CD’er Axel Borup-Jørgensen (kulturen.nu)

CD’er - Axel Borup-Jørgensen
”Marin”, "Nordic Sound - "Tribute to Axel Borup-Jørgensen" og ”Floating Islands”
22. november 1924 fødtes i Hjørring Axel Borup-Jørgensen, som blev én af sin generations mest flittige, opførte og anerkendte komponister.
Allerede som 2-årig flyttede Axel med sin familie til Sverige og senere til København og Birkerød, hvor han døde i 2012. I København lod han sig uddanne som pianist og musikpædagog, men fik også undervisning i instrumentation, komponistens grundlæggende håndværk.
Som komponist var han dog selvlært, men han deltog i de navnkundige kurser for avantgardekomponister i Darmstadt i 50’erne. I 1948 debuterede Borup-Jørgensen som komponist, og der kom rigtigt gang i kompositionerne, en værkrække, der nåede imponerende 187 opus, det sidste komponeret året før hans død.
Borup-Jørgensens værker blev spillet, transmitteret og udgivet i en lind strøm hele hans liv, og efter hans død satte pladeselskabet OUR Recordings sig for en mere omfattende dokumentation af dem.

Herunder albummet "Marin", der indeholder både cd og dvd. Orkesterværket "Marin" er en milepæl, ikke blot i Borup-Jørgensens værkrække, men i hele dansk musikhistorie, prisbelønnet og kendt internationalt.
Det blev komponeret mellem 1963 og 1970, ifølge komponisten med over 8.000 arbejdstimer, og det 20 minutter lange værk både chokerede og imponerede musikverdenen.
Det viste nye klange, nye former, en enorm detaljerigdom og var meget anderledes i forhold andet i tiden.
Ud over selve orkesterværket finder man en dvd med dels en portrætfilm om Borup-Jørgensen, dels animationsfilmen "Marin". Den første en blanding af naturoptagelser fra Sverige, dokumentarisk materiale og udtalelser fra musikere og komponister, der forholder sig til den yderst elskværdige og galante, men også krævende komponist og hans egenartede musik.
"Jeg komponerer for at finde ind til det, der virkeligt er mig" som Borup-Jørgensen beskedent erklærede. Filmen er et 40 minutter langt, lyrisk ekspressivt og meget loyalt portræt af komponisten.

Animationsfilmen "Marin" er skabt af Morten Bartholdy, Niels Valentin og Allan Lückow i 2012. Filmen, der har orkesterværket som ledsager, er lige så imponerende i sine kunstneriske dimensioner, som Borup-Jørgensens musik.
Også her er der tale om store visioner over for en imponerende detaljerigdom, lyriske og langsomme, farverige udtryk og stor skønhed. Filmen er således ikke blot en visualisering af musikken, men en organisk sammensmeltning af billede og lyd.
I modsætning til de meget komplicerede og detaljerede partiturer er Borup-Jørgensens musik meget enkel og umiddelbar og faktisk ikke vanskelig at lytte til, men den fordrer stor koncentration, både af musikere og lyttere.
Heller ikke dét er vanskeligt, for på forunderlig vis drages man helt ind i musikken, som er fortættet, koncentreret og præget af stor skønhed Den er på mange måder helt anderledes, end hvad man ellers på den tid, og hvad komponisten lod sig inspirere af i Darmstadt.

Ud over det store "Marin"-album skal denne korte introduktion også nævne et par andre cd'er, dels "Nordic Sound - Tribute to Axel Borup-Jørgensen", der som titlen siger viser den store respekt, han nød blandt kolleger.
Her findes værker af Bent Sørensen, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Sunleif Rasmussen, Mogens Christensen og Thomas Clausen, nogle af landets mest toneangivende (undskyld udtrykket) komponister i generationen efter Borup-Jørgensen.

Man skal næppe lede efter direkte spor fra den gamle i deres musik, de er meget forskellige, men udvalget virker naturlig og spændende, og krones af Borup-Jørgensens egen "Sommasvit" fra 1957 - ét af de mest karakteristiske og spillede værker fra årene i Sverige.

Guitaren var ét af de instrumenter, der fik størst opmærksomhed fra Borup-Jørgensen, og CD’en ”Floating Islands” med guitaristen Frederik Munk Larsen bringer et udvalg af de mest betydningsfulde værker.
Hans meget klare og velargumenterede udførelser peger på, at Borup-Jørgensens guitarværker har fundet "sin" måske mest kvalificerede udøver. Som titlen antyder, er det en næsten huldsalig oplevelse at gennemhøre hele cd'en i koncentreret ensomhed.

