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The Music Room => Composer Discussion => Topic started by: kentel on January 06, 2010, 01:53:00 PM

Title: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 06, 2010, 01:53:00 PM
Bent Sørensen is one of my favorite composers, and as there seems to be no thread about him here, I thought I could start a new one...

Well, Sørensen is Danish, born in 1958 and an ex-pupil of Per Nørgård the Great (quite a good reference for a beginning). He writes in a style rather close to George Benjamin's, with an extreme care of the resonnance, the timbre and the color of each instrument. The atmospheres are deeply influenced by Poe and Baudelaire : somewhere between dream and nightmare, beauty and evil, very aesthetic and almost sophisticated - always beautiful.

Here are a few cd's :


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41kvLuwLsBL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Violin Concerto "Decaying Gardens" (1993) : I discovered Sørensen's music with this amazing violin concerto :
I was in fact very sensitive to the climate  and the evocation of these strange and sinister "dying gardens" which I imagine with big trees loosing slowly their died yellow and red blades. The orchestration is also quite impressive, with the violin playing at the same heights as the orchestra all the time, and the incredible feeling of fear and dispear of the third mvt with its furious ostinato is incredibly expressive.

The Echoing Garden for voice & orchestra (1992) : sounds like the ghostly echoes of this strange garden. Another great piece with a cold, precise and beautiful orchestra.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/317sjMF3WsL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

This cd is one of the bests  : every single piece is great. One couldn't find a better starting point.

Minnewater (1988) : delicate and swaying like ripples on the water - amazingly evocative, magic and anxious.

Sirenengesang (with voice) : mournful moans of strings; you could almost hear the sirens through the mists.

Shadowland (1989) :  Another masterpiece. A clear and microcosmic style, with an impressive sense of details. Very sophisticated, and contrary to what the title could involve, very luminous. His shadowland sounds like a dream.

The Deserted Churchyard (1990)  : Here again, Sørensen proves to be a true sound genius : glockenspiel, bells, flute like butterflies, distant strings in the background, mysterious piano... which ends in a sort of moan from beyond the grave.

Clairobscur (1987) : aquatic ripples of clarinet - very poetic and subtle.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ebNJ1aZPL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Birds and Bells, for trombone & orchestra (1997): not quite a concerto, as the trombone player is almost a part of the orchestra itself. Sometimes contemplative, sometimes humoristic (with a funny wow-wow trumpet ostinato in the 2nd mvt), always accurate, precise and written with a fanatic sense of details.

The Lady and the Lark, for viola & orchestra (1997): not quite a concerto either. One of my favorite, it just takes your breath away. Pure aestheticism.

The Bells of Vineta, for solo trombone (1990): this one is a little bit too experimental for my taste.

The Mask of the Red Death, for piano (1990) : after a short story by Edgar A. Poe (which I highly recommand if you didn't read it yet). Unfortunately, Sørensen who has written so amazingly beautiful pieces in the spirit of Poe, is here rather uninspired and far below the genius of the writer with this Ligeti-like little piece.

(http://www.dacapo-records.dk/img/album/x385/DCCD-9003a-b.jpg)

The String Quartets : in spite of the very good interpretation of the Arditti String Quartet, I think this cd is one of the less interesting. The 3 String Quartets were composed between 83 and 87, at a time when the composer had not found his personnal sound. They sound dull and gray. Moreover, Rasmussen's quartets on the same cd are not very good either (at least in my opinion).
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: bhodges on January 06, 2010, 02:18:42 PM
Thanks for the excellent post on Sørensen, whose work I don't know that well.  I am pretty sure I have the Bridge CD with Speculum Musicae called The New Danes with The Deserted Churchyards, but don't recall if I've listened to it much.  :-[  Also, I hear a good bit of choral music and recall some of his work in that area, but I don't have a strong image of his style.  Your list gives me some ideas, though. 

--Bruce
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: some guy on January 06, 2010, 02:44:37 PM
Yes, thanks kentel. I'd never noticed the Shadowland or the ECM CDs. I'll have to buy those right now.

