Latest news with #Sibelius
Spectator
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The BBC's mistreatment of the Proms
The Proms – the BBC Proms, to stick a handle on its jug – remains a good deed in a naughty world. Eight weeks of orchestral music, mainly, performed nightly at the Royal Albert Hall by artists from every continent, for as little as £8 if you are prepared to stand. One of those artists, the Georgian fiddler Lisa Batiashvili, supplied the highlight of this year's 'first night' with a mighty performance of the Sibelius concerto. The concert ended with Sancta Civitas, a rarely heard choral work by Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed with love by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under its principal conductor, Sakari Oramo. Musically, it was a good start, despite the tiresome clapping between movements of the Sibelius. So why did the occasion, carried live on BBC2, fall flat? For the same reason that so many televised events do. It was presented as a compound of sporting event and talent show, designed to titillate adolescents who might feel 'excluded' by anything formal. You had to feel a tinge of sympathy for the presenters. Petroc Trelawny has one of radio's most pleasing voices, and Georgia Mann is a bright lady. Both love music. Here, though, they were following instructions laid down from above: make it groovy! There was much joshing and gurning, and as the evening wore on, Mann ignored her Ts and lurched into 'Mockney George' territory. There was also a comedian on hand, one Nick Mohammed, who said nothing funny, nor offered an observation that might not have been said with more brevity by a Prommer plucked from the queue. But he said 'staggering' four times, to go with 'phenomenal' and 'surreal', so he served his purpose. Trelawny gave the game away in his introduction, referring to the 'crowd' that had gathered inside the hall. Sporting events have crowds. Concerts have audiences. It's an important distinction, because language establishes tone. Nor was it wise for Trelawny to invoke 'a sense of democracy'. The Proms is a musical festival, open to all, not a rally for zealots. This year, for unfathomable reasons, they have decided to go backstage before and during Proms, in search of 'colour'. The man selected for this absurd exercise was Linton Stephens, whose banal questions, read from a crib sheet, would have shamed a six-year-old. 'What's it like to perform this epic work?' he asked Batiashvili, who responded with admirable tolerance. Other questions followed, to baffled choristers preparing for the Vaughan Williams: 'What's it like performing at the Proms?' 'What does it mean to you?' 'What's going through your head?' 'What does your family think of you performing at the Proms?' Drivel like this wouldn't be acceptable at a lower league football match. At the Proms it was excruciating. Suzy Klein, the corporation's head of arts and classical music, must know this sort of rubbish is strictly for amateur hour. Get rid. A living composer was brought on to freshen the bloom in the second half. Errollyn Wallen is Master of the King's Music and, in Mann's estimation, 'a Proms trailblazer'. The trail she blazed here was a ten-minute piece called The Elements, written for the occasion, and it sounded pretty thin. The lady wore dazzling yellow specs, though. What's to come later this season? The Traitors Prom, of course, and another CBeebies entertainment. They've cleared the decks for Star Wars, 'Soul Revolution', a Classic Thriller Soundtracks evening (which sounds promising), and Anoushka Shankar and her wretched sitar. This is not traditional Proms territory, and there's a reason for it. The BBC, obsessed with cultural identity, is embarrassed by the undeniable fact that orchestral music has been composed over the past four centuries by white men. In our world, where 'diversity' is the thing, that great tradition makes people uneasy. Hence the desire to introduce new features that have less to do with quality than the fulfilment of quotas. That way the clever producer clambers up the greasy pole. So here are a few ideas for Klein and her band of groovers to consider: a brass band Prom; a Fred Astaire tribute; a flamenco evening; a return for Roby Lakatos, the great Magyar gypsy fiddler; a George Formby night; a bubblegum pop spectacular; and a gathering of Nordic jazzers. There have been enough Soul Revolutions of various sorts in recent years, though it should be said the Northern Soul two years back night worked. A rare triumph. Carry on, Petroc and Georgia. But remember, to thine own selves be true. And please, no comedians.
