Hakon Borresen's (1876-1954) hjørne

[Scion7]

A website for him:  https://www.edition-s.dk/composer/hakon-borresen

A pupil of Svendsen, he was a Romantic who adhered to form and non-radical orchestration - "talents which were eventually to make him the principal Danish successor of Svendsen."

  Orchestral music
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Sym. no.1, c, op.3, 1900
Sym. no.2 'Havet', A, op.7, 1904
Violin Concerto, G, op.11, 1904
Overature. 'Normannerne', op.16, 1912
Ballet, "At Uranienborg", 1924
Sym. no.3, C, op.21, 1925–6
Overture. 'Hamlet', op.25, 1937
Serenade, horn, strings, timpani, 1943
Nordic Folk Tunes, 1949


Chamber works
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Sextet in G, Op. 5, 1901
Sonata for Violin & Piano in a, Op. 9, 1907
Romance for Cello & Piano in D, Op. 4, 1902
String Quartet Nr.1 in e, Op.18, 1913
String Quartet Nr.2 in c, 1939
2 Pieces for Cello & Piano, Op.17


Piano music & Organ works
--------------------------------------------------
Klavierstücke Op.10, 1906
Morceaux Pour Piano Op.14, 1911
Erindring, 1927

Operas - Den kongelige gaest, and Kaddara

Songs:
Sång Till Solen (Op. 26 Nr. 1)
Folkvisa (Op. 26 Nr. 2)
Stjärnan (Op. 26 Nr. 3)
Hjärtungen Vår (Op. 26 Nr. 4)
Tittut (Op. 26 Nr. 5)
Serenad (Op. 26 Nr. 6)
Mitt Sagoslott (Op. 26 Nr. 7)
Tal Du Sagte, Unge Nattergal (Op. 2 Nr. 1)
Sov Nu, Mit Hjerte (Op. 2 Nr. 2)
Ak, Favre Ejer Jeg Fingre Smaa (Op. 2 Nr. 3)
Hvis Du Har Varme Tanker (Op. 2 Nr. 4)
Landskab (Op. 12 Nr. 2)
Lad Vaaren Komme (Op. 8 Nr. 1)
Landskab (Op. 8 Nr. 2)
I Seraillets Have (Op. 8 Nr. 3)
Græd Over Dem (Op. 19 Nr. 2)
Lys Op Nu, Du Sol (Op. 19 Nr. 3)

[Scion7]

The fourth movement is especially satisfying.

[Scion7]

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[Scion7]

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[Scion7]

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[Scion7]

[Symphonic Addict]

The symphonies 1 and 2 are the works I like the most by him. The CPO recordings of them are splendid. I remember the No. 2 being exciting and bold in that recording. He also composed a nice String Sextet. Besides the symphonies and the sextet, I'm not familiar with other works of his.

[Scion7]

I've never bothered with the operas, but most of the instrumental works (except for the piano music) I've been able to track down - the overtures and the first string quartet are not yet recorded, methinks.  I have not been able to locate a complete works list, for that matter.  There may be all sorts of nuggets in his papers someplace at some university waiting to be discovered.  Not a major composer, just an enjoyable one filling in niches created by others.



The second string quartet has quite a lot of plunking going on that is quite nice. 

Spotify has the CPO disc of the sextet and the string quartet: https://open.spotify.com/album/7bTMRlH6yTHKxRNMnBUgVe
Youtube has all the cello pieces and the violin sonata.  The digital download of various pieces of his music rendered by Niels Borksand has also been posted there.

This disc is hard to locate:


http://www.helikonrecords.dk/  ---->  http://www.helikonrecords.dk/genre.htm ---> http://www.helikonrecords.dk/1046.htm
. . .  use Google translate if Danish is not one of your sight-readable skills.

