ldacapol DCCD 9316 DIGITAL THE FROSTY SILENCE ... Music for Guitar by Danish Composers Nielsen Rovsing Olsen Nerhnlm Nerglrd Gefors Gudmundsen-Holmgreen Erling Mmrldrup, Guitar THE FROSTY SILENCE...

TAGE NIELSEN (1929- ) The Flosty Sllence in the Gardens Four Preludes for Guitar (1990) lil Quasi improwisando 0 Capriccios0 Tempo di ciacona Andantino piacevole

POUL ROVSING OLSEN 11922-19621 Nostalgle for Guitar sold Op. 78 (1976) m I. Cs7 II. [+I Ill.

lB NDRHOLM (1931- ) Sonata for Guitar Op. 69 (1976) Prelude Allegro agitato Interlude Moderato W Postlude PER NBRGARD (1932-) Tales from a Hand, 3 Clubs among Jokers 5 Movements for Guitar Solo (1989) Unbound (Ace of Clubs) First cadence (a Joker) United (2 of Clubs) Second cadence (Another Joker) Exalted1 (3 of Clubs)

HANS GEFORS (1 952-) La BoOte Chlnolse Op. 12:l (1975) Jetb-toton Simple @lDouble

PELLE GUDMUNDSEN-HOLMGREEN (1932-) Solo for Electric Guitar (1971-72)

