With a right diagonal through the O in Borresen. Just heard his delightful Violin Concerto in G Major, Op. 11 on YouTube. Is there anything of his unavailable commercially that someone is willing to download in the Danish Composers file? I can't name a work, so I thought I'd go fishing here. :)
Almost all of his orchestral and chamber music are available commercially, but I'm not sure about:
The Normans, concert overture, Op. 16
Festmusik, Op. 22
Mod doden (Death), for strings (1932)
String Quartet No. 1 in e minor, Op. 20
I believe Mod doden (Death), for strings, has been recorded by Juha Kangas and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra on an album called Adagietto. I don't know about the others I'm afraid.
Yes, "Mod døden" is on the Adagietto disc. Apart from the orchestral and chamber discs, there is also a disc of songs and piano works on the small Danish label Helikon. I'm pretty sure the other works mentioned haven't been recorded commercially, but I'm not aware of any radio performances either. I do know that an old performance of Børresen's second symphony "The Sea" has been broadcast several times by Danish radio, but it may be the same one as that on the 2-disc set of "Late Romantic Danish Symphonies" on Danacord.
As an aside, allow me to give a hearty recommendation here to the cpo disc of Borresen's 2nd and 3rd Symphonies....
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Hakon-B%F6rresen-1876-1954-Symphonien-Nr-2-3/hnum/7389011 (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Hakon-B%F6rresen-1876-1954-Symphonien-Nr-2-3/hnum/7389011)
Don't opt for the Dacapo alternative - the cpo is the real thing. And in Symphony No.2 we have what I take to be the composer's finest work. An absolute must for lovers of vigorous, full-blooded, late-Romantic Nordic symphonism. Marvellous!
I agree completely with Alan. The cpo discs are the better alternatives, regarding both performances and sound
I can only echo Alan's words! Let's not forget the full-blooded romantic VC. A gorgeous piece, especially the slow movement. Available on Dacapo, but coupled with Symphony No. 1.
I share your empathy (and more) for Borresen. I have both the CPO coupling Sym. 2 and 3 and the Da Capo coupling VC and Sym. 1. I bought the latter (in Stockholm) at cheap Naxos price as "Naxos Scandinavia" label: what happened to that cheap series?
<<what happened to that cheap series?>>
I don't know about the other Scandinavian countries, but in Denmark Naxos and Dacapo had an agreement that some discs with music by Danish composers came out at Naxos price in Denmark (and presumably also in the other Scandinavian countries) but at full price elsewhere. The discs included the complete symphonies of Børresen, Ludolf Nielsen and Niels W. Gade, plus works by Peter Heise, Fini Henriques and H. C. Lumbye. The symphonies of Louis Glass were also recorded but never issued, for some reason I have never found out. The discs are still available at Naxos price in Denmark, but no new discs have come out for at least 10 years. I think I read somewhere that the Naxos/Dacapo collaboration ran into trouble at some point. Probably the discs didn't sell that well either. At least you can sometimes get e.g. the Børresen VC disc at next to nothing in Danish shops. People don't know what they miss ...
Quote from: JimL on Thursday 15 March 2012, 00:46
With a right diagonal through the O in Borresen.
Here ya go:
Ø!!Hold down the "alt" key and type "0248" on your numeric keypad for the small "ø," "0216" for the capital "Ø." Øøøøøøøøø!
I heard his 2nd Symphony ages ago, I really liked it and considered buying the boxed set - however, based upon what has been said here, it might be better to wait for CPO to finish their survey of his works!
Quote from: Miles R. on Wednesday 21 March 2012, 13:27
Quote from: JimL on Thursday 15 March 2012, 00:46
With a right diagonal through the O in Borresen.
Here ya go:
Ø!!
Hold down the "alt" key and type "0248" on your numeric keypad for the small "ø," "0216" for the capital "Ø." Øøøøøøøøø!
Thanks! I wasn't about to look through the charmap one at a time until I found it!
I've just listened again to the wonderful VC and Symphony No. 1. Although I think his 2nd as a whole is the best, the slow movement allegretto sostenuto of the 1st could very well be one of the most beautiful orchestral pieces Børresen ever composed. The theme grabs me enormously and I cannot get it out of my head. But Tchaikovsky is not far away...
The concert overture "Normannerne", (the normans), is now available: https://www.7digital.com/artist/niels-borksand/release/hakon-b%C3%B8rresen-8164450 And on You Tube.
tangentially: on a Mac keyboard sufficiently extended, click "option" and hold it down while pressing "o" for "ø". On some tablet/phone keyboards it's easier.