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Per Nørgård obituary
'I don't know where the lyrical element comes from,' the Danish composer Per Nørgård, who has died aged 92, once remarked. 'I can't construct the lyrical element. It is like when you stick your head out of the window on a spring morning and can simply sense the scent of flowers in the air. It can't be controlled. In a way, the lyrical element is the sensual side of existence, which always comes as a gift.' One of the most lyrical expressions of that gift among Nørgård's 400 works was in the finale of his small-orchestral diptych Voyage Into the Golden Screen, composed in 1968. Ironically, its free-flowing melody derived not from chance 'scenting of [music] in the air', but rather the technical dictates of Nørgård's then newly formulated 'infinity series', where the notes follow mathematically from the proportions of the 'golden ratio' and the Fibonacci series: a telling musical counterpart to the prevailing Scandinavian concern, across all the arts at the time, of design-driven expression. As a young man, taught by the great Danish symphonist Vagn Holmboe at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, Nørgård had become fascinated with the music of Sibelius and the underlying concept of musical metamorphosis, where themes and motifs gradually evolve into new entities. However, the infinity series became a primary building block of Nørgård's music, whether laid out straightforwardly, as in the Second Symphony (1970), or as an unlimited thematic reservoir in his operas (including Siddhartha, 1974-79, and The Divine Circus, 1983), symphonies, 13 concertos – including two for percussion, the first, For a Change (1982-83), based on the Chinese 'wisdom book' I Ching, the second, Bach to the Future (1997), reworking three Bach preludes – and a large body of vocal and chamber music, including 10 string quartets. The end results sometimes baffled early audiences; Kalendermusik (1970), written to accompany the test card on Danish television, was broadcast until audience protests prompted its removal after a few months; others proved contentious through their complex, seemingly chaotic inspirations and textures, as with the choral triptych Wie ein Kind (1979-80) and the Fourth Symphony (1981), two of a group of works derived from the ideas of the Swiss artist and psychiatric patient Adolf Wölfli. At other times, the results could be disarmingly spare in texture, for example in his music for the Oscar-winning film Babette's Feast (1987). Nørgård was born in Gentofte, on the northern edge of Copenhagen, to the tailor Erhardt Nørgård and his wife, Emmely, who ran a business specialising in wedding attire. Per loved to draw and with his elder brother, Bent, made up cartoon stories. It was a musical family (Erhardt played the accordion) and both brothers studied the piano, Per from the age of seven. His innate musical ability showed early and he was admitted as a boy chorister into the Copenhagen Municipal Choral School in 1942 before going to Frederiksberg grammar school. By 17 he had set his mind on becoming a composer, producing his first work, Sonata capricciosa, in 1949. Holmboe took him on as a private pupil in 1950-51, before becoming one of his teachers at the conservatory in Copenhagen, where Nørgård studied between 1952 and 1955. Following graduation, the conservatory staged a well-received all-Nørgård concert in January 1956. By the end of that month Nørgård had married, been awarded a Lili Boulanger award, and moved with his young wife, the singer, dancer and ethnomusicologist Anelise Brix Thomsen, to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, whose former pupils included Aaron Copland, Roy Harris and Astor Piazzolla. Returning to Denmark in 1957, he began teaching at the Funen Academy of Music in Odense (until 1961), writing for the Danish daily newspaper Politiken (1958-62) and, from 1960 to 1965, teaching at the conservatory in Copenhagen, where one of his pupils was Carl Davis. Finding the atmosphere too conservative, he moved – taking his students with him – to the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. There, he taught some of the most important Nordic composers of the ensuing generations, including Hans Abrahamsen, Hans Gefors and Bent Sørensen. His own music extended his influence much further, to composers across Europe from Thomas Adès to Wolfgang Rihm to the Finnish composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen conducted the premiere of Nørgård's Fifth Symphony in 1990 at a concert featuring the Fifth Symphonies of Sibelius and Nielsen, to celebrate their 125th anniversaries. Nørgård was the recipient of many awards and honours, including the Nordic Council music prize (1974, for his opera Gilgamesh), the Léonie Sonning music prize (1996) and the Wihuri Sibelius prize (2006). In 2005 his glorious, expansive choral-and-orchestral Third Symphony (1972-75) – which was given its UK premiere only at the 2018 BBC Proms – was incorporated into Denmark's official Culture Canon. He received the Marie-Josée Kravis prize for new music in 2014; the following year the Vienna Philharmonic's recording of Symphonies Nos 1 and 8, conducted by Sakari Oramo, won the Gramophone award for contemporary music; and in 2016 he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music prize for lifelong service to music. Nørgård's marriage to Anelise ended in divorce in 1965; he is survived by their children, Jeppe and Ditte. Helle Rahbek, whom he married in 1966, died in 2022. Per Nørgård, composer and teacher, born 13 July 1933; died 28 May 2025
Korea Herald