[MusicTurner]

Here is a slightly extended work list, mainly in Danish (https://komponistbasen.dk/node/2230.
More details at https://seismograf.org/dmt/21/05/hakon-boerresens-kompositioner).
A good deal hasn't been recorded. Interesting that there is for example a Viola Sonata too, I think.

op. 1 Thor kører til Jotunheim (elevarbejde før 1895), orchestra
op. 2 Sange
op. 3 Symfoni nr. 1 i c-mol (1901)
op. 4 Romance for cello og orkester (1903)
op. 5 Strygesekstet (1903), String Sextet
op. 6 Polonaise (klaver)
op. 7 Symfoni nr. 2 i A-dur (Havet - 1904)
op. 8 Sange, songs
op. 9 Klaversonate
op. 10 Klavierstücke (1906)
op. 11 Violinkoncert i G-dur (1904)
op. 12 Sange
op. 13 Sonate for violin og klaver i a-mol (1907)
op. 14 Morceaux (klaver 1910)
op. 15 Heimars sang (baryton og strygere)
op. 16 Normannerne (Koncertouverture 1912/1935)
op. 17 Deux pièces (klaver og cello)
op. 18 Præludium (orgel)
op. 19 Mandskorsang, song for male chorus
op. 20 Strygekvartet
op. 21 Symfoni nr. 3 i C-dur (1927)
op. 21 Sonate for viola og klaver (1919)
op. 22 Festmusik (orkester)
op. 24 Mandskorsange, songs for male chorus
op. 26 Sånger till texter av Thor Cnattingius

Uden opusnummer, without opus number

Marche funèbre (til P.S. Krøyers begravelse i 1909), music for the funeral of the painter Krøyer
"Strygekvartet nr. 1" (1913)
Præludium til Skagens 500 års købstadsjubilæum (1913), Prelude to the town of Skagen's 500 years jubilee
Kaddara Folkelivsbilleder fra Grønland (opera, Det Kgl. Teater 1921), Kaddara - Folkish Pictures from Greenland. Opera
Den kongelige gæst (opera, Det Kgl. Teater 1919)
Uranienborg – Tycho Brahes drøm (ballet 1924), Tycho Brahe's Dream, ballet
Biskop Absalon (Byens Sang) f. kor, harmoniork., lurer og trommer (1928)
Historien om en moder (melodrama efter H. C. Andersen ca. 1930), The Mother, melodrame
Knud Lavard (musik til skuespil af Axel Juel 1932), stage music
Mod døden (strygeorkester 1932), Towards Death, for strings
Strygekvartet nr. 2 (1939)
Serenade for horn, strygere og pauker (1943)
Nordiske Folketoner fra Island og Færøerne (strygeorkester 1949), Nordic Folk Tunes from Iceland and the Faroes, for strings
Cant (musik skuespil af Kaj Munk), stage music

..........

An old report about Børresen and the town of Skagen, based on the road named after him, in Danish (1963). Coming from Copenhagen, he rented the house of the poet Drachmann there at first (the timbered house), then the famous architect Plesner built the Villa Kaddara to him. The villa was later bought by the local fish auctions manager, who is interviewed at the beginning and who knew Børresen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Lme-Nbb4A
More about Villa Kaddara http://skagensiden.dk/skagensiden/asp/page.asp?id=299

...........

here's a somewhat exotic, catchy excerpt of the Greenland-influenced opera Kaddara, a 'Song with Drums'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2S6JqFbhzw&list=OLAK5uy_m9Sx3SKfQZ79EINHVqcRWh_kQsqKrUIXY&index=8

[Scion7]

interesting.
So perhaps he never wrote for piano trio/quartet/quintet?
or any other concertante work?

[MusicTurner]

Apparently not, but Børresen has had a bit of a revival lately, and maybe there's more info about unpublished works in the new biography written by Niels Borksand (2017), which I haven't read ... since the ambitious 'Thor ...' orchestral piece has the opus no.1, there are probably further student works too.

https://cdklassisk.com/product/hakon-boerresen-en-biografisk-mosaik-bog-cd-niels-borksand/