Riisager: The Symphonic Edition, Vol. 2

Featuring

Bo Holten
Aarhus Symfoniorkester
Knudåge Riisager

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Composer Biography

Despite never having attended the institution himself, Knudåge Riisager became the director of the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in 1956, focusing solely on administrative work for eleven years.

Composer Biography

Knudåge Riisager, a Danish composer, maintained a full-time career as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance, eventually becoming a Departmental Head, while also being a prolific composer and music writer.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Riisager's early compositions showed a Nordic, lyrical tone, but a study trip to Paris in 1923 exposed him to new currents, leading to influences from French composers like Roussel and Satie, as well as Prokofiev, Honegger, Bartók, and Stravinsky.

Cultural Impact

Although Riisager composed many significant works, his ballet scores, such as Etude (later Etudes), were crucial in establishing his name with the general public as a leading composer of his generation and earned him international recognition.

Compositional Technique

Riisager's personal style, evident in his early works, is characterized by the provocative use of dissonant seconds, a fondness for bitonality, a humorous musical element, and his distinctive approach to orchestral setting.

Recording & Production

This album is part of 'The Symphonic Edition, Volume 2' and was recorded in the Symphonic Hall, Musikhuset Aarhus, in June 2011, with Morten Mogensen as recording producer and Claus Byrith as sound engineer and mastering engineer.

Critical Reception

Riisager's Sinfonia (Symphony No. 3) was met with mixed reactions at its 1935 premiere, with reviews noting that he was 'alone among living Danish composers' in receiving both 'hisses and clapping,' and calling him 'Denmark's debatable composer.'