SUNLEIF RASMUSSEN Aldubáran

Sunleif Rasmussen Dancing Raindrops Solo and ensemble works SunleifAldubáran Rasmussen Dancing Raindrops Solo and ensemble works Aldubáran Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) 9 Andalag #2 (2007) * �� 4:15 for two flutes Dancing Raindrops Solo and ensemble works Andrea Heindriksdóttir and Bernharður Wilkinson, flutes Aldubáran Like the Golden Sun (1993) * �� 14:25 for piano and effect processor 10 I The winter gleam illuminates our mountains �� 3:16 11 II Upon us are the peaceful pearl grey days and the magical dusk �� 2:50 12 III The playful Northern lights return �� 1:09 13 IV Ice crystals sparkle delightfully on the road �� 3:31 14 V The immortal fountain of light brings a precious drop of eternity to our mortal eyes �� 3:39 Jóhannes Andreasen, piano

Dancing Raindrops (1995) * �� 13:15 15 Mozaik / Miniature (1999) �� 7:23 for clarinet, violin and piano for flute, clarinet, piano and violin 1 I Con brio e ben ritmico �� 4:12 Capriccioso – Animato e lontano – Animato ed espressivo – Meno mosso 2 II Fluente �� 4:30 Andrea Heindriksdóttir, flute; Anna Klett, clarinet; 3 III Con brio �� 4:33 Sámal Petersen, violin; Jóhannes Andreasen, piano Anna Klett, clarinet; Øssur Bæk, violin; Jóhannes Andreasen, piano

Total 56:14 Suite (2007) * �� 16:56 for guitar and effect processor * World première recording 4 I Præludium �� 3:58 5 II Allemande �� 3:01 6 III Courante �� 1:48 7 IV Sarabande �� 4:58 8 V Gigue �� 3:11 Ólavur Jakobsen, guitar Dacapo is supported by the Danish Arts Council Committee for Music musical experience one can get out of Sun- by Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and In 1992 he received grants from the Sunleif Rasmussen leif Rasmussen’s music. But all the national John Storgårds. In 2006 the première of his Leonnie Sonning Foundation and from the baggage can also seem superfluous. Much as opera The Madman’s Garden took place in Danish Composers’ Society. In 1997 he was Faroese composer Sunleif Rasmussen was his music may recall the rushing wind, it can Tórshavn, and has since been followed by awarded a three-year grant from the Danish born on Sandoy – ‘the sand island’ – in 1961. equally recall the music in the environment performances in Tallin (Estonia) 2008 and at State Arts Foundation, and in 2002 the In terms of his own priorities, the stress that Sunleif Rasmussen was a part of at the the Arts Festival in Reykjavík (Iceland) 2009. prestigious Nordic Council Music Prize. As on nationality is important if one wants Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copen- In 2009 he was commissioned to write a the youngest person so far he received the to approach his music and understand hagen at the end of the 1980s. His contem- work for the 100th anniversary of the Faroese Faroese Cultural Prize of Honour in 2011. its background. At all events the Faroese porary Bent Sørensen, formerly professor of capital, Tórshavn, resulting in a large scale aspect – the colonial history, the yearning composition in Copenhagen, or one of the cantata combining many elements of Dancing raindrops can clearly be heard in for freedom, the language, the songs and the most important figures of twentieth century Faroese music life such as choir, classical the virtuosic chamber playing in the first culture – fills most of the self-portrait that he music, György Ligeti, are people with tonal and rhytmic musicians as well as the tradi- work on this CD. Water is the theme which put into writing in 2002 when he received the idioms and ideas for music that just as tional Faroese chain dance. connects the work with the Symphony No.1. greatest recognition ever awarded a Faroese definitively resemble Rasmussen’s. In recent years he has had two reciden- The music is not bound by any traditional composer: the Nordic Council Music Prize Sunleif Rasmussen has written orchestral cies: in 2008-2009 with the South Jutland form: a fast first movement, a calm middle for the symphony Oceanic Days. works, solo concertos, chamber music, solo Symphony Orchestra for whom he composed movement, followed by a lyrical thematic Sunleif Rasmussen’s musical idiom is pieces, electroacoustic works for tape and Prelude to an Orchestra and a recorder winding-up in the third movement, ending Faroese, too. Deep within the structure lie for live electronics as well as a great deal of concerto, Territorial Songs, premièred with with an abrupt “final-cut”. We are not talking traces of old Faroese songs which Rasmus- choral music. His scoring and ideas are of- Michala Petri as the soloist; and in 2009-10 about common musical forms, and yet: the sen has collected, broken down and rebuilt ten untraditional and take into account the with the Danish vocal ensemble Ars Nova first idea, which the music returns to several into a modern store of musical material. venue where the music will be performed, Copenhagen and Paul Hillier who premièred times, is reminiscent of a fugue but without Material that one can quite reasonably say sometimes defining the placement of or- Gylfaginning for choir, narrator and effect conforming to the traditional melodic or is both his own and new – but which at the chestra musicians between the audience, or processor, leading to a new commission for rhythmic steadfastness. We hear an incessant same time has a relationship with tradi- an item on a concert programme is preceded Paul Hillier’s ensemble Theatre of Voices, change, which is repeated, and as such is the tion and history. The Faroese landscape, by excerpts scored for a few musicians who namely a work for solo quartet of voices and pattern for the work, which dissolves into however, seems far more of a presence in play it in the foyer before the concert. His string quartet. lyricism at the end. Rasmussen’s music. music has been performed by ensembles Sunleif Rasmussen is founder and direc- His youth in Sandoy with the omnipresent throughout the world, including New York, tor of one of the numerous choirs in the Suite for guitar appears to be a musical echo Atlantic, the dunes, the lyme-grass and the Berlin, Paris, London, and Helsinki. Faroe Islands, Tarira, and furthermore a from the Baroque age. The composer uses gales – perhaps not unlike the conditions In 2004 he was visiting composer at the keen teacher, emphasizing the importance the same movement names and order as the on the west coast of Jutland in the autumn – Korsholm Festival in Finland, where his vio- of music education amongst coming genera- French and German Baroque composers did seems to explain much of the highly sensual lin concerto Songs of Seasons was premièred tions in the Faroe Islands. in their solo suites. Baroque instrumental

