Karl Aage Rasmussen

The Frobenius Prize

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 12:29:00 +0000

I am indeed happy - and proud - to announce that the Frobenius Foundation has awarded me its Prize of honour, 250.000 Dkr. Up to now the Prize has been awarded only once, in 2015. The substantiation does not specifically focus on my work as a composer, but underlines "extraordinary importance and lasting effect on Danish musical culture". Thus I am particularly happy that my widespread activities as a writer, intermediator and organiser are considered part of my creative work.

Den store Frobenius Pris

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 12:03:00 +0000

Jeg er glad for - og også stolt af - at kunne meddele at Frobenius Fonden har tildelt mig deres store hæderspris på 250.000 kr. Prisen er kun uddelt én gang tidligere, i 2015. I begrundelsen angives ikke primært min kompositoriske indsats, men at jeg har "gjort en særlig indsats for dansk musikkultur og sat varige aftryk." Det glæder mig ikke mindst at mine omfattende aktiviteter som forfatter, formidler og organisator på den måde anerkendes på linje med mit rent kunstneriske arbejde.

LAUDATIO til Reformationen

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 11:52:00 +0000

Bestilt af DR til symfoniorkestret og Radiokoret med henblik på en koncert 31.10. har jeg skrevet et Laudatio til fejringen af de 500-år siden Luther slog sine 95 teser op på porten til slotskirken i Wittenberg. Få eller ingen enkeltbegivenheder har haft en så omvæltende og så varig virkning på den vestlige kultur.
Værket uropføres af den unge britiske dirigent Jaimie Phillips ved en koncert der også indeholder musik som forspillet til Wagner sidste opera Parsifal og dele af Bach's h-mol messe. Koncerten udsendes direkte på Danmarks Radio - og Dronning Margrethe er blandt de inviterede.

LAUDATIO for the Reformation

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 11:39:00 +0000

Commissioned by the Danish National Orchestra and the Radio Choir for a concert on the 31st of October I have written a Laudatio to commemorate the 500 years since Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Few single events in history have had such tremendous and lasting effects on Western culture.
The pieece will be first performed conducted by the young Briton Jamie Phillips on a concert which also contains music such as the Prelude to Wagners Parsifal and parts of Bach's Mass in b-minor. The concert can be heard live on Danish Radio - and in the audience will be our Queen.

Athelas' fødselsdagskoncert

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 11:20:00 +0000

Alder kan forekomme irrelevant, men at Athelas havde valgt at markere min kommende 70'års fødselsdag med en koncert indeholdende tre af mine hovedværker formidabelt spillet med Giordano Bellincampi på podiet og Anne Søe som solist i min violinkoncert, vil blive stående som en strålende oplyst piazza på min Memory Lane. Fire af mine nære kolleger havde desuden hver komponeret en kort sats for 15 instrumenter som en kærlig kommentar til min musikalske udtryksform, Anders Brødsgaard, Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen, John Frandsen og Simon Steen-Andersen.
I sandhed A Night to Remember!

Athelas' Birthday Concert

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 11:12:00 +0000

Age may seem irrelevant, but Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen chose to celebrate my upcoming 70 years birthday with a concert on Sunday 15.10. which will remain an illuminated piazza on my Memory Lane. Three of my main works magnificently played with Giaordano Bellincampi on the podium and with Anne Søe as soloist in my violin concerto. And four admired collegues had written small pieces for 15 instruments lovingly commenting on my way of musical expression - John Frandsen, Anders Brødsgaard, Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen og Simon Steen-Andersen.
A Night to Remember indeed!

Baroque Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 17:28:00 +0000

The Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was a connaisseur of bird song as well as of baroque music. In 1928 he created a suite for orchestra build on movements by baroque composers imitating bird song. Under the headline “Baroque Birds” Concerto Copenhagen on the 4th of September at 8 PM presents a concert in the Garnisons Church, Copenhagen, featuring the fascination of birds in the baroque period. It will include the prima assoluta of the version I have made for the ensemble of Respighi's “Gli Uccelli” - The Birds.

Barokfugle

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 17:25:00 +0000

Den italienske komponist Ottorino Respighi var en stor ynder og kender af såvel fugle som barokmusik. I 1928 byggede han en orkestersuite på fugleimiterende satser fra baroktiden. Under fællestitlen “Barokfugle” præsenterer Concerto Copenhagen 4.9 kl 20 en koncert i Garnisonskirken med eksempler på baroktidens fascination af fuglesang, og her uropføres min version for ensemblet af Respighis “Gli Uccelli” - Fuglene.