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Violinist Yang In-mo on freedom found in collaboration
Korean violinist reflects on his evolving artistry ahead of two concerts with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jonathan Nott In his 20s, Korean violinist Yang In-mo made his mark with high-profile wins — from the Paganini Competition in 2015 to the Sibelius Competition in 2022. Back then, most of his time was spent in solitude, immersed in rigorous practice. More recently, however, the 29-year-old's career has entered a new phase of collaboration. Performing with orchestras around the world, he is having one of his busiest seasons yet, having played 16 concertos, including several contemporary premieres. 'In my 20s, most of my time was spent alone, practicing,' Yang said. 'Now, almost every week I collaborate with a different orchestra. That exchange is my greatest teacher now.' 'Building strong relationships with them, exploring more repertoire together, and deepening our musical connection — I think that's the greatest privilege of the career I have now," Yang said. As he prepares to perform the Sibelius and Mendelssohn violin concertos with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Korea in July, Yang reflects on a season of transformation — not just in repertoire, but in mindset. 'This was only the second time I have played with the OSR, but it felt like reconnecting with old friends. Some orchestras are distant, but OSR was open and warm. It allowed me to be completely free,' he said during a recent online interview. Yang joined the OSR on stage in Switzerland on May 8 for Sibelius' Violin Concerto. Reflecting on the performance afterward, the conductor remarked, 'Inmo is, of course, an exceptionally talented violinist but more importantly, he's a truly great musician. We were both smiling as the concerto came to a close.' That sense of freedom has become central to Yang's current musical philosophy. Having performed Sibelius' Violin Concerto nearly 20 times since winning the 2022 Sibelius Competition, his approach to the work has matured through both repetition and cultural immersion. 'Working with Finnish orchestras and musicians has changed how I view the piece,' Yang said. 'In Finland, I realized drama doesn't only come from human emotion. Nature has its own intensity. Silence, stillness, sudden shifts — these are part of the Finnish sensibility and Sibelius reflects that.' Instead of focusing solely on rhythmic clarity, as many conductors do with Sibelius' complex phrasing, OSR conductor Jonathan Nott encouraged Yang to shape long, lyrical lines. 'It was the first time I felt a conductor guide Sibelius horizontally rather than vertically,' Yang notes. 'At one point, he even sang the phrase to show me his vision. That's rare.' "He's a very musical, lyrical and horizontal conductor, someone who communicates his intentions clearly to the orchestra members, and he's also someone who truly respects and supports the soloist," he said. Yang's evolving relationship with music is not limited to Sibelius. For the upcoming July performance in Korea, he is also returning to Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto — a piece he last performed as a child. While often labeled as 'nice' or familiar, Yang is determined to explore its deeper, even radical layers. 'Mendelssohn's music can sound overly polite if you play it safe. But there's fire and risk beneath the surface, especially in the final movement. His tempo markings are absurdly fast," the Berlin-based violinist said, adding, "While living in Germany, I've come to see the works of German composers with fresh eyes, and in the case of Mendelssohn, beneath all the refinement, I sense something adventurous simmering underneath. I thought maybe it was time to try interpreting that in my own way, especially while performing in Korea.' For all his international engagements, Korea remains the most emotionally charged stage for him. 'I owe everything to my Korean fans,' he said. 'There was no one person who pulled me up — it was the support of people who believed in me after the competitions. When I play in Korea, I feel a responsibility to show them my best self.' Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, under the baton of Jonathan Nott, will present two distinct programs on July 5 and 6 at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul. On July 5, the orchestra will perform Debussy's "Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune" (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) and Stravinsky's "Petrushka," with Yang joining as the soloist for Sibelius' Violin Concerto. On July 6, audiences can look forward to the Asian premiere of William Blank's "Morphosis for 42 instruments" alongside Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, with Yang once again as soloist. Ticket prices range from 50,000 won ($36.80) to 270,000 won. Meanwhile, OSR will embark on its Asia tour on July 3 in Beijing at the National Center for the Performing Arts before coming to Seoul. It will then head to Japan from July 8 to 13, touring five cities including Tokyo and Kyoto. gypark@
Boston Globe
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Per Norgard, daring symphonic composer, dies at 92
