented Harald Lie (1902–42), whose orchestral song Skindvengbrev (Bat Letter, text by Aslaug Vaa) was after his wind quintet he "