Erling Mlzrldrup, Guitar

3 DANISH MUSIC FOR GUITAR

t'sa lonk way from'a Denamark'a to Spain", All the music in this collection was composed or I maestro Andres Segovia once said, with his arranged in Denmark. charming Spanish accent, to a young Danish gultarlst during a master class in the "home- NlELS W. GADE was the most internationally- land of the guitar on the Iberian peninsula. A recognized composer in Denmark in the last witty and caustic remark, but with less relevance century. He played the guitar when he was a than might be suggested under the clrcumstan- child and a young man, and his father and uncle, ces, because the fact is, however distant Den- SQREN and JENS NIELSEN GADE, made sur- mark may be from the heat of the Spanlsh plains prlsingly fine Class~cal/Romanticguitars in the and the world of the "Concierto del Sur-instru- tradition of the famous French gultar maker, ment", it has its own long standing guitar tradi- Lacote. tion. The history of the Instrument In Denmark records a surprising amount of flne music, as S0FFREN DEGEN, the first Dane who tried well as a long list of remarkable composers and to earn his llvlng pr~marllyas a guitarist and interesting guitar personalities. A series of composer (unfortunately without much success, distinguished names stretches from the Renais- due to the lnternatlonal decline In the popularity sance through the Baroque. Classical and of the guitar toward the end of the 19th centu- Romantic periods up to the "Golden Age" of the ry), was an intlmate friend of the great French present, which the American guitarist David guitarist Napoleon Coste, playing duets with Starobin has referred to in the English "Classi- hlm and writlng second parts to many of the cal Gu~tafmagazine as 'Yhe wonderful and highly master's large- scale solos active modern Danish guitar scene". TO meneon just a few of the Danish historical HENRIK RUNG, and A.p BERGGREEN, both "guitar figures", JOHN DOWLAND, though important figures in the musical lrfe of 19th cen- admittedly not a native Dane, resided here for tury Denmark, were notable guitar players as several years as a lutenist in the Royal Orche- well as excellent guitar composers stra, in King Christian IVs employ. BERTEL THORVALDSEN, the world-famous NATHANAEL DIESEL and JOHANN CHRIS- Danish sculptor who lived in Rome for many TIAN SCHICKHARDT are represented in one of years, also played a minor role in the hlstory of the world's largest collections of Baroque guitar the guitar in our country. tablature at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. The I'i goes on and on as numerous calebrilies sen wrote a handful of Neeclassical works, - poliiaans, actors, ballet dancers, writers etc. - in notably his sonata and an organ toccata. Danish culhrral hiiwere guitar afidonados. Later he was very much influenced by the 'Darmstadt Revolution". The new possibilities of The modern 'Golden Age" of the guitar in sound, expression and musical structure devel- Denmark began in the early 1960s when the oped by composers like Bwlez, Nono and guitar, after many years of adversity, was Berio had a profound impact on his works in the accepted by Danish music academies as being 1980s: Two Nocturnes for piano, Varimts for a serious Instrument. alto flute, Eariolage and I/ Gidina Magico for , amongothers. During the 1970s and The six composers represented on this CD are 1980s his stvlistic orientation graduallv chmged among the most important in contemporary into a kind of Nee expressiotiism or AnN-@ Denmark. also as far as compositions for the romanticism as is evident in such works as his guitar are concerned. Of course, other Danes first small ~iecefor guitar. Recitatim and Elegy, have wrhten works of equally high qualily, from 1975, as wellin his Three ~haraEter because the guitar has become a popular instru- Pieces and an Epilogue for piano. Paesaggi br ment to write for in this country. I have chosen two ~ianos.Passac%~Iia for orchestra, and the these six for this recording, however, because op&a Laughter in ti; Dark. Precisely this style their works represent important and original con- is also very apparent in the four preludes for tributions to the international guitar repertoire. guitar, The Frosty Silence in the Gardens. Furthermore, all six composers belong to the older established generation, even though both About this work the composer wrles: 'During they and their music still seem so young. my twenty years as director of the Royal Acade- my of Music in Amus I have heard quite a lot of TAGE NIELSEN graduated from the Universi- guitar playing - in concerts, in entrance or final ty of Copenhagen with an M.A. in 1955. From examinations etc. - and I have always been 1951- 63 he was engaged by the Danish Natio- fascinated by the instrument because of its nal Broadcasting Company &d he subsequent- extraordinarily rich palette of sound wimin its Iv became the director of the Roval Academv of relatively narrow dynamic range. So when I was ~usicin bus,where he was prdessor of misic asked to write a new piece I accepted, although theory and history. In 1983 he was appointed not without hesitation: I was afraid that my Director of the Danish Academy in Rome. From knowledge of the technical possibilities of the his return to Denmark in 1989 until 1993 he guitar was too limited for the kind of music I sewed as managing director of the Society for already had in mind. But I overcame my doubts, PuMication of Danish Music. and during the first months of 1990 I composed In the late 19409 and early 1950s Tage Niel- four preludes for guitar, dedicated to Erling Md- drup and entWed The Frosty Silence in the Gar- composed in December. 