Niels W. Gades ufuldendte klavertrio fra 1839 fuldført

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 17:06:00 +0000

Min fuldførelse af Nies W. Gades ufuldendte klavertrio fra 1839, planlagt som fire satser, men efterladt af Gade med kun en færdigkomponeret første sats og meget sparsomme skitser til en langsom sats og en scherzo, uropføres 2. september kl 15 i Sct Catarinæ kirke i Ribe som en del af årets Langgaard Festival. Uropførelsen varetages af de tre prominente musikere i Den Danske Klavertrio, Lars Bjørnkjær, Toke Møldrup og Katrine Gislinge.

Niels W. Gade's unfinished 1839 Piano trio completed

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 17:04:00 +0000

My completion of Niels W. Gade’s piano trio of 1839, left by Gade with only the first of four movements finished and very sparse sketches for a slow movement and a scherzo, will be world premiered on the 2nd of September at 3 PM in the Ribe St. Catarinae Church as part of the Langgaard Festival. Performers are the prominent musicians of the Danish Piano Trio, Lars Bjørnkjær, Toke Møldrup and Katrine Gislinge.

Søsterværker

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 16:41:00 +0000

På SUSÅ Festivalens åbningskoncert 1.9 spiller Athelas Sinfonietta min “Webs in a Stolen Dream”, og på afslutningskoncerten 3.9 opfører Aarhus Sinfonietta søsterværket “Twin Dream”. Stedet er Grønnegårds Kaserne i Næstved, og festivalen fylder i år 25.

Sister Works

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 17:36:00 +0000

At the SUSÅ Festival opening concert 1.9 Athelas Sinfonietta will play my “Webs in a Stolen Dream”, and at the last festival concert on the 3.9 Aarhus Sinfonietta will perform the sister-work “Twin Dream”. The festival takes place at Grønnegaards Kaserne in Næstved, 90 kilometres southwest of Copenhagen and the festival celebrates 25 years of existence.

Northern Lights in Tivoli

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 11:00:00 +0000

ENSEMBLE NORTHERN LIGHTS 20 YEARS
KARL AAGE RASMUSSEN 70 YEARS
THE TIVOLI CONCERT HALL
9. JULY at 3 pm.

See program, ticket-information, about ensemble Northern Lights etc.

https://www.tivoli.dk/da/kultur+og+program/sommerklassisk/2017/ensemble+nordlys++20+aar

Three new works by Karl Aage Rasmussen:

Le tombeau de père Igor (Stravinsky), first performance
Scherzino, Homage to Brahms (1916)
Carl’s Masks - after Carl Nielsens opera “Masquerade”, first performance

Nordlys i Tivoli

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 10:53:00 +0000

ENSEMBLE NORDLYS 20 ÅR
KARL AAGE RASMUSSEN 70 ÅR

TIVOLIS KONCERTSAL
9. JULI kl. 15-17

Læs om program, billet-information, Ensemble Nordlys m.m.

https://www.tivoli.dk/da/kultur+og+program/
sommerklassisk/2017/ensemble+nordlys++20+aar

Tre nye værker af Karl Aage Rasmussen:

Le tombeau de père Igor (Stravinsky), uropførelse
Scherzino, hyldest til Brahms
Carls masker - efter Carl Nielsens opera “Maskarade”,
uropførelse

Rostrum of Composers

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Sat, 27 May 2017 04:57:00 +0000

In Palermo by mid-May this year at the International Composers Grand Prix - organized annually by the European Broadcasting Union - Concerto Copenhagen with the soloist Alfredo Bernardini represented Denmark in a recording from the Tivoli Concert Hall of the first performance of my Concerto for Baroque Oboe, June 2016.

Rostrum of Composers

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 25 May 2017 04:52:00 +0000

Ved Internationalt Komponist Grand Prix, årligt organiseret af Den Europæiske Radiounion, denne gang i Palermo i maj, repræsenterede Concerto Copenhagen med Alfredo Bernardini som solist Danmark i en optagelse fra Tivolis koncertsal af uropførelsen af min Koncert for Barok-obo, juni 2016.