4 5 music can be likened with a rapid tide of dialogue and changing roles – effervescent On the whole, the works on this CD give a has played a dynamic and integrated part in ‘soggetti’, themes that do not end as defined music which can also be lyrical. broad representation of Sunleif Rasmussen, the development of Faroese music. The group by the rules of form, but rather by them- a composer who stretches extensively in has undertaken many projects throughout selves as all possibilities are exhausted. Like The Golden Sun is a significant work. Not expression, time and style. the years but without a doubt the biggest one Præludium is an echo of this – with added only is it a work that introduces electron- Hans Pauli Wenningsted Tórgarð, 2011 has been the commission of the first Faroese rhythms that shift the emphasis all the ics to the composer’s repertoire, but the opera, The Madman’s Garden by Sunleif time. In Allemande and Courante there is a musical process curiously changes through- Rasmussen. An augmented Aldubáran with definite current of sound distinctive of the out the work, and several performance The Artists Bernharður Wilkinson, conductor, gave its artistic dance music, a precise ensemble techniques are introduced, for instance the In 1995, seven young Faroese musicians première in 2006 to great critical acclaim between guitar and effect. The musical piano is used as a harp. The sound emerges formed an ensemble with the main purpose from some of the most respected internation- statement of the Sarabande reminds us of with gradual changes to several parameters to perform and promote Faroese music. al music magazines and newspapers. the old style, but we also hear a dissonant simultaneously. The sound of the piano This ensemble is Aldubáran. Today www.aldubaran.com blanket of sound behind the pure music of is dominant in the first movements; we Aldubáran has 14 members playing the flute, the guitar. The Gigue is obvious dance mu- hear a stuttering chorale – the composer’s clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, Andrea Heindriksdóttir (flute) Studied sic, characterised by virtuosic guitar playing mantle for the song, ‘As the golden sun violin, viola, guitar and piano. This rather at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in and effects. breaks through’. The theme travels upwards untraditional combination of instruments Copenhagen with Henrik Svitzer. Finished towards the last movement, ‘The immortal makes for great diversity in concerts and her music diploma exam in 1992. Has at- Andalag #2 is the second of several proposed fountain of light brings a precious drop of gives scope for composers. Aldubáran has tended courses with Andreas Adorjan and works for wind instruments. The title eternity to our mortal eyes’, where the elec- commissioned and premièred a vast number Michel Debost. Works as a teacher at the ‘Andalag’ is in fact composed of two faroese tronic part becomes ever more present as the of works by Faroese and foreign composers Faroese Music School and is principal flute words ‘andi’ and ‘lag’. ‘Andi’ meaning either music develops. which have been well received by the press of the Faroese Symphony Orchestra. spirit or breath, whilst ‘lag’ means melody, and public. Composer Sunleif Rasmussen layer or mood. The title Andalag has con- Mozaik / Miniature consists of fragments and the musicians in Aldubáran are the first Anna Klett (clarinet) studied at the Royal nections with one of the first works by the from Symphony No. 1, here scored for generation of professional musicians in the Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. composer, but apart from the title there is chamber ensemble. The piano theme which Faroe Islands. All the works on this CD, with Finished her music diploma exam in 1991 little musical affinity between the two. In begins this work can be heard a few minutes one exception (Dancing Raindrops), are dedi- and received her soloist diploma in 1994. Andalag#2 we are in the musical environ- into the Symphony, played by a solo clarinet. cated and composed for the musicians in Further studies at the Conservatoire de ment of Symphony No. 1 “Oceanic Days”, It is perhaps the inspiration of folk music Aldubáran. The works are all very demanding Musique de Gèneve with Thomas Friedli; especially when taking into account Sunleif which gives this work a particular feeling of both artistically and technically and one can was awarded the Premier Prix. Works now as Rasmussen’s ideas and use of echo-harmo- concert intimacy, which continues until the hear the obvious strong bond between com- a freelance musician in Copenhagen and is nies and shadow-harmonies. The musicians end as the music dissolves in glissandi and poser and performers. The close connection also a member of Athelas Sinfonietta Copen- dazzle with virtuosic playing in close spatial sonorities. between Aldubáran and Sunleif Rasmussen hagen and of Figura Ensemble.

