Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer.

Life

Born in

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Tourism and transport Ringsted is one of Denmark's busies ...

, Ruders trained as an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

, and studied orchestration with

Karl Aage Rasmussen Karl Aage Rasmussen (born 13 December 1947 in Kolding, Denmark) is a Danish composer and writer. Composition Quotation and particularly collage played an important role in his music from the early 1970s, but increasingly he used pre-existing m ...

. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own compositional development as a gradual one, with his true voice emerging with the chamber concerto, ''Four Compositions'', of 1980. His notable students include Marc Mellits. Writing about Ruders, the English critic Stephen Johnson states: "He can be gloriously, explosively extrovert one minute – withdrawn, haunted, intently inward-looking the next. Super-abundant high spirits alternate with pained, almost expressionistic lyricism; simplicity and directness with astringent irony." Minor planet 5888 Ruders discovered by

Eleanor Helin Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin (née Francis, 19 November 1932 – 25 January 2009) was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Some sources gi ...

and

Schelte J. Bus Schelte John "Bobby" Bus (born 1956) is an American astronomer and discoverer of minor planets at the Institute for Astronomy (Hawaii), Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii and deputy director of NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility ...

is named after him.

Music

Ruders has created a large body of music ranging from opera and orchestral works through chamber, vocal and solo music in a variety of styles, from the

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespre ...

pastiche of his first

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque music, Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first dev ...

(1981) to the explosive modernism of ''Manhattan Abstraction'' (1982). Other works include the operas ''Tycho'' (1986), ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which ...

'' (1990, with libretto by

Paul Bentley Paul Richard Bentley (born 25 July 1942) is a British stage, film and television actor, perhaps best known for playing the High Septon in the television series ''Game of Thrones''. He is also a writer. Early life Bentley was born in Sheffiel ...

), ''Proces Kafka/

Kafka's Trial ''Proces Kafka'' (Kafka's Trial) is an opera by Poul Ruders to a libretto by Paul Bentley which premiered on March 12 2005 at the Copenhagen Opera House in Denmark. It was commissioned by the opera house as the opening to their 2005 season. A Danis ...

'' (2005, again with libretto by Bentley), '' Selma Ježková'' (2007, after Trier's ‘

Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...

’), and the fairytale opera''

The Thirteenth Child ''The Thirteenth Child'' is an English-language opera in two acts, composed by Danish composer Poul Ruders in 2016, to a libretto by Ruders manager Becky Starobin and her husband, guitarist David Starobin. The opera, Ruders fifth, is inspired by ...

'' (2016), five

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, four

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

s, Violin Concerto No. 1 (1981), ''Etude and Ricercare'' (1994) for guitar, for David Starobin, ''The Bells'' (songs) with

Lucy Shelton Lucy Shelton is an American soprano best known for her performance of contemporary music. She graduated from The Putney School in 1961 and Pomona College in 1965. The only artist to receive the International Walter W. Naumberg Award twice (as ...

, soprano, and the ''Christmas Gospel'' (1994) and two

piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movement (music), movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Domenico Scarlatti, Scarlatti, Liszt, Scr ...

s; ''Abysm'' (2000) for

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is a British chamber ensemble based in Birmingham, England specialising in the performance of new and contemporary music. BCMG performs regularly at the CBSO Centre and Symphony Hall in Birmingham, tou ...

. Ruders has written several works for the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and promoter of new music

David Starobin David Starobin (born September 27, 1951) is a highly honored figure in the world of classical guitar. Called "arguably the most influential American classical guitarist of the 20th century" ('' Soundboard''), Starobin was born in New York City. ...

: ''Psalmodies'' (1989) and ''Paganini Variations'' for guitar and orchestra (1999–2000), and ''Psalmodies Suite'' (1990), ''Etude and Ricercare'' (1994) and ''Chaconne'' (1996) for solo

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

. Ruders has composed a ''Concerto in Pieces'' (1995), which is a set of variations on the "Witches' Chorus" from Purcell's opera ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was c ...

''. His fourth symphony, ''An organ symphony'', (with a significant part for

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

) was a joint international commission by the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra traces its origins t ...

Odense Symphony Orchestra The Odense Symphony Orchestra (Odense Symfoniorkester) is a Danish symphony orchestra based in Odense. The orchestra is resident in the Odense Concert Hall (inaugurated in 1982), specifically in the Carl Nielsen Hall (seating capacity of 1,212). ...

and the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

. The world premiere took place in the

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is a concert hall located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). Ranked one of the world's greatest orchestra halls, it was designed by architect I.M. Pei and acoustician Russell Johnson's ...

, Dallas, Texas, 20 January 2011.

References

External links

Ruders' websitePer Erland Rasmussen, Acoustical Canvases – The Music of Poul Ruders' (2007), DMT Publishing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruders, Poul 1949 births Living people People from Ringsted 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Danish classical composers Danish male classical composers Composers for the classical guitar Danish opera composers Male opera composers 20th-century Danish male musicians 21st-century male musicians