1976. In the four dens. me tile is a line from T.S. Eliot's poem movements the listener is confronted wUh music The Waste Land, which inspired me when I which flirts with recollections of not-far-distant, began to write the work. The music is charac- albeii bygone, times. The lyrically dramatic terized by spontaneity and emotional intensity. introduction is followed by a toocata; a Spanish but also by merather rigorous organizational dance, and then a waltz. At times we are close procedures. This is true of all four preludes, the to the past, then we are suddenly drawn away third and longest one of them being a full-fled- from it. me music is infatuated, ironic, nostal- ged and con~stenfiycomposed cha&nne." gic. The work is dedicated to Erling Mddrup." (- T.N. 1993) IB N0RHOLM is a composer with a broad POUL R(JVSING OLSEN, composer and and varied spectrum in his music. He was edu- musical ethnographer was educated at the Royal cated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. In and has since worked in various musical fields, 1948 he studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger mainly as a composer, but also as an organist and Orvier Messiaen. As an ethnographer he and & a teacher at several academies of music. has done field work in the Middle East, India He IS known as a dynamic and imaginative orga- and Greenland. nizer with a wide -range of aMes who has His music is strongly influenced by a synthe- also worked as a music criic for major Danish sis of inspiration from both his work as a musi- newspapers. At present, he is professor of cal ethnographer and from the French musical composilion at the Royal Danish Academy of environment. Nevertheless, a certain indefinab- Music and an organist. le Danish feeling pervades his exlensive NOmdm has produced a large and ever- production. He has written operas; orchestral increasing number of works that vary consider- works; works for Diano, organ, hara and auitar: ably in style and medium: late Romanticism, strict a lot of , sckiof it'includiig gui- , Fluxus, intimate chamber music, solo tars: and choral comwsiticm wim lvrics tv Blake. music for piano and guitar, and simple ballads ~alilenn,iagerkvi~t; Rlke and,G+ gr& poets: reminiscent of Danish folk-songs. One phrase Before his all- too-early dem~seIn 1982, Rw- that might be used to characterke his output is sing Olsen told me about his plans for writing a "a kaleidoscope of stylistic quotations'. really large-scale work for solo guitar: unfortu- nately, they were never realized. About the present Sonata for guitar and about the inst~mentin general the composer wriies: Prior to the first performance of Nostalgie at The guitar, which was somewhat neglected the Lerchenborg Festii in July. 1978, the com- during the Romantic period and the first half of poser wrote in a program note: "Nostalgie was our century, has had a renaissance thanks to compositions by some of the central figures of and percussion; and since the beginning of the the avant- garde. Consequently it became an 1970s a great number of important guitar obvious challenge for a composer of my gene- works, the latest of which is included on this ration to write for this intimate and discreet recording. (A complete recording of his earlier instrument and to explore its unknown resour- guitar works, played by Erling Mddrup, has ces. Besides writing for solo guitar I was encou- been released by PAULA, Denmark). raged to write a number of works combining the After initial Scandinavian influences from guitar with other sound sources. Sibelius and from Vagn Holmboe in the 19509, My first sonata for the instrument, recorded NwgArd reacted against them by using musical here, is a relatively early work from 1976. It con- collage and often violent orche&ation. In 1960 sists of tWO main movements and three shorter he discovered the infinite series, which he used sections serving as Prelude, Interlude, and to create 'hierarchicallr constructed music. Postlude, in fact variations of the former musical This is music in which structure on one hl material. The first mein movement (the second can be heard on all tempo-levels corresponding movement) is to a certain degree influenced by to the way that fractals are seen. Nwghrd minimal music. II is rhythmically differentiated explored the posslbilttles of infinity series during and energetic, but also a little harsh using the 1960s and 1970s in many works, among Bartok-pizzicato.More soft moods appear in the them his internationally well-known guitar work fourth movement, where me melod~c-lyricalatti- Returns from 1976. tude is expressed mina structure woven out By me end of the 1970s he became interes- of mirror fdrms. " (- I.N. 1993) tedin an0 was inspired by the tragic Swiss figu- re, Adon W6Mi. Nag& has introduced sea- PER NBR~RDbegan composing as a child. ments of W6Mi's pos%umous writings into hk and while he was a young man he studied with works, among them the opera The Divine Cir- Vagn Holmboe. Until 1958 he attended the Royal cus and the guitar work Papalagi from 1981. Danish Academy of Music where he continued his studies with Holmboe and also studied with Of his latest suite for the guitar, Clubs among Finn Hming. Aftelwards he studied in Paris Jokers, Per Nwghrd writes: "The work is the with Nadia Boulanger. third of four suites for solo-guitar entitled Tales Since returning from Paris he has taught from a Hand, each of which takes Rs point of composition at the academies in Odense and departure in one af the four suits of playing Copenha en and at the Rcyal Academy of cards. The Yeeling" for a suit Is naturally rather Music inirhus, where he was appointed pro- subjective, still: Spades is sombre and Clubs is fessor in 1987. He has composed operas; marked by three leaves, like a clover. So in orchestral works, 5 of which are symphonies; each of the Clubs- movements (Ace, 2 and 3 of works for choir; solo