6 7 Øssur Bæk (violin) began playing violin at cian in Copenhagen and was member of the Nordic Council’s Music Prize winners Sun- Moyse, William Bennett and James Galway, the Suzuki Institute in Copenhagen. Stud- Copenhagen-based Corona Guitar Quartet. leif Rasmussen and Atli Heimir Sveinsson. and was appointed to the Iceland Symphony ied at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music Has commissioned and premièred a vast Orchestra in 1975, and has since performed in Odense with Béla Detreköy whilst also number of compositions by Danish and Bernhardur Wilkinson (flute) began frequently as a soloist with various ensem- playing in the Odense Symphony Orchestra. Faroese composers such as Per Nørgård, his musical studies at an early age as a bles. Bernhardur is a founding member Further studies at the Music Conservatoire Axel Borup-Jørgensen, Pierre Dørge, Sunleif chorister at Westminster Abbey in London. of the Reykjavik Wind Quintet which has per- in Utrecht with Viktor Liberman; received Rasmussen, Edvard N. Debess, and Kristian He entered the Royal Northern College of formed throughout the world, including the his soloist diploma in 1990. Worked as 1st Blak. Worked as a session musician with a Music in 1969 where his principle study was Wigmore and Carnegie Halls, Sydney Opera violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra for number of popular artists as well as Ensem- the flute. His main teacher was Trevor Wye. House, and live broadcasts for the BBC. some years. Is also one of the founding ble CAPUT and Collegium Musicum. Works He has attended master classes with Marcel www.wilkinson.fo members of the Royal Danish Chamber now as a freelance musician and teacher at Orchestra. the Faroese Music School. www.olavurjakobsen.com Sámal Petersen (violin) studied at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense with Jóhannes Andreasen (piano) studied Bela Detreköy, Alexander Fischer and Arne piano from an early age and later on at Balk-Møller. Took his diploma exam in 1993. the Hochschule für Musik und darstel- Further studies in Vienna with Ernst Ko- lende Kunst in Vienna. He continued his vacic and Maigraed McCann. Has attended education, studying chamber music at the courses with Valerij Klimov and Kristian International Menuhin Music Academy in Altenburg. Works now as a violin teacher at Switzerland and later with Peter Feucht- the Faroese Music School and is the leader of wanger in London. He has attended courses the Faroese Symphony Orchestra. with various musicians, e.g. Irena Zaritskaya and Edith Picht-Axenfeld. He works as a Ólavur Jakobsen (guitar) studied at the teacher at the Faroese Music School and Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copen- as a freelance musician. He frequently hagen with Ingolf Olsen and took his di- performs in duos and chamber music and ploma exam in 1995. Further studies in Paris has recorded CDs for the labels Extraplatte, with French guitarist Roland Dyens. Has Kontrapunkt, and Tutl. As a soloist he has participated in masterclasses with Sir Julian performed several times with the Faroese Bream, Göran Söllscher and David Russell. Symphony Orchestra. He has premièred solo Worked for some years as a freelance musi- works by a number of composers, including

8 9 d Recorded at Studio Bloch, The Faroe Islands Art Museum and The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands 2009-2011 Recording producers: Bernharður Wilkinson and Sunleif Rasmussen Sound engineers: Jónas Bloch Danielsen and Heðin Ziska Davidsen Editing: Jónas Bloch Danielsen and Tróndur Bogason Mixing: Jónas Bloch Danielsen and Mikkel Nymand Mastering: Mikkel Nymand, TimbreMusic Coordinator: Ólavur Jakobsen & © 2011 Dacapo Records, Copenhagen Liner notes: Hans Pauli Wenningsted Tórgarð English translation: Claire Thomsen Proofreader: Svend Ravnkilde Photo p. 10: © Kalmar Lindenskov & Allan Brockie Graphic design and cover photo: Denise Burt, elevator-design.dk Publishers: Edition·S, www.edition-s.dk www.sunleifrasmussen.com Dacapo and Aldubáran acknowledge, with gratitude, the financial support of the Faroese Ministry of Culture, The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands, Mentunargrunnur Landsins, Fjølrit and Tórshavn Municipality Special thanks to Stephen Wilkinson and Oddfríður M. Rasmussen 8.226567

Sunleif Rasmussen

Dacapo Records, Denmark’s national record label, was founded in 1986 with the purpose of releasing the best of Danish music past and present. The majority of our recordings are world premieres, and we are dedicated to producing music of the highest international standards.