Hans Abrahamsen
Encyclopedia
Hans Abrahamsen is a Danish
composer.
Born in Copenhagen
, Abrahamsen first got to know music through playing the French horn at school. He went on to study music theory
at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. His music is inspired by his mentors Per Nørgård
and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen
, who were two of his composition teachers, and in the 1980s he became close both personally and stylistically (partly through another period of study) to György Ligeti
.
Abrahamsen is considered to have been part of a trend called the "New Simplicity
", which arose in the mid-1960s as a reaction against the complexity and perceived aridity of the Central European avant-garde
. Abrahamsen’s first works conformed to the tenets of this movement, which was a Danish reaction against the complexity emanating from central Europe, particularly the circle around the Darmstadt School
. For Abrahamsen this meant adopting an almost naive simplicity of expression, as in his orchestral piece Skum ("Foam", 1970). His style soon altered and developed, at first through a personal dialogue with Romanticism (audible in works such as the orchestral Nacht und Trompete (1984)), and later - after a hiatus of around a decade in which he composed little and released nothing - into something entirely personal, combining a modernist stringency and economy into a larger individual musical universe. Notable works since his return to composition include a piano concerto written for his wife Anne-Marie Abildskov, and the extended chamber work Schnee, where the paring-down of material appears to reach a new extreme.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
composer.
Born in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Abrahamsen first got to know music through playing the French horn at school. He went on to study music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. His music is inspired by his mentors Per Nørgård
Per Nørgård
Per Nørgård is a Danish composer.-Biography:Nørgård studied with Vagn Holmboe at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and subsequently with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. To begin with, he was strongly influenced by the Nordic styles of Jean Sibelius, Carl Nielsen and Vagn Holmboe...
and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen
Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen
-Biography:Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is the son of the sculptor Jørgen Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. He studied at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen, with Høffding, Westergaard, and Hjelmborg, graduating in 1958 .He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1980...
, who were two of his composition teachers, and in the 1980s he became close both personally and stylistically (partly through another period of study) to György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
.
Abrahamsen is considered to have been part of a trend called the "New Simplicity
New Simplicity
New Simplicity was a stylistic tendency amongst some of the younger generation of German composers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, reacting against not only the European avant garde of the 1950s and 1960s, but also against the broader tendency toward objectivity found from the beginning of the...
", which arose in the mid-1960s as a reaction against the complexity and perceived aridity of the Central European avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
. Abrahamsen’s first works conformed to the tenets of this movement, which was a Danish reaction against the complexity emanating from central Europe, particularly the circle around the Darmstadt School
Darmstadt School
Darmstadt School refers to a loose group of compositional styles created by composers who attended the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music from the early 1950s to the early 1960s.-History:...
. For Abrahamsen this meant adopting an almost naive simplicity of expression, as in his orchestral piece Skum ("Foam", 1970). His style soon altered and developed, at first through a personal dialogue with Romanticism (audible in works such as the orchestral Nacht und Trompete (1984)), and later - after a hiatus of around a decade in which he composed little and released nothing - into something entirely personal, combining a modernist stringency and economy into a larger individual musical universe. Notable works since his return to composition include a piano concerto written for his wife Anne-Marie Abildskov, and the extended chamber work Schnee, where the paring-down of material appears to reach a new extreme.
Works
- Winternacht (1976–78)
- Nacht und Trompete (1984)
- Marchenbilder (1984)
- Lied in Fall (1987) for Cello and 13 instruments
- Carl Nielsen: Three Piano Pieces recomposed for 10 instruments (1990)
- 10 Studies for Piano
- 6 Pieces for Violin, Horn and Piano
- String Quartets (with Poul Ruders)
- Symphony (1974) - released on a CD of the Kontrapunkt label (No 32194)
- 4 Pieces (1983 Piano Studies, Orchestrated 2000-2003)
- Schnee (2006)