I have the other ones you mentioned, and I'd like to put a good word in for the Arditti album, which I bought because I buy every Arditti album I see, and which I play over and over again, because I like the Sørensen and Rasmussen quartets.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 07, 2010, 02:33:34 AM
Hello kentel, I just borrowed the Birds and bells CD- will give it my best attention.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 07, 2010, 02:57:08 AM
Quote from: some guy on January 06, 2010, 02:44:37 PM
Yes, thanks kentel. I'd never noticed the Shadowland or the ECM CDs. I'll have to buy those right now.

I have the other ones you mentioned, and I'd like to put a good word in for the Arditti album, which I bought because I buy every Arditti album I see, and which I play over and over again, because I like the Sørensen and Rasmussen quartets.

Then you should love the other cd's :) Rasmussen is not quite my cup of tea; except maybe his Italian Concerto. . As for Sørensen's quartets, the Arditti are sure great, no problem, but in comparison with what Sørensen did later, I think it's far below. But that's only a question of feelings,and I've often heard good comments about these quartets.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 07, 2010, 03:01:26 AM
Quote from: Sean on January 07, 2010, 02:33:34 AM
Hello kentel, I just borrowed the Birds and bells CD- will give it my best attention.

Hello Sean; I'm looking forward to hear your impressions - especially about the Lady and the Lark and the Birds and Bells, as the 2 other pieces are not that good, I think.

Gilles
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 07, 2010, 03:05:00 AM
Quote from: bhodges on January 06, 2010, 02:18:42 PM
Thanks for the excellent post on Sørensen, whose work I don't know that well.  I am pretty sure I have the Bridge CD with Speculum Musicae called The New Danes with The Deserted Churchyards, but don't recall if I've listened to it much.  :-[  Also, I hear a good bit of choral music and recall some of his work in that area, but I don't have a strong image of his style.  Your list gives me some ideas, though. 

--Bruce

Curiously, I don't know any of his choral works. There is this vocal one I've heard once; As far as I can remember it was a very fine piece but I should listen to it again. Nørgård's little opera on the same cd is great : creepy and funny.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G29E7EBQL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

(Den lille Havfrue means The Little Mermaid)
--Gilles
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: snyprrr on January 07, 2010, 09:24:42 AM
I, too, have enjoyed the Arditti album. The Rasmussen is,...eh,...I don't like it, but I like the "boring" Sorensen. I also only like the Italian Concerto by R. That's a great little piece, escpecially the Castiglioni section (also one of my favs).

The rest of Sorensen sounds evocative.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 07, 2010, 01:13:49 PM
Quote from: snyprrr on January 07, 2010, 09:24:42 AM
The Rasmussen is,...eh,...I don't like it, but I like the "boring" Sorensen. I also only like the Italian Concerto by R. That's a great little piece, especially the Castiglioni section (also one of my favs).

There is another piece by Rasmussen named "Three Friends" with a quite similar atmosphere, maybe you've heard it; it's on this cd with the violin concerto :

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41xyNhrG1ML._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

à propos Castiglioni : there is a young french composer, Bruno Mantovani, whose language is deeply influenced by his, especially here :

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Ep6O3iA5L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Personally I don't like it very much, as he seems to focus too much on the very small details at the expense of the cohesion of the whole piece. It's very shattered.  It works with Castiglioni because he wrote short pieces. I feel the same for Sciarrino's sonatas.

But I think that the aesthetically closest composer to Sørensen is Benjamin.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 06:25:42 AM
kentel, I can have limited enthusiasm for this music- it's fairly unpretentious and unobtrusive, an example of the soundscapes of a number of composers including Wolff, Pintscher and Neuwirth, but basically more rummaging around the ruins of the post-tonal landscape by composers who obviously have limited grasp of what art is.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 08:12:56 AM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 06:25:42 AM
kentel, I can have limited enthusiasm for this music- it's fairly unpretentious and unobtrusive, an example of the soundscapes of a number of composers including Wolff, Pintscher and Neuwirth, but basically more rummaging around the ruins of the post-tonal landscape by composers who obviously have limited grasp of what art is.

Hi Sean, thank you for your reaction :)

I understand your limited enthusiasm ; but not the connection with Neuwirth nor Pintscher : I think that they write in a completely different style (post-serial I would say), and that the "timbre" or "sound" question is out of their range. As a macter of fact, I dont' like their music that much.

