Bent Sørensen

[MusicTurner]

The Second Symphony (2019, premiered in February 2020) got good reviews and has recently been uploaded to youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPbLSn7MB2I

[relm1]

Thanks for uploading.  I look forward to listening to it after my current Penderecki play list.  I'm a fan of his and one of my classmates was his student so I feel like I have a semi-personal connection to his output because I consider my former classmate a very fine composer.

[not edward]

Dacapo released a disc of three concerti (piano, clarinet and trumpet respectively) a couple of weeks ago:

[asin]B081WPWMLC[/asin]

I'll be honest and say I wasn't very impressed on the couple of listenings I've given it thus far. In terms of his concertante work I was more impressed by the piano concerto La Notte and the Mignon cycle.

[MusicTurner]

Sørensen's new 3rd Piano Concerto, La Sera Estatica, premiered a few days ago, gets ... ecstatic reviews here in Denmark, such as in the Politiken newspaper.

Like Schumann's 4th Symphony being a portrait of Clara, the concerto is inspired by Sørensen's wife, the pianist Katrine Gislinge, and her piano playing during corona.

There'll very likely be a recording.

https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/news/4308/World-Premiere-of-Bent-Sorensens-3rd-piano-concerto-La-sera-estatica/
https://www.planethugill.com/2021/11/premiere-of-bent-srensens-third-piano.html
https://www.copenhagenphil.dk/koncerter/2021/11/12/storgaards-soerensen-og-gislinge

[CRCulver]

I'm planning to buy the Dacapo download-only recording of the 12 Nocturnes, but I'm not very happy about it. I sure hope that Dacapo does not abandon physical releases, and I worry that actually paying for these FLAC files will just encourage them to make more digital-only releases.

[Mirror Image]

I'm planning to buy the Dacapo download-only recording of the 12 Nocturnes, but I'm not very happy about it. I sure hope that Dacapo does not abandon physical releases, and I worry that actually paying for these FLAC files will just encourage them to make more digital-only releases.

If you're worried your purchase will only encourage Dacapo to pursue digital-only purchases then the simple solution would be not to purchase the download-only release. Pretty simple!

[brewski]

Checking out the new St. Matthew Passion from Bent Sørensen.

https://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Passion-Sorensen-Norwegian-Soloists/dp/B0BSH9YKV6



-Bruce

[not edward]

Checking out the new St. Matthew Passion from Bent Sørensen.

https://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Passion-Sorensen-Norwegian-Soloists/dp/B0BSH9YKV6



-Bruce

I'm getting colder and colder on Sørensen over time but this is still tempting even if only because of the performers. How did you find it?

[brewski]

I'm getting colder and colder on Sørensen over time but this is still tempting even if only because of the performers. How did you find it?

I really had no idea what to expect, and am liking it a lot. The performers are superb (all new to me). I'm only familiar with some of his chamber music (liked it), but nothing on this scale. More comments after I've assimilated a bit more. Some of his harmonies—his chord choices—are astounding.

-Bruce

[brewski]

For WRTI, the public radio station affiliated with Temple University, my comments on the new Sørensen St Matthew Passion.

Short version: it's stunning.



-Bruce

[foxandpeng]

Bent Sørenson
SQ 1 'Alman'
SQ 2 'Adieu'
SQ 3 'Angels' Music'
Arditti Quartet
Dacapo

Listening to Sørenson's excellent string quartets this afternoon. I appreciate his fractious and emotionally fraught style very much. There is no relaxation to be found in the first two works, and for me there are shades of Pettersson's brooding disquiet or existential discomfort woven throughout.

The longest of the three is his 16 minute Angels' Music, which is undoubtedly ethereal, but not comfortable or reassuring. This is not angelic in the sense of redemption, upholding, and ushering in the grandeur of the warm presence of God, but is more concerned with otherness and mystery, I think. If you appreciate biblical imagery, think Ezekiel's wheels, eyes, angles and unhumanity rather than the sociably chubby and the cherubic. Rautavaara probably wouldn't feel out of place here.

Cat doesn't seem to mind, however...

[Alex Bozman]

I recently bought the DaCapo cd of the triple concerto The Island in the City and the Second Symphony. Sadly the YouTube version of the symphony MusicTurner posted at the top of this page is no longer accessible, it would have been interesting to hear a different performance. The symphony is the piece of music I've listened to most often in recent weeks, an attractive and substantial work, though it hasn't entirely fallen into place for me yet.