Vagn Holmboe
Encyclopedia
Vagn Gylding Holmboe was a Danish
composer
and teacher who wrote largely in a neo-classical
style.
. He studied under Knud Jeppesen
(Theory) and Finn Høffding
(Composition). After finishing his studies in 1929 he moved to Berlin where, for a short period, Ernst Toch
became his teacher.
In 1933, he married the Romanian pianist Meta Graf. After moving back to Denmark in 1934, he taught at various institutions, including the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen from 1950 to 1965.
His students included Per Nørgård
, Ib Nørholm
, Bent Lorentzen
, Arne Nordheim
, Egil Hovland
and Alan Stout
.
, three chamber symphonies, four symphonies for strings, twenty string quartet
s, numerous concerto
s, one opera, and the late series of preludes for chamber orchestra, as well as much choral
and other music, in addition to some early works that never received opus numbers. His last work, the twenty-first string quartet, Quartetto sereno, was completed by his pupil Per Nørgård.
He is considered to be the most important Danish symphonist after Carl Nielsen
. His music is characteristically tonal, and musical metamorphosis of thematic or motivic
fragments characterize most of his works between the years 1950 and 1970 (similar to Jean Sibelius
). His earlier works show the influence of East European composers such as Béla Bartók
; his work also shows the influence of Igor Stravinsky
, Carl Nielsen
and Dmitri Shostakovich
.
Commercial recordings of his symphonies by Owain Arwel Hughes
are still available, as are recordings of his string quartets, chamber concertos, and some other works. His choral or brass music, or his wind Notturno from 1940 may be performed more often than his works for full or chamber orchestra.
Private tapes of performances conducted by him, by Nikolai Malko
and by Fritz Mahler exist, but these are rare and difficult to obtain.
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
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and teacher who wrote largely in a neo-classical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
style.
Life
At the age of 16, Holmboe began formal music training at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen on the recommendation of Carl NielsenCarl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
. He studied under Knud Jeppesen
Knud Jeppesen
Knud Jeppesen was a Danish musicologist, composer, and writer on the history of music....
(Theory) and Finn Høffding
Finn Høffding
Niels Finn Høffding was a Danish composer. Høffding studied composition under Knud Jeppesen and Thomas Laub, and then under Joseph Marx in Vienna from 1921-22. His works first became well-known in Denmark in the 1920s, particularly the piece Karlsvognen...
(Composition). After finishing his studies in 1929 he moved to Berlin where, for a short period, Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch was a composer of classical music and film scores.- Biography :Toch, born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family of a humble Jewish leather dealer when the city was at its 19th-century cultural zenith, sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music...
became his teacher.
In 1933, he married the Romanian pianist Meta Graf. After moving back to Denmark in 1934, he taught at various institutions, including the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen from 1950 to 1965.
His students included 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...
, Ib Nørholm
Ib Nørholm
Ib Nørholm is a Danish composer and organist.Nørholm studied with Vagn Holmboe at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he later taught , becoming a professor in 1981...
, Bent Lorentzen
Bent Lorentzen (composer)
- Life :Bent Lorentzen was born in Stenvad, a village in eastern Jutland. He studied musicology at the university in Aarhus and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He was a pupil of Knud Jeppesen, Finn Høffding, Vagn Holmboe and Jörgen Jersild...
, Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim was a Norwegian composer who had since 1982 been living in the Norwegian State's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. Nordheim received numerous prizes for his compositions, and was elected an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary...
, Egil Hovland
Egil Hovland
Egil Hovland is a Norwegian composer.Hovland was born in Råde. He studied at the Oslo conservatory with Arild Sandvold and Bjarne Brustad, in Copenhagen with Vagn Holmboe, in Tanglewood with Aaron Copland, and in Florence with Luigi Dallapiccola. He has been the organist and choir leader in...
and Alan Stout
Alan Stout (composer)
Alan Burrage Stout is an American composer of contemporary classical music.He studied at Johns Hopkins University and at the Peabody Conservatory. His instructors included Henry Cowell, Wallingford Riegger, John Verrall, and Vagn Holmboe, the latter at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for...
.
Music
Holmboe composed about three hundred seventy works, including thirteen symphoniesSymphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, three chamber symphonies, four symphonies for strings, twenty string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, numerous concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s, one opera, and the late series of preludes for chamber orchestra, as well as much choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and other music, in addition to some early works that never received opus numbers. His last work, the twenty-first string quartet, Quartetto sereno, was completed by his pupil Per Nørgård.
He is considered to be the most important Danish symphonist after Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
. His music is characteristically tonal, and musical metamorphosis of thematic or motivic
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
fragments characterize most of his works between the years 1950 and 1970 (similar to Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
). His earlier works show the influence of East European composers such as Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
; his work also shows the influence of Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
and Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
.