As to me, the connection is more relevant with Benjamin, Sciarrino, Murail, Lachenmann, Nono etc; that kind of "sound" composer, interested in unexpected orchestral compositions and roughly orbiting around the spectral aesthetics initiated by Scelsi. You're right when you talk about "soundscape" : that's what Sørensen's works are :  you don't seem to be fanatic of the idea, but I think that there's a fair amount of 20th century's masterpieces which are "only" soundscapes eg static and descriptive.

--Gilles
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 08:23:55 AM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 06:25:42 AM
but basically more rummaging around the ruins of the post-tonal landscape by composers who obviously have limited grasp of what art is.

As I'm not a native English speaker, I fear not to understand quite well what you mean here . "post-tonal" is a gross term, which embraces a significant number of composers : could you be more specific about who you're thinking about when you talk about "the ruins of the post-tonal landscape" ?

--Gilles
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Guido on January 09, 2010, 09:03:12 AM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 06:25:42 AM
obviously have limited grasp of what art is.
Err... I think you can safely assume that they know what art is... I know you hate academicism so I'm sure you're not going to limit the people who 'know what art is' to the musicologists and philosophers (which is the angle that your general satements about art and music seem to be coming from).
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:32:09 AM
Hello kentel/ Gilles, at least you're a listener, like me it seems, and have tried a few names.

QuoteAs to me, the connection is more relevant with Benjamin, Sciarrino, Murail, Lachenmann, Nono etc; that kind of "sound" composer, interested in unexpected orchestral compositions and roughly orbiting around the spectral aesthetics initiated by Scelsi.

Nono's a fair comparison and maybe a little Sciarrino but I wouldn't agree about the others- you may know different works to me though... Scelsi is a much more interesting figure, who I might compare with Ustvolkskaya's unexpected intensity...

Murail has done some vaguely interesting work around post-Messiaen harmonic thinking but again nothing that's going to last.

QuoteYou're right when you talk about "soundscape" : that's what Sørensen's works are :  you don't seem to be fanatic of the idea, but I think that there's a fair amount of 20th century's masterpieces which are "only" soundscapes eg static and descriptive.

I'm very interested in soundscapes when they make overall aesthetic logic as well as the pink fluff of the moment, but this is only seriously possible in tonality.

The repeated use of the muted trumpet or whatever it is by Sorensen is a bit obvious and boring...

Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:35:10 AM
Gilles

Quote from: kentel on January 09, 2010, 08:23:55 AM
As I'm not a native English speaker, I fear not to understand quite well what you mean here . "post-tonal" is a gross term, which embraces a significant number of composers : could you be more specific about who you're thinking about when you talk about "the ruins of the post-tonal landscape" ?

The whole lot of the bastards- and I know music by most of them.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:37:06 AM
Quote from: Guido on January 09, 2010, 09:03:12 AM
Err... I think you can safely assume that they know what art is... I know you hate academicism so I'm sure you're not going to limit the people who 'know what art is' to the musicologists and philosophers (which is the angle that your general satements about art and music seem to be coming from).

I think you're getting a little confused here Guido- the likes of Sorensen are the direct product of the idiot academic establishment.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 10:27:07 AM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:32:09 AM
Nono's a fair comparison and maybe a little Sciarrino but I wouldn't agree about the others- you may know different works to me though... Scelsi is a much more interesting figure

IN ANY CASE Scelsi is more interesting :)

Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:32:09 AM
Murail has done some vaguely interesting work around post-Messiaen harmonic thinking but again nothing that's going to last.

I wouldn't say that : while staying at the Villa Medicis, Murail began a long and lasting friendship with Scelsi, that he in fact "discovered". At this time France was completely in the shadow of the Boulezian Academia, and Scelsi was roughly unknown. His "spectral" style emerged finally from his growing interest and admiration for Scelsi, and the impact of Messiaen on his music is minor in comparison with Scelci's - except maybe in his first pieces.

Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:32:09 AMI'm very interested in soundscapes when they make overall aesthetic logic as well as the pink fluff of the moment, but this is only seriously possible in tonality.

