Esbjerg Ensemble rarely performs in Copenhagen, but on 15 June, the renowned ensemble visits Østerbro Chamber Music Festival with a concert presenting works by Alexander Zemlinsky, Pavel Haas, Vilma von Webenau as well as Knudåge Riisager's Divertimento.
Riisager's piece for string quartet and wind quintet is also included in the program when Esbjerg Ensemble presents a concert in Esbjerg on 13 June featuring the musicians' own favourite works. The result is a beautiful and varied program, including pieces by Matias Vestergård, Kaija Saariaho as well as Knudåge Riisager.
Riisager's Divertimento Op. 9 was recorded in 1997 and in the booklet of the album from Dacapo Records, composer and producer Sven Erik Werner described the piece:
"The very title – diversion, entertainment – signals the work’s roots in pre-Romantic classicism, the domain of Haydn and Mozart. Each of the four movements explores a distinct classical form: sonata form, ternary (lied) form, and rondo form, yet the musical language is entirely different. From the robust opening movement through the nocturne’s witty flirtation with film music clichés (Riisager later removed the designation “amoroso”), the scherzo’s complex dance rhythms, and the finale’s exuberant carousel ride, Riisager demonstrates his full range of imagination, wit, and virtuosic command of the ensemble’s instruments.
This is not merely a case of “new wine in old bottles” – an expression Riisager despised – but rather an autonomous artistic universe whose dynamic life unfolds on its own purely musical terms. The key concepts are polytonality, polythematicism, and polytexture – in sum: a multilayered consciousness that was undoubtedly inspired by the Cubist painters of his time."
Find information about the concert in Esbjerg here.
Find more information about the concert at Østerbro Chamber Music Festival here.