music for piano, accordion, Clubs) one mvhlal main theme dominates, but in one, two and three- part polyphony, respectiily. Hans Gefors is the pupil of Per NergArd's who The tones of each part (being in independent was most stmngly in~ueicdby the master during tempi) are never simultaneous with any tone the beginning of hi own wrnwsina career. This in the other parts, thus creating a transparent influen; can be felt in a posilk w& in La mile pattern of music. Yet, the character is rather Chinoise, a piece which is strongly characte- dark, but soft. Between the main movements, rized by Gefors' intimate knowledge of the two quasi-improvised Yokel"- movements (try instrument. (As a teenager he used to play Bob to) transform this dark mood into something Dylan songs on it!) more jocular..." (- RN. 1993) About this work the composer writes: "La HANS GEFORS is not actually a Dane, but Bone Chinoise is an agile piece and I imagined his appearance in this context is motivated by a visual tossing and turning translated into the fact that he lived in Denmark for many years music. This ambition is reflected in the invented (from the early 70s to the mid-80s) and- by hls name of the first movement: J&-toton. It is wsition and imwrtance in Scandinavian musical French and means something like "tossed 16, not to mention the magnitude and quality of teetotum". The work has two other "move- the chosen piece itself. Gefors studied music in ments", Simple and DouMe. All three move- Stockhdm before moving to Denmark in 1973 ments can be played separately, but if only after meeting Per NergArd at a Festival of Young JetB-toton and Simple are played together, the Nordic Music. He received his diploma in com- piece is called La PMeBolt8 Chinoise. position in Amus in 1977, after studies with Per It is the form of the work that has glven the NergArd. piece its title, The Chinese Box": a box within a His breakthrough as a composer came with box within a box. Part of Jet.4-toton surfaces his grand opera Christina in 1986, and he was towards the end of Simple, and the whole Jet& appointed professor of composition at the toton shows up in Double. Double is more than Malm6 College of Music in 1988. His second twice as long as Simple, but uses the same large-scale opera. Der Park, was premiered in form. This kind of form frequently recurs in my Wiesbaden in 1992. Hans Gefors has always compositions, because it is an &citing way of been especially Interested in writing vocal holding the piece toaether while at the same music, but he has also wriien orchestral works time pirmilting new things to be added. and solo and chamber music. My work began when Erling Mddrup asked As a composer he is interested in the fusion me for a study, but Me piece quickly grew out of of the sensible and the sensual, a meeting of proportion and only at the end did the study drama and emotional Intensity at a point of show up, namely JetB-toton. So I made this a beauty where the music starts swiveling. The prelude to the two main movements. act of listening should move the listener. The finished work is dedicated to both of my guitarist friends from my Amus days. Erling rash use of instrumental colour. Mddrup and Karl Petersen. Writng this 18 In a magazine article, Gudrnundsen-Holmgreen years later, I can say that his piece has become characterized himself with a quotation from for me a dear remembranca of my student life in Samuel Beckett: "I am not of the big world - I am the capital of Jutland, a period that formed me of the Iieworld". His interest is in coarse every- as a composer. As time went on, the combina- day things; he is attracted by the complexity tion of Swedish and Danish music became an beneath the surface of simplicity, as one can indissoluble alloy that is especially characte- hear in his Solo for Electric Guitar. ristic for my style. La Boite Chinoise has been played wer a The present recording of this piece was produ- hundred times in Denmark, ~olland,Germany ced by the composer and rnakis use of the full and France, but to mv knowledge only once In dvnamic range of the instrument, from the softest Sweden. The reason kr this, I think, k that the p&issimo tian almost painful fortissimo. Please piece is "Danish" in style and may therefore be note: IN ORDER TO GET THE RIGHT #en to Swedish taste. Ihave always felt strengm- IMPRESSION OF THE PIECE, IT IS NECES- ened by these cultural differences, and it is a SARY TO TURN UP THE VOLUME SO THAT fact that La Bone Chinoise would not have THE FIRST MOVEMENT IS REPRODUCED existed il I had not imbibed Danish musical cul- WITH A POWERFUL SOUND., STILL LEAVING ture from the sources at the Royal Academy of ROOM FOR PEAKS, AND THEN LEAVE IT ~usicin Amus? (- H.G. 1993) UNCHANGED DURING THE REST OF THE WORK! PULE QUDMUNDSWHOLMQREENstudied About the work the composer writes: "Solo for theory, history of music and composition at the Electric Guitar consists of a small number of Royal Danish Academy of Music. From 1967 simple and rather disparate ideas enclosed until 1972 he taugM composition at the Royal within a strict construction. The whole piece is Academy of Music in Arhus. With a compositio- based on a few notes, and the rhythm through- nal starting point in a BartokIStravinsky-inspired wt depends on the Fibonacci series (1-2-3-5-8- sMe, and after several years with Serialism, he 13-etc.) in different constellations. It is a well- reached his more personal style In the mid-six- known experience that it is poss~Meto liberate ties with some hiahlv oriainal works characte- new aualltles from the banal by. imprisoning. t". rized by element; such 6s radical reductions, (- RG:-H. 1993) repetitions and simple or grotesque figures in polyrhythmic patterns, often combined with a Notes by Erling M0Id~p1993 ERLING M0LDRUP