Well... I agree if we're talking about serialism, post-serialism or any kind of structuralist-oriented asthetics, where the mathematics of the work is more important than anything else. BUT I disagree for the rest of atonality : in fact, I feel that tonality creates a movement in a music piece which prevent it from being static. Thus, it cannot be fully descriptive. You seem to apreciate Scelsi : Scelsi is definitely NOT tonal.

Maybe I'm not very clear and should try to give a few examples : among the most descriptive composers I know, Takemitsu for ex. or Dutilleux, are not tonal. But ok, maybe you don't like their music either - the debate is interesting anyway :)

--Gilles
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: CRCulver on January 09, 2010, 12:23:15 PM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:37:06 AM
The likes of Sorensen are the direct product of the idiot academic establishment.

That's a curious claim considering the music situation in Denmark. Figures like Holmboe, Nørgård and Sørensen have had a pretty similar reception: they've been accepted by the Danish concert-going public, but their work draws little interest in academic circles.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: some guy on January 09, 2010, 12:37:10 PM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 09:32:09 AM...nothing that's going to last.
Interesting how often this idea comes up in conversation. It's as if it had some special, magical quality, guaranteeing agreement or at least making disagreement impossible.

But what is it, really? It is no more than conjecture. There is no way to make it anything more than conjecture, either, since it's about a region which none of us can have any knowledge of, the future. We can guess only. We cannot know.

Far from being the nice knockdown argument it always masquerades as, it is a grade one chimera.

(Even, I cannot resist adding, if it were possible to know this, does anyone genuinely care what one's grandchildren's grandchildren will or will not be listening to? These are people not yet born, people none of us will ever know. I wonder why it's always assumed that these people will have impeccable taste.)
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 01:21:44 PM
Quote from: some guy on January 09, 2010, 12:37:10 PM
Interesting how often this idea comes up in conversation. It's as if it had some special, magical quality, guaranteeing agreement or at least making disagreement impossible.

But what is it, really? It is no more than conjecture. There is no way to make it anything more than conjecture, either, since it's about a region which none of us can have any knowledge of, the future. We can guess only. We cannot know.

Far from being the nice knockdown argument it always masquerades as, it is a grade one chimera.

(Even, I cannot resist adding, if it were possible to know this, does anyone genuinely care what one's grandchildren's grandchildren will or will not be listening to? These are people not yet born, people none of us will ever know. I wonder why it's always assumed that these people will have impeccable taste.)

There is a rather famous American literature teacher, I.A Richards, who thought that a masterpiece was a masterpiece, not depending on one's taste. One can like or dislike Keats or Byron, they were geniuses whatsoever, it is a question of understanding (according to Richard's). You appreciate, that's fine, you dislike, then go back to your readings. The idea was, at one should become what he called a "perfect reader" in order to know what was good or bad. The idea have been obviously dismissed later, but it remains a fascinating subject of debate (is the masterpiece a masterpiece because we, readers and listeners, decide it or not ?).

That recalls me also this story you've certainly heard, about this guy (I don't remember if he was a missionary or an ethnologist) who discover an Indian tribe somewhere in Amazonia and make them listen to Bach on his tape recorder. The Indians are fascinated, and seem to love Bach too, thus the conclusion : Bach's genius is universal. But the true question was : were they fascinated by Bach or by the tape recorder ?





Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 01:23:46 PM
Quote from: CRCulver on January 09, 2010, 12:23:15 PM
That's a curious claim considering the music situation in Denmark. Figures like Holmboe, Nørgård and Sørensen have had a pretty similar reception: they've been accepted by the Danish concert-going public, but their work draws little interest in academic circles.

Right :)
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 01:51:14 PM
kentel, okay. Scelsi need not write around a tonal centre but he does understand 'tonality' as meaning some sensitivity to consonance and dissonance as given by nature, not intellectual schemes.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 01:53:40 PM
Quote from: CRCulver on January 09, 2010, 12:23:15 PM
That's a curious claim considering the music situation in Denmark. Figures like Holmboe, Nørgård and Sørensen have had a pretty similar reception: they've been accepted by the Danish concert-going public, but their work draws little interest in academic circles.

