On Saturday May 4the Danish Composer’s Society celebrates its 100th anniversary. Founded in 1913 it is Scandinavia’s oldest association for professional composers and sound artists.
To celebrate the event the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen is transformed into a musical venue with more than 100 musical performances, concerts, musical movie portraits and lectures. The three composers Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Juliana Hodkinson and Bjørn Svin have put the grand programme together. Each of the three composers represents some of the best in their generation’s art music. The programme is planned in a way that enables the audience to be presented to little eras and tendencies that have been essential to the evolvement of Danish music over time.
The programme presents over 10 works from Edition·S – music¬sound¬art. – Not only new compositions and works such as Niels Rønsholdt’s Burning (2012), but also some of our older works, such as Ebbe Hammerik’s Kvintet from 1942.
A number of talented ensembles and solo artists are performing the works:
Percurama is the Royal Danish Academy of Music’s percussion ensemble. It is a combination of students and teachers and the number of performers varies from 2 to 20 depending on the repertoire. They will be performing Axel Borup-Jørgensen's Musik for slagtøj og bratsch, Opus 18 (1956) and Lars Kynde's Clove Odours (2007).
Trio Ismina consists of three women playing the piano, cello and violin. The trio was established in 2004 at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. They will be performing Jesper Koch's Trio (2010) and Lars Hegaard's Like a Cube of Silence (2010).
The newest building of the Royal Danish Library is called The Black Diamond and has its very own ensemble, DiamantEnsemblet (The Diamond Ensemble). It consists of 5 horns and 5 strings and is lead by solo oboist and professor Max Artved. They will be performing Ebbe Hammerik's Kvintet (1942).
SCENATET is both an ensemble and a stage for contemporary music and art. It consists of a number of musicians, composers, researchers and more. The ensemble will be performing Niels Rønsholdt's Burning (2012) and Simon Steen-Andersen’s Run Time Error (2009).
Christina Bjørkøe is one of Denmark’s leading pianists. There is a great demand for her as a concert pianist, a mentor and a chamber musician. Bjørkøe started playing the piano when she was 5 years old and debuted as a soloist in 1997. She will be performing Knudåge Riisager's Sonate for violin og klaver (1923) with Johannes Søe. She will also be performing Tage Nielsen's 6 Epigrammer (1998) and Carl Nielsen's 3 Klaverstykker, Opus 59.
Johannes Søe is a Danish violinist, who graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1987. Since 1993 he has been concertmaster for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He will be performing Knudåge Riisager's Sonate for violin og klaver (1923) with Christina Bjørkøe.
Zoë Martlew is a virtuoso cellist, performer, cabaret artist and writer of words and music. She performs as a soloist and as a part of ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta and more. She will be performing Christian Winther Christensen's new work, Ejnar Kanding's Fluctuant (2013) and Morten Olsen's Jernbyrd (1999).
Jexper Holmen and Ejnar Kanding are both composers here at Edition·S – music¬sound¬art and will be performing Jexper Holmen's Lullabies (2009) together with accordionist Frode Andersen.
Last but not least a portrait movie about the late composer Rued Langgaard will be shown. Langgaard is a unique case in the history of Danish music. He lived in the years 1893-1952 and was a visionary and an uncompromising idealist between the polarities of Romanticism and Modernism. Edition·S – music¬sound¬art has over 130 Langgaard works.
See the full programme here.