rllng Meldrup (b. 1943) received his diplo- given: among other composers, works by Per E'ma ~n 1972 from the Royal Academy of NergArd, Ib Nerholm. Hans Gefors, Karl Aage Music in Amus, Denmark, where he studied wlth Rasmussen, Poul Ruders, Axel Borup-Jer- Jylte Gorki Schmidt. In addition, he has com- gensen, Tage Nielsen, Finn Savery, Ertk Bach, pleted advanced studies with Karl Scheit, Konrad Ole Buck, John Frandsen, Peder Holm, Svend Ragossnig. Waiter Gerwig and Milan Zelenka. Hvidlfelt Nieisen, Erik HejsgArd, Svend Nielsen, For many years he has been an ardent soloist Gunner Mdler Pedersen, Sven Erik Werner, and collaborater in ensembles and has given Wayne Siegel, Hllding Hallnas and Jarmil Burg- countless concerts, radio and N performances hauser. In Scandlnav~a.Germany, Holland, England, Ita- The range in Erling Maldrup's repertoire is ly, Poland. Czechoslovak~a,Yugoslavia, South very wide embracing music from the Renais- Korea and South America. He has also been a sance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic peri- soiolst with most Danish , as well as ods and Spanish and South American music with orchestras in Norway and Sweden. from the "Segov~a"repertolre; but f~rstand fore- Erling Mddrup has continually had intimate most he is a dedicated performer of our con- and creative collaborat~onwith numerous Danlsh temporary music and strongly bent towards the and foreign composers, regard~ngboth solo and future of muslc. chamber muslc, and has had outstanding and Erling Mddrup has made over twenty recor- significant works dedicated to him. There is no dings. Currently, he is a professor at the Royal end to the list of first performances that he has Academy of Music in his home town of Arhus. m 8 1993 dacapo. Copenhagen Q 1993 dacapo, Copenhagen Recorded 1988-1993 in the Concert Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, Amus, Denmark Recording Engineer: Claus Byrith Cwer: The Frosty Silence... Aquarelle by Lene Boelsmand Photo: Gorm Valentin Notes: Erling Mddrup and the composers English texl edited by Arnie Brown. Erik Faster Olesen and Philip Edmonds

The works by Hans Gefors. Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen,Ib Nerholm, Per Nmg&rdand Poul Rovsina Olsen are DUbliShed bv Wlhelm Hansen Edition. Cooenhaoen. The work Mag%~ielsein is publis6ed by The Society for ~ublicaionof hanish Music, Copenhagen.

All works except the work by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreenwere edited by Erling Mddrup

Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen's Solo for ElWicGuitar (the danish tie is Solo for el-guitar) is dedicated to (and was edited by) lngolf Olsen.

Guitar: Daniel Friederich, Paris 1984 Electric guitar: Gibson ES 175 D

This CD has been made possible by grants from The Danish Composers Society, A6 Nordiska MusiWrlaget, Stodd-iolm, Sweden, and the Royal Academy of Music in Arhus, Denmark.