Well they're not cutting edge Boulezian psychosis but a cautious step back toward tonality- so the rabid modernists don't like them, and in fact nobody much likes them. Holmboe is pretty tonal though of course.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 01:55:53 PM
Quote from: some guy on January 09, 2010, 12:37:10 PM
Interesting how often this idea comes up in conversation. It's as if it had some special, magical quality, guaranteeing agreement or at least making disagreement impossible.

But what is it, really? It is no more than conjecture. There is no way to make it anything more than conjecture, either, since it's about a region which none of us can have any knowledge of, the future. We can guess only. We cannot know.

Far from being the nice knockdown argument it always masquerades as, it is a grade one chimera.

(Even, I cannot resist adding, if it were possible to know this, does anyone genuinely care what one's grandchildren's grandchildren will or will not be listening to? These are people not yet born, people none of us will ever know. I wonder why it's always assumed that these people will have impeccable taste.)

I claim to know something of what art is. Therefore I can pronounce on aesthetic merit of works with objectivity. Perhaps you can't but I can.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 03:03:57 PM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 01:51:14 PM
kentel, okay. Scelsi need not write around a tonal centre but he does understand 'tonality' as meaning some sensitivity to consonance and dissonance as given by nature, not intellectual schemes.

I am not sure I understand : Scelsi is NOT tonal whatsoever. Consonance and tonality are two separate features.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Luke on January 09, 2010, 03:11:26 PM
Not sure I want to weigh in here, but the word 'tonal' needs to be defined for this discussion to go anywhere. If by 'tonal' we mean using traditional functional tonality, however extended, then of course Scelsi is not tonal; if by 'tonal' we mean possessing a tonal centre (or more than one) then Scelsi is one of the most interesting figures in 20th century tonal music. By this measure, for instance, his beautiful Anahit is clearly in G...and though not traditionally functional, in this and many other works Scelsi creates his own idiosncratic form of functionality, or at least tonal logic, through the use of what have been called tonal 'vectors' - tonal centres which have their own slowly shifting trajectory up or down a scale.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 09, 2010, 03:17:26 PM
Quote from: Luke on January 09, 2010, 03:11:26 PM
Not sure I want to weigh in here, but the word 'tonal' needs to be defined for this discussion to go anywhere. If by 'tonal' we mean using traditional functional tonality, however extended, then of course Scelsi is not tonal; if by 'tonal' we mean possessing a tonal centre (or more than one) then Scelsi is one of the most interesting figures in 20th century tonal music. By this measure, for instance, his beautiful Anahit is clearly in G...and though not traditionally functional, in this and many other works Scelsi creates his own idiosncratic form of functionality, or at least tonal logic, through the use of what have been called tonal 'vectors' - tonal centres which have their own slowly shifting trajectory up or down a scale.

In that case, Sorensen is tonal too :)
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Luke on January 09, 2010, 03:20:43 PM
There's a lot of this tonality stuff about still!  :)
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 09, 2010, 04:12:26 PM
Quote from: Luke on January 09, 2010, 03:11:26 PM
Not sure I want to weigh in here, but the word 'tonal' needs to be defined for this discussion to go anywhere. If by 'tonal' we mean using traditional functional tonality, however extended, then of course Scelsi is not tonal; if by 'tonal' we mean possessing a tonal centre (or more than one) then Scelsi is one of the most interesting figures in 20th century tonal music. By this measure, for instance, his beautiful Anahit is clearly in G...and though not traditionally functional, in this and many other works Scelsi creates his own idiosncratic form of functionality, or at least tonal logic, through the use of what have been called tonal 'vectors' - tonal centres which have their own slowly shifting trajectory up or down a scale.

What he said.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 10, 2010, 02:10:52 AM
OK; but if Scelsi's tonal then Sørensen is tonal too, as there is undoubtedly a "tonal logic" (as Luke termed it) in most of his works. Thus when you say in #13 :

Quote from: Sean
I'm very interested in soundscapes when they make overall aesthetic logic as well as the pink fluff of the moment, but this is only seriously possible in tonality.

