Cantabile is a work composed from 2004 to 2009 by Frederik Magle. It consists of three symphonic poems (or movements) based on poems written by Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark published in his book Cantabile. The Cantabile suite was commissioned by the Danish Royal Family and the first movement was premiered in 2004. [1] [2] The second and third movements were premiered on June 10, 2009 at a concert in the Copenhagen Concert Hall celebrating Prince Henrik's 75th birthday. On both occasions the music was performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. [3]
The music alternates between the sorrowful, which - according to the Prince Consort's biography (2010) - being unexpected at a birthday concert, caused unease among some of the guests present at the first performance of the Cortège & Danse Macabre in 2009, and sudden bursts of humour. [4]
Besides the original text by Prince Henrik in French, a Danish translation by Per Aage Brandt is also used in the work, and at places French and Danish is being sung at the same time.
The three symphonic poems/movements forming the suite are:
Orchestration: [5]
In the Carillon, the basses of the choir are required to sing the A below the bass-clef (27 notes below the middle C). [5] Instruments of special note: The use of a giraffe's thigh bone as a percussion instrument in the Cortège & Danse Macabre. [6]
Prince Henrik of Denmark was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 until his death in 2018.
Maurice Gustave Duruflé was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher.
In Western classical music, obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music was to be played exactly as written, or only by the specified instrument, without changes or omissions. The word is borrowed from Italian ; the spelling obligato is not acceptable in British English, but it is often used as an alternative spelling in the US. The word can stand on its own, in English, as a noun, or appear as a modifier in a noun phrase.
Sinfonia concertante is an orchestral work, normally in several movements, in which one or more solo instruments contrast with the full orchestra. It emerged as a musical form during the Classical period of Western music from the Baroque concerto grosso. Sinfonia concertante encompasses the symphony and the concerto genres, a concerto in that soloists are on prominent display, and a symphony in that the soloists are nonetheless discernibly a part of the total ensemble and not preeminent. Sinfonia concertante is the ancestor of the double and triple concerti of the Romantic period corresponding approximately to the 19th century.
Danse Macabre is a late-medieval allegory of the universality of death.
Frederik Reesen Magle is a Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist. He writes contemporary classical music as well as fusion of classical music and other genres. His compositions include orchestral works, cantatas, chamber music, and solo works, including several compositions commissioned by the Danish royal family. Magle has gained a reputation as an organ virtuoso, and as a composer and performing artist who does not refrain from venturing into more experimental projects – often with improvisation – bordering jazz, electronica, and other non-classical genres.
Jean Absil was a Belgian composer, organist, and professor at the Brussels Conservatoire.
Václav Nelhýbel was a Czech-American composer, mainly of works for student performers.
The Requiem, Op. 9, is a 1947 setting of the Latin Requiem by Maurice Duruflé for a solo baritone, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and organ, or orchestra with organ. The thematic material is mostly taken from the Mass for the Dead in Gregorian chant. The Requiem was first published in 1948 by Durand in an organ version.
Allan Gilliland is a contemporary Canadian composer.
Werner Wolf Glaser was a German-born Swedish composer, conductor, pianist, professor, music critic, and poet.
Paul Gilson was a Belgian musician and composer.
Zdeněk Lukáš was a Czech composer. He authored over 330 works.
Cantabile is a collection of poems written by Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark and published in 2000. It is illustrated by the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.
Per Aage Brandt was a Danish writer, poet, linguist and musician, born in Buenos Aires. He got his Master of Arts in Romance Philology from the University of Copenhagen (1971) & held a Doctorate of Semiotics from the Sorbonne University (1987).
Cantabile is a musical term meaning literally "singable" or "songlike".
Events from the year 2004 in Denmark.