If I can't find a letter like this, I copy and paste from an internet page. Voilà: ø !
Extending the tangent even further, the best program for inserting such letters on the Windows platform is PopChar (http://www.ergonis.com/products/popcharwin/). But to return to Børresen...
I found a short video of what appears to be a news story on Borresen's connection with the town of Skagen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Lme-Nbb4A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Lme-Nbb4A)
Unfortunately it is entirely in Danish, but thought it would be interesting to those who speak it.
I also agree with Alan. The cpo discs are the better alternative. I have both sets.
Everyone says "better", but nothing about why.
And not always the same one, if I recall (Lace & Barnett on Musicweb prefer Schmidt, anonymous? reviewer @ Gramophone slightly prefers Hughes, etc.)
QuoteEveryone says "better", but nothing about why.
Better playing, better recording. OK?
OK, - so not better interpretively then. It's in regards to that I'd expect a bit of elaboration.
I'll take a superior interpretation over better sound and playing (within certain limits) almost always.
The weight and intensity of the cpo performances are the deciding factor for me. And the playing and recording are very fine.
If you want superior interpretations, go for the cpo releases.
...in any case you can surely make some comparisons on YouTube and decide for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=borresen+symphony
(I know what I can hear - and I stick by my original assessment.)
Having done the YouTube comparison you suggest (in regards to Symphony 1 only) I agree with your assessment. Schmidt/CPO DO manifest greater "weight and intensity" than Hughes/DaCapo, the sound is richer, and the playing more refined. Even if the difference is more than marginal it's not a blowout, - Hughes & Aalborg bring the work across decently enough. But based on my initial listen of at least Symphony 1, I'd choose the CPO also if I was acquiring just one. As for the music itself, it held my attention even if nothing truly special. Perhaps Symphonies 2&3 will be more individual and accomplished, as I'd expect.
Symphony No.1 is highly enjoyable, warmed-over Tchaikovsky. You should find No.2 less derivative.
No.2 is also the most recorded of his symphonies, with several broadcasts having been issued; the only recordings of nos. 1 & 3 to be commercially released I think have been parts of complete cycles. No.3 from descriptions I've seen, may even be slightly out of our remit, or maybe not. (Timewise it is, stylistically one would have to check...)
Symphony No.3 dates from 1926, but (stylistically) it's a perfect fit for discussion here.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 11 April 2021, 20:40
Symphony No.3 dates from 1926, but (stylistically) it's a perfect fit for discussion here.
Particularly the third movement (Allegretto moderato). It sounds like a lovely late 19th century waltz that would fit well in a ballroom.
The Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt under Ole Schmidt takes it at a much more graceful pace, and the strings sound fuller than with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra.
Exactly.
A new radio broadcast of Symphony No. 3 can be streamed here: https://www.ndr.de/kultur/sendungen/das_konzert/die-stars-von-morgen-elias-ackerley-und-trio-ariadne,sendung-65666.html
It's interesting how both this symphony (1925) and Myaskovsky's 6th (1923) use the French revolutionary song Ah! ça ira in their finale. Perhaps that's understandable shortly after a revolution in Russian that mirrored itself so closely after the French, but from a Russian that might be more expected than from a Dane.
I don't understand your question. Many people in 1925 outside of the Soviet Union were hopeful of the USSR's prospects, as is, afaik, clear from any amount of writing by people from that time (and not all of it, as I recall, from Communists either- though I'm not sure we know Børresen's politics?) Anyway, good catch.
Of course you're right, but Børresen is a somewhat unlikely suspect to have much sympathy for the communist cause, being a staunchly bourgeois part of the royal orchestra and royal theatre mileu in the Danish capital. Musically, he stayed well away from the contemporary avant-garde as well.
Quote from: Ilja on Tuesday 09 June 2026, 21:02Musically, he stayed well away from the contemporary avant-garde as well.
Regardless of one's political inclinations, this is a wise move in my book!
Still amazes me that we can call anything written one hundred years ago "avant-garde", fgs... and if we mean "compared to the rest of the stuff written at that time", ok, interesting.
Solid point. Let's not forget that anything within a mile of Wagner was once regarded as dangerously subversive.
Perhaps atonal is a better word than avant-garde.
Already have gone way offtopic, and very few composers have ever written atonal music. (That you don't care for the composers of certain music, or the music, which has been described that way- generally by journalists with journalists' usual tremendous accuracy!- is certainly your right!)