- whether it is seriously possible in Sørensen's pieces, and there is no reason to dismiss them on this basis

- or it is not possible with Sørensen, therefore not  with Scelsi either and you have to dismiss both of them (as their use of "tonality" according to Luke's description is roughly the same).

or what ?
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: mikkeljs on January 11, 2010, 02:45:04 PM
Quote from: kentel on January 06, 2010, 01:53:00 PM
Bent Sørensen is one of my favorite composers, and as there seems to be no thread about him here, I thought I could start a new one...

Well, Sørensen is Danish, born in 1958 and an ex-pupil of Per Nørgård the Great (quite a good reference for a beginning). He writes in a style rather close to George Benjamin's, with an extreme care of the resonnance, the timbre and the color of each instrument. The atmospheres are deeply influenced by Poe and Baudelaire : somewhere between dream and nightmare, beauty and evil, very aesthetic and almost sophisticated - always beautiful.

Here are a few cd's :


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41kvLuwLsBL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Violin Concerto "Decaying Gardens" (1993) : I discovered Sørensen's music with this amazing violin concerto :
I was in fact very sensitive to the climate  and the evocation of these strange and sinister "dying gardens" which I imagine with big trees loosing slowly their died yellow and red blades. The orchestration is also quite impressive, with the violin playing at the same heights as the orchestra all the time, and the incredible feeling of fear and dispear of the third mvt with its furious ostinato is incredibly expressive.

The Echoing Garden for voice & orchestra (1992) : sounds like the ghostly echoes of this strange garden. Another great piece with a cold, precise and beautiful orchestra.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/317sjMF3WsL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

This cd is one of the bests  : every single piece is great. One couldn't find a better starting point.

Minnewater (1988) : delicate and swaying like ripples on the water - amazingly evocative, magic and anxious.

Sirenengesang (with voice) : mournful moans of strings; you could almost hear the sirens through the mists.

Shadowland (1989) :  Another masterpiece. A clear and microcosmic style, with an impressive sense of details. Very sophisticated, and contrary to what the title could involve, very luminous. His shadowland sounds like a dream.

The Deserted Churchyard (1990)  : Here again, Sørensen proves to be a true sound genius : glockenspiel, bells, flute like butterflies, distant strings in the background, mysterious piano... which ends in a sort of moan from beyond the grave.

Clairobscur (1987) : aquatic ripples of clarinet - very poetic and subtle.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ebNJ1aZPL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Birds and Bells, for trombone & orchestra (1997): not quite a concerto, as the trombone player is almost a part of the orchestra itself. Sometimes contemplative, sometimes humoristic (with a funny wow-wow trumpet ostinato in the 2nd mvt), always accurate, precise and written with a fanatic sense of details.

The Lady and the Lark, for viola & orchestra (1997): not quite a concerto either. One of my favorite, it just takes your breath away. Pure aestheticism.

The Bells of Vineta, for solo trombone (1990): this one is a little bit too experimental for my taste.

The Mask of the Red Death, for piano (1990) : after a short story by Edgar A. Poe (which I highly recommand if you didn't read it yet). Unfortunately, Sørensen who has written so amazingly beautiful pieces in the spirit of Poe, is here rather uninspired and far below the genius of the writer with this Ligeti-like little piece.

(http://www.dacapo-records.dk/img/album/x385/DCCD-9003a-b.jpg)

The String Quartets : in spite of the very good interpretation of the Arditti String Quartet, I think this cd is one of the less interesting. The 3 String Quartets were composed between 83 and 87, at a time when the composer had not found his personnal sound. They sound dull and gray. Moreover, Rasmussen's quartets on the same cd are not very good either (at least in my opinion).

Im a personal friend of Bent Sørensen, as he is teacher in Copenhagen. I also find his music among the most touching ever next with Allan Pettersson and Shostakovich! Glad that you know Bent Sørensen!  :) Its probably the first time he is mentioned on gmg, but not the last I hope! How did you ran into him?
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: some guy on January 11, 2010, 03:09:43 PM
Quote from: Sean on January 09, 2010, 01:55:53 PMI claim to know something of what art is. Therefore I can pronounce on aesthetic merit of works with objectivity. Perhaps you can't but I can.
Really? Because you claim knowledge, therefore you can pronounce, "objectively"? Now there's strange!