Major works
(M. — Meta number — for Metamorphosis. Might also be said to be named after his wife, Meta May Holmboe... numbering system assembled by Prof. Rapoport. This information from The Compositions of Vagn Holmboe.)- SymphoniesSymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
- sym. 1, for chamber orchestra, M. 85
- sym. 2, 1938–9, M. 107
- sym. 3, Sinfonia rustica, M. 126
- sym. 4, Sinfonia sacra for chorusChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and orchestra, M. 132 - sym. 5, 1944, M. 145
- sym. 6, 1947, M. 155
- sym. 7, 1950, M. 167
- Chamber symphony no. 1, 1951, M. 171
- sym. 8, Sinfonia boreale, M. 175
- Sinfonia in memoriam, 1954-5, M. 185
- Sinfonia I for strings, M. 194
- Sinfonia II for strings, M. 196
- Sinfonia III for strings, M. 200
- Sinfonia IV for strings, M. 215 (Kairos)
- sym. 9, 1967–9, M. 235
- Chamber symphony no. 2, 1968, M. 240
- Chamber symphony no. 3, 1969–70, M. 246
- sym. 10, 1970–2, M. 250 (premiered by the Detroit Symphony OrchestraDetroit Symphony OrchestraThe Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
under Sixten EhrlingSixten EhrlingSixten Ehrling, , was a Swedish conductor who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, amongst others....
) - sym. 11, 1980–1, M. 304
- sym. 12, 1988, M. 338
- sym. 13, 1993–4, M. 362
- ConcertoConcertoA concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s- Several (about twenty,) including especially
- Concerto for trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and chamber orchestra, with the orchestra consisting of two horns and strings- written in 1948, M. 157. Eleventh of a series of 13 concertos with chamber orchestra originally called "chamber concertos" - Cello concertoVioloncello concertoA cello concerto is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments....
, 1974–9, M. 273 - Recorder concerto, 1974, M. 275
- FluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
concerto no. 1, 1975–6, M. 279 - TubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
concerto, 1976, M. 280 - Flute concerto no. 2, 1981–2, M. 307
- String quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s- Twenty-one written (excluding numerous un-numbered student works)
- From no. 1, 1948–9, M. 159 to no. 20, 1985, M. 322 (this the last of four works representing the times of the day) (also the completion of a twenty-first, Quartetto sereno)
- Twenty-one written (excluding numerous un-numbered student works)
- Some other works
- Notturno for wind quintetWind quintetA wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players . The term also applies to a composition for such a group....
, 1940, M. 118 - BrassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
quintets - no. 1, 1961–2, M. 212; no. 2, 1978, M.293 - Requiem for Nietzsche for tenor, baritone, chorus, and orchestra, 1963–4, M. 219
- Symphonic metamorphoses for orchestra —
- Epitaph, 1956, M. 189 (premiered by the BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
) - Monolith, 1960, M. 207
- Epilog, 1961–2, M. 213
- Tempo variabile (Changeable weather,) 1971-2, M.254
- Epitaph, 1956, M. 189 (premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
- Two sonatas for guitarClassical guitarThe classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
, op. 141-2 - Five intermezzi for guitarClassical guitarThe classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
, op. 149
- Notturno for wind quintet
Commercial recordings of his symphonies by Owain Arwel Hughes
Owain Arwel Hughes
Owain Arwel Hughes CBE is a Welsh orchestral conductor. Among his numerous titles are Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony in Denmark and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and Principal Guest Conductor of the Cape...
are still available, as are recordings of his string quartets, chamber concertos, and some other works. His choral or brass music, or his wind Notturno from 1940 may be performed more often than his works for full or chamber orchestra.
Private tapes of performances conducted by him, by Nikolai Malko
Nikolai Malko
-Biography:Malko was born in Semaky, Ukraine. His father was Ukrainian, his mother Russian. He studied philology at St Petersburg University. He published articles on music criticism in the Russian press and performed as a pianist and later a conductor. In 1906 he completed his studies in history...
and by Fritz Mahler exist, but these are rare and difficult to obtain.
Books
- Holmboe wrote several books, including Danish Street Cries: a study of their musical structure and a complete edition of tunes with words collected before 1960, translated by Anne Lockhart for Kragen, ISBN 87-980636-9-3, published 1988.
- Another is Experiencing Music. An English translation of this by Professor Paul RapoportPaul Rapoport (music critic)Paul Rapoport is a musicologist, music critic, and composer a professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario....
, formerly of McMaster University, published by Toccata Press in 1991 has ISBN 0-907689-16-7 in its paperback release. - Paul Rapoport, an expert on the composer’s music, has written for Edition Wilhelm Hansen, Copenhagen, a worklist and discography entitled The Compositions of Vagn Holmboe, ISBN 87-598-0813-6, published 1996.