New book: Johannes Brahms

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 19:22:00 +0000

Friday 28. April Gyldendal will publish my latest book, a monograph on the composer Johannes Brahms. Brahms's music was described by a newspaper as a "Reproach to the Haste of a Superficial Generation". But if anybody is assuming that the generation referred to is his own, it may be comforting to know that it was written shortly after Brahms' death in 1897.

Ny bog: Johannes Brahms

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 19:00:00 +0000

Fredag den 28. april udkommer min bog om den uudgrundelige Johannes Brahms på Gyldendal. Titlen “En sørgmodig drøm om idyl” forsøger at indkredse en side af de endeløse modsætninger der karakteriserede den ene af de tre “store B’er”. En avis beskrev hans musik som “et værn mod en overfladisk generations hastværk” . Men føler nogen sig ramt, kan de trøste sig med at det var kort efter hans død i slutningen af 1800-tallet.

Follia, follia ...

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 11:37:00 +0000

Mr. Paul Gabler from Holland has included “Follia, follia…” - a tribute to this ancielt melody which I composed for Concerto Copenhagen in the autumn of last year - in his impressive website about this melodi and its appearance in old and new works from all over the world.
folia@chello.nl
My Follia-piece can be heard in a recording with Concerto Copenhagen conducted by Magnus Fryklund (go to 1.18.30).
http://www.dr.dk/p2/p2-koncerten/p2-koncerten-2015-12-09/

Follia, follia ...

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 08:52:00 +0000

Hollænderen Paul Gabler har sat “Follia, follia …”, et hyldestværk til den ældgamle melodi som jeg i efteråret 20115 komponerede til Concerto Copenhagen, på sit imponerende site om melodiens optræden i hundredvis af kompositioner fra hele verden.
folia@chello.nl
I en optagelse fra primo november 2015 kan værket høres her med Concerto Copenhagen under ledelse af Magnus Fryklund (gå til 1.18.30)
http://www.dr.dk/p2/p2-koncerten/p2-koncerten-2015-12-09/

Six first performances in two days

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 07:51:00 +0000

This coming weekend (11.-12.6) Concerto Copenhagen will present no less than six new Rasmussen-works. A concerto for baroque oboe written for the Italian virtuoso Alfredo Bernardini, a playful "update" or new "staging" of Vivaldi's evergreen "The Four Seasons" (with Fredrik From and Peter Spissky as soloists) and a kind of subterranean "Holberg-suite".
CoCo is celebrating 25 years of existence with festival concerts in the Garnison Church and in Tivoli ... see the full program for Friday through Sunday here
https://concertocopenhagen.box.com/s/g05ejy4mtcxbm0pk82vam808tsmann51

Seks uropførelser på to dage

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 07:36:00 +0000

Den kommende lørdag og søndag (11-12.6) førsteopfører Concerto Copenhagen ikke mindre end seks Rasmussen-nyheder. En koncert for barok-obo komponeret til Alfredo Bernardini, en ny "iscenesættelse" af Vivaldis "De fire årstider" og en slags suite til Holberg.
CoCo fejrer 25-års jubilæum med fire koncerter i Tivoli og i Garnisons kirke. Se programhæfte på
https://concertocopenhagen.box.com/s/g05ejy4mtcxbm0pk82vam808tsmann51

Regret

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 07:29:00 +0000

Regrettably this site has not been updated for quite some time. From now on I promise to turn over a new leaf!

Beklagelse

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 07:21:00 +0000

Jeg beklager at dette site gennem længere tid ikke er blevet opdateret.
Det vil der nu blive rådet bod på!

St. Petersburg

noreply@blogger.com (Karl Aage Rasmussen) — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 10:27:00 +0000

By mid-October the Danish Cultural Institute in St. Petersburg hosted a conference on Carl Nielsen with many Russian researchers and musicians participating. I contributed a paper and possibly acted as "key-note" speaker. The travel included a lecture at the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory and a presentation in the city of Petrozavodsk, where the conservatory is known to be the northernmost in the world. I was happily accompanied by Finn Andersen, the committed and inventive head of the institute. His Russian wife, Elena, fluent in Danish, acted as my expert interpreter. With a week in the a spacy flat at Fontanka, belonging to the institute, the visit was truly memorable.