(Not to mention that this claim of yours has nothing to do with the post of mine you appended it to. Oh, wait. I just mentioned it!)
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Sean on January 11, 2010, 10:48:34 PM
Quote from: some guy on January 11, 2010, 03:09:43 PM
Really? Because you claim knowledge, therefore you can pronounce, "objectively"? Now there's strange!

(Not to mention that this claim of yours has nothing to do with the post of mine you appended it to. Oh, wait. I just mentioned it!)

Okay, rephrase it, I know knowledge, therefore I can pronounce objectively.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 12, 2010, 10:52:37 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on January 11, 2010, 02:45:04 PM
Im a personal friend of Bent Sørensen, as he is teacher in Copenhagen. I also find his music among the most touching ever next with Allan Pettersson and Shostakovich! Glad that you know Bent Sørensen!  :) Its probably the first time he is mentioned on gmg, but not the last I hope! How did you ran into him?

How lucky you are...

I have been living in Denmark during a few years, and at the local music library, they had all the Dacapo cd's. I borrowed them all :)

Actually, I remember that the first piece I heard by Bent Sørensen was the violin concerto ("Dying Gardens"). I was listening to it while riding my bike on a path bordered with trees. It was in fall, and their yellow and red blades were twirling all around : it matched so perfectly the atmosphere and the title of the Concerto... He has an impressive sense of atmospheres and orchestral colors. For me he is one of the most talented and skillful composers of his generation.

Are you teaching in kbh too ?

--Gilles

Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: mikkeljs on January 12, 2010, 02:54:58 PM
Quote from: kentel on January 12, 2010, 10:52:37 AM
How lucky you are...

I have been living in Denmark during a few years, and at the local music library, they had all the Dacapo cd's. I borrowed them all :)

Actually, I remember that the first piece I heard by Bent Sørensen was the violin concerto ("Dying Gardens"). I was listening to it while riding my bike on a path bordered with trees. It was in fall, and their yellow and red blades were twirling all around : it matched so perfectly the atmosphere and the title of the Concerto... He has an impressive sense of atmospheres and orchestral colors. For me he is one of the most talented and skillful composers of his generation.

Are you teaching in kbh too ?

--Gilles



Im only a pianist student, so I don´t teach.  :) But since all musicians in Copenhagen know eachother, I frequently talk with both Bent Sørensen, Niels Rovsing-Schow, Hans Abrahamsen and especially Per Nørgård, who call me and two of my freinds the Mafia of Odense, perhabs because we always show up at composer seminars and go to the composers whenever we get the oppotunity.  :P

The Violin Concerto was also the first Bent Sørensen piece I listened to, while sitting in a bus also in autumn, and I had a depression at that time, so the music means a lot to me too!

The first time I meet Bent was at his seminar in Odense many years ago, and I remember that in the break, people were standing inside the building, while Bent and I were standing alone  outside in the cold, since Bent wanted to smoke. So he was like the outsider of his own seminar!  ;D
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 13, 2010, 12:56:39 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on January 12, 2010, 02:54:58 PM
Im only a pianist student, so I don´t teach.  :) But since all musicians in Copenhagen know eachother, I frequently talk with both Bent Sørensen, Niels Rovsing-Schow, Hans Abrahamsen and especially Per Nørgård, who call me and two of my freinds the Mafia of Odense, perhabs because we always show up at composer seminars and go to the composers whenever we get the oppotunity.  :P

The Violin Concerto was also the first Bent Sørensen piece I listened to, while sitting in a bus also in autumn, and I had a depression at that time, so the music means a lot to me too!

The first time I meet Bent was at his seminar in Odense many years ago, and I remember that in the break, people were standing inside the building, while Bent and I were standing alone  outside in the cold, since Bent wanted to smoke. So he was like the outsider of his own seminar!  ;D

Actually I lived in Odense too :) That's my favorite danish city, don't like Copenhagen that much.

Nørgård,  he's just a genius. Nørgård,  Maxwell-Davies and Sallinen are for me the most fascinating living composers. But I didn't discovered his music in Denmark, he's quite famous in France too. All you tell me, it sounds to me like the Valhalla :)...

