SKU: HL.14028022
ISBN 9788759861615. 12.0x16.5x0.52 inches.
Ruders writes: My second concerto for violin and orchestra is a 'reverse' cousin of Polydrama the cello concerto. The former starts out extremely slow and speeds up gradually and the latter progresses in exactly the opposite way, but whereas the cello concerto is composed as one, uninterrupted stretch, the violin concerto is formally completely different: there are 4 movements, each of them combined via a 'ritornello', a solo-cadenza which appears 4 times (the works conclude with a solo) in almost the shape, i.e. the length varies from time to time.
SKU: HL.14028042
ISBN 9788759810668.
Ruders writes: There's a solid tradition in the history of Western music of turning the theme of Nicolo Paganini's 24th Caprice for soloviolin into a set of variations endemic to the time and style of each individual composer; Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninov and Lutoslawsky being the most prominent names. When asked by David Starobin to write a concerto for him, I though well, why not have a go at it? - bearing in mind, that not only is Paganini the most celebrated violin-wizard of all times, but he was also a more than accomplished guitarist. There are 22 variations in all, numbers 1 to 16 all adhering strictly to the 16-bar pattern, laid down by Paganini himself. From variation 17 though, the writing becomes more symphonic and the rigid 16-bar regime is being lossendes up a bit. However, the last variation 'Finale Prestisimo' is a 6 x 16 bars white-knuckle ride, in which the hitherto soloistic role of the guitar gives way to that of 'primus interpares', i.e. 'first among equals'. As with another set of variations of mine 'Concerto on Pieces' (based on a tune by Purcell), the nature and shape of the 'Pagannini-Variations' may be compared to a stroll through a hall of mirrors: the portrait - the theme is gradually being distorted out of all recognition - but it's still the same original walking by.
SKU: HL.233151
ISBN 9788759886427. 10.0x14.5 inches. English.
Piano solo part for Paganini Variations - Piano Concerto No.3 by Poul Ruders (2014). Score available: WH32201 Programme note: In 1999 my friend, American guitar virtuoso David Starobin, wanted me to write a concerto for guitar and orchestra. It quickly dawned on me, that this commission presented a golden opportunity to contribute to the time-honoured tradition of composing a series of variations on Nicolo Paganini's famous 24th Caprice for violin solo, a work which itself is a set of variations. The 16 bar (with the first 4 bars repeated) theme is not particularly sophisticated or intricate, but its inherent simplicity and logic just grow on you, almost to the point ofdistraction - and the secret behind it being hauled through the wringer by composers as disparate as Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski is perhaps found in its - what I'll call, with a quick nervous look over my shoulder: brilliant banality. You can do anything with that tune, it'll always be recognizable and just there, however much you maul it. The piece (subtitled Guitar Concerto no 2) was written pretty quickly, premiered and subsequently recorded for Bridge Records with David and the Odense Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jan Wagner, and everybody was happy. But the story didn't end there, and it must be the ultimate proof of the durability of the theme, not to mention the flexibility and far-sightedness of David Starobin , when he 14 years later suggested why not transcribe the solo part for piano?. The idea appealed to me immediately. One thing was clear from the beginning: the new version could in no way sound like a transcription. My aim was to end up with a solo-part sounding like were it the one-and-only, the real thing, if you like. The orchestral score remains exactly the same in both cases. Both versions, the two Paganini Variations, are comparable to a set of twins, not quite identical, but almost. And both each others's equal. Poul Ruders.
SKU: HL.14028023
ISBN 9788759870846. 12.0x16.5x0.53 inches. English.
Violin Concerto No.1 for Violin solo and Harp, Harpsichord and Strings by Poul Ruders (1981).
SKU: HL.14075320
SKU: HL.14021749
ISBN 9788759889817. Danish.
Poul Ruders' MONODRAMA, dedicated to percussion virtuoso Gert Sorensen and commissioned by The Danish Radio, was written in New York in the early winter 1988 and makes the centre as well as the middle of the tri-part opus called The Drama Trilogy. All three works employ the word Drama in their title, Drama in the original meaning of the word: event. No specified event, but a premonition or omen rather, that something is afoot, a free Drama-offer from which anyone may populate the stage of his private, inner theatre.The first piece of the series DRAMAPHONIA for piano and chamber ensemble was premiered in London in the spring of 1988 by Lontano and Poul Rosenbaum. This piece is emotionally and rhythmically unstable as opposed to MONODRAMA (single-event) which is modelled from the archetypal idea of obtaining accomplishment from nothingness. The 31 instruments of the orchestra (no flutes and no violins or violas) are more or less wrapped around the solo-part to become one with that and thus emerge as one, gigantic percussion instrument. The rhythmical patterns of the orchestral part more or less follow those of the percussionpart, a single-event also on the rhythmical level.After 20 minutes climbing toward the peak of rage, the composition casts its slough and is reborn into a chorale-like march and the struggle between totally depopulated sound-scapes and ferociously roaring sub-oceanic storms begin and the piece paces toward the abyss; rage becomes despondency, New Rage as opposed to New Age, the spineless worshipper of beauty without pain.The third instalment of the DRAMA TRILOGY, the cello concerto POLYDRAMA will be premiered in Stockholm May 1990.MONODRAMA lasts aprox. 32 minutes.Poul Ruders.