Mr. Norgard's musical evolution encompassed the mid-20th century's leading styles, including neoclassicism, expressionism ,and his own brand of serialism, and it incorporated a wide range of influences, including Javanese gamelan music, Indian philosophy, astrology, and the works of schizophrenic Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli. Advertisement But he considered himself a distinctively Nordic composer, influenced by Finnish symphonist Jean Sibelius, and that was how newcomers to his music often approached him. The infinite, brooding landscapes of Sibelius -- along with the intensifying repetitions in the work of Mr. Norgard's Danish compatriot Carl Nielsen and the obsessive, short-phrase focus of Norwegian Edvard Grieg -- have echoes in Mr. Norgard's fragmented sound world. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The delirious percussive expressions of his composition 'Terrains Vagues' (2000), the plinking raindrops of the two-piano, four-metronome 'Unendlicher Empfang' (1997), and the vast, discontinuous fresco of the Eighth Symphony (2011) all evoke the black-and-white northern vistas of Sibelius, with their intense play of light and shadow. As a young student at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in the early 1950s, he was immersed in the music of Sibelius, writing to the older composer and receiving encouragement in return. 'When I discovered there was a kind of unity in his music, I was obsessed with the idea of meeting him,' he said in an interview. 'And to let him know that I didn't consider him out of date.' Advertisement The two never did manage to meet. But Sibelius, who died in 1957, was a lifelong inspiration and mentor from afar. 'From the moment I discovered the music of Sibelius, I felt in much more of a relationship with his music' than with that of fellow Danish composers, Mr. Norgard said in a 2012 interview. 'There are the long horizons. And a feeling, maybe, of a kind of nostalgia,' he added. Mr. Norgard developed a unique compositional technique he called the 'infinity series,' a slightly repeated, but constantly shifting, sequence of notes, which the British critic Richard Whitehouse described as 'a way of creating layers of melodies that move simultaneously at different speeds across the texture.' That technique recalls what Mr. Norgard called the 'symmetric turning around' of Sibelius. Mr. Norgard himself aspired to a music in which 'everything came out of a single note,' he said, 'like the big bang.' Both composers are credited with renewing, and prolonging the life of, the imperiled symphony. Whitehouse called Mr. Norgard's Fifth Symphony (1990) 'arguably the most significant reappraisal of symphonic form in the past half-century.' Sibelius' own Fifth Symphony, composed in 1919, had been characterized the same way in its day; Mr. Norgard was inspired by what he called its 'growth, where different motifs are more and more connected, to a great vision of unity.' Advertisement Mr. Norgard had a brief brush with popular consciousness with his hauntingly simple music for the film 'Babette's Feast' (1987), an adaptation of the 1958 story by Karen Blixen, writing under the pen name Isak Dinesen. Despite his stature in Europe -- there were frequent recordings, some with major orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic -- Mr. Norgard found a muted reception in the United States. In 2014, he was awarded the Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music by the New York Philharmonic, although the orchestra had 'never played a note of his music,' New York Times critic Alan Kozinn observed at the time. A 2016 concert series, 'Norgard in New York,' went some ways toward remedying the neglect. David Allen wrote in The New York Times that 'at its strongest, Mr. Norgard's music has an unbridled organic power, bursting with overlapping lines inspired by mathematical patterns like the golden ratio or natural forces like the rush of an ocean or the dwindling bounce of a ball.' Mr. Norgard, for his part, described his award from the New York orchestra, two years earlier, as 'quite mysterious.' Per Norgard was born July 13, 1932, in Gentofte, Denmark, north of Copenhagen, the younger son of Erhardt Norgard, a tailor who owned a wedding-dress shop, and Emmely Johanne Nicoline (Christensen) Norgard. He was composing piano sonatas by the age of 10. At 17, he began studying with the leading Danish composer Vagn Holmboe, and in 1952, he entered the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he continued his composition studies. From 1956 to 1957, he studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who taught many of the 20th century's leading composers, a period that led him to write at least one Neo-Classical work in the Stravinsky mold. Advertisement Under the tutelage of Boulanger, he rebelled somewhat against her hyper-French, Neo-Classical universe, advocating, in an article, engagement with 'the universe of the Nordic mind.' Teaching at Danish conservatories in Odense, Copenhagen, and Aarhus followed, along with music criticism for the daily Politiken newspaper. By the early 1960s, Mr. Norgard had developed the 'infinity series' concept, which began with experiments with simple piano pieces. A steady stream of large-scale choral, symphonic, and chamber works resulted, culminating in his last major composition, the Eighth Symphony, which Mellor likened to the works of Mahler, the 'idea that the symphony strives absolutely to contain the world -- that the composer is offering us a glimpse of the universe.' Mr. Norgard's wife, Helle Rahbek, died in 2022. He leaves a daughter, Ditte, and a son, Jeppe, from an earlier marriage, to Anelise Brix Thomsen, that ended in divorce. In an interview with the New York Philharmonic in 2014, after being awarded the Kravis prize, Mr. Norgard described his compositional technique, and discussed the 'infinity series.' It was 'a kind of homage to the mystery of life,' he said, 'which has always been a guiding line for my music.' This article originally appeared in