I like Rosing-Schow very much too. His music is aesthetically very close to Takemitsu's, with this sense of colored textures, that's especially true for his last cd's (Orbis, Equinoxe, Black Virgin etc.). I loved particularly "Sous les râles du vent d'ouest", "Windshape", "Archipel des solitudes" and his concerto for alto flûte & alto. It's a very poetic music.

Abrahamsen, it depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no :)

Another composer I really love is Ib Nørholm, who wrote one of the most beautiful cycle of symphonies I've ever heard.  And many others actually - it looks like there is many thread to open here  :D

Well, I'm quite often in Denmark, it's not far from here : tell me when you've got a seminar or something like that

Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: UB on January 13, 2010, 07:07:23 AM
"Another composer I really love is Ib , who wrote one of the most beautiful cycle of symphonies I've ever heard."

Kentel if you are referring to Ib Norholm I will agree with you 100% - his chamber music is not too shabby either.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: kentel on January 13, 2010, 09:37:40 AM
Quote from: UB on January 13, 2010, 07:07:23 AM
"Another composer I really love is Ib , who wrote one of the most beautiful cycle of symphonies I've ever heard."

Kentel if you are referring to Ib Norholm I will agree with you 100% - his chamber music is not too shabby either.

Yes, that's him !! I Just forgot to write the surname - corrected :) You're right, the chamber music is very interesting, though I'm not enthusiastic about everything there.

I love the violin concerto too, and his small pieces for 1 instrument. I saw there was a Kontrapunkt cd with the string quartets, but I've never seen it anywhere. Too bad, I'd love to hear them.

PS/actually I didn't forget his surname, the spell checker erased it, maybe I won't use it anymore (it dit the same for "Maxwell-Davies")  :D
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: snyprrr on April 12, 2014, 09:18:12 AM
Anyone find him interesting today? Tempting...
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: snyprrr on April 13, 2014, 10:32:38 AM
I have the Andsnes disc (with the Lutoslawski PC) which has a couple of Sorensen pieces, a 'Lullaby' (under five minutes, nothing special to these ears), and 'The Shadows of Silence', a tremulous and wispy work out of what sounds like Schubert (I don't know) and even seems to have the gimmick of having what sounds like a few cello lines thrown into the middle. For me, there's too much overt quietness- the kind where you have to fiddle the volume- and overall I was as impressed as Sean seemed to be. I have heard and enjoyed other Sorensen, but I found nothing really to hold on to here. :(

The ECM, DaCapo,- and the other disc- all sound much more interesting.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: MusicTurner on April 02, 2020, 12:06:22 PM
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
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: relm1 on April 02, 2020, 04:14:16 PM
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.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: not edward on April 02, 2020, 08:25:09 PM
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.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: MusicTurner on November 15, 2021, 10:57:45 AM
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


Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: CRCulver on November 17, 2021, 07:35:02 PM
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.
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Mirror Image on November 18, 2021, 07:34:55 AM
Quote from: CRCulver on November 17, 2021, 07:35:02 PM
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!
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: brewski on March 18, 2023, 08:24:03 AM
Checking out the new St. Matthew Passion from Bent Sørensen.

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

(https://bis.se/shop/17115/art15/h7015/5097015-origpic-c38f5e.jpg)

-Bruce

Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: not edward on March 21, 2023, 06:59:20 AM
Quote from: brewski on March 18, 2023, 08:24:03 AMChecking out the new St. Matthew Passion from Bent Sørensen.

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

(https://bis.se/shop/17115/art15/h7015/5097015-origpic-c38f5e.jpg)

-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?
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: brewski on March 28, 2023, 09:29:52 AM
Quote from: not edward on March 21, 2023, 06:59:20 AMI'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
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: brewski on April 04, 2023, 04:45:56 AM
For WRTI, the public radio station affiliated with Temple University, my comments (https://www.wrti.org/wrti-spotlight/2023-04-04/album-of-the-week-bent-s%C3%B8rensen-st-matthew-passion) on the new Sørensen St Matthew Passion.

Short version: it's stunning.

(https://bis.se/shop/17115/art15/h7015/5097015-origpic-c38f5e.jpg)

-Bruce
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: foxandpeng on December 08, 2023, 06:21:40 AM
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...
Title: Re: Bent Sørensen
Post by: Alex Bozman on January 02, 2024, 02:12:12 PM
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.