Axel Borup-Jørgensens musik er mere end et bekendtskab værd. Den er næsten et must for den, der interesserer sig for samtidsmusik. Der findes en righoldig mængde udgivelser fra OUR Recordings og Dacapo Records med musik af komponisten, der proklamerede at "Stilhed er også musik".
Portrætfoto: Leif Hesselbjerg
PS: Som musikproducer er jeg ikke altid lige glad for at få besøg i radiovognen af komponister og musikere med mere eller mindre gode råd til, hvordan jeg skal gøre mit arbejde. Men når det gjaldt Borup-Jørgensen var det berigende og herligt, både på grund af hans overmåde venlige attitude, men også fordi han bidrog med brugbare forslag og helt nye vinkler til forståelse af hans musik. Evanthore Vestergaard 12.01.2023

Faktaboks
• "Marin" for orkester
• Medvirkende: DR Radiosymfoniorkestret, Thomas Søndergård, dirigent
• Indeholder også en række markante kammermusikværker af Borup-Jørgensen og dvd med portrætfilmen "Axel" og animationsfilmen "Marin".
• OUR Recordings 2.110426
• "Nordic Sound" - Tribute to Axel Borup-Jørgensen
• Værker af Bent Sørensen, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Sunleif Rasmussen,
• Mogens Christensen, Thomas Clausen og Borup-Jørgensen
• Medvirkende: Michala Petri, blokfløjter, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Clemens Schuldt, dirigent
• OUR Recordings 6.220613
• "Floating Islands"
• Værker for guitar solo. Medvirkende: Frederik Munk Larsen, guitar
• OUR Recordings 6.220672
• www.ourrecordings.com

Google translation:

CDs - Axel Borup-Jørgensen
"Marin", "Nordic Sound - "Tribute to Axel Borup-Jørgensen" and "Floating Islands"
On 22 November 1924, Axel Borup-Jørgensen was born in Hjørring, who became one of the most diligent, performed and recognized composers of his generation.
Already at the age of 2, Axel moved with his family to Sweden and later to Copenhagen and Birkerød, where he died in 2012. In Copenhagen, he trained as a pianist and music teacher, but also received instruction in instrumentation, the composer's basic craft.
As a composer, he was self-taught, but he participated in the renowned courses for avant-garde composers in Darmstadt in the 50s. In 1948, Borup-Jørgensen made his debut as a composer, and the compositions really got going, a series of works that reached an impressive 187 opus, the last one composed the year before his death.
Borup-Jørgensen's works were played, transmitted and published in a steady stream throughout his life, and after his death the record company OUR Recordings set about a more extensive documentation of them.

Including the album "Marin", which contains both CD and DVD. The orchestral work "Marin" is a milestone, not only in Borup-Jørgensen's series of works, but in the entire history of Danish music, award-winning and internationally known.
Composed between 1963 and 1970, according to the composer with over 8,000 working hours, the 20-minute work both shocked and impressed the music world.
It showed new sounds, new forms, an enormous wealth of detail and was very different from anything else at the time.
In addition to the orchestral work itself, you will find a DVD with partly a portrait film about Borup-Jørgensen, partly the animated film "Marin". The first is a mixture of nature footage from Sweden, documentary material and statements from musicians and composers who relate to the extremely amiable and gallant, but also demanding composer and his unique music.
"I compose to find what is really me" as Borup-Jørgensen modestly declared. The film is a 40-minute long, lyrically expressive and very loyal portrait of the composer.

The animated film "Marin" was created by Morten Bartholdy, Niels Valentin and Allan Lückow in 2012. The film, which is accompanied by the orchestral work, is as impressive in its artistic dimensions as Borup-Jørgensen's music.
Here, too, we are talking about big visions against an impressive wealth of detail, lyrical and slow, colorful expressions and great beauty. The film is thus not just a visualization of the music, but an organic fusion of image and sound.
In contrast to the very complicated and detailed scores, Borup-Jørgensen's music is very simple and immediate and actually not difficult to listen to, but it requires great concentration, both from musicians and listeners.
This is not difficult either, because in a wonderful way you are completely drawn into the music, which is condensed, concentrated and marked by great beauty. in Darmstadt.

In addition to the great "Marin" album, this short introduction must also mention a few other CDs, partly "Nordic Sound - Tribute to Axel Borup-Jørgensen", which, as the title says, shows the great respect he enjoyed among colleagues.
Here are works by Bent Sørensen, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Sunleif Rasmussen, Mogens Christensen and Thomas Clausen, some of the country's most influential (excuse the expression) composers in the generation after Borup-Jørgensen.

You hardly have to look for direct traces of the old in their music, they are very different, but the selection seems natural and exciting, and is crowned by Borup-Jørgensen's own "Sommasvit" from 1957 - one of the most characteristic and played works from the years in Sweden.

The guitar was one of the instruments that received the most attention from Borup-Jørgensen, and the CD "Floating Islands" with guitarist Frederik Munk Larsen brings a selection of the most significant works.
His very clear and well-argued performances indicate that Borup-Jørgensen's guitar works have found "its" perhaps most qualified performer. As the title suggests, listening to the entire CD in concentrated solitude is an almost gut-wrenching experience.

Axel Borup-Jørgensen's music is worth more than an acquaintance. It is almost a must for anyone interested in contemporary music. There is a wealth of releases from OUR Recordings and Dacapo Records featuring music by the composer who proclaimed that "Silence is also music".
Portrait photo: Leif Hesselbjerg
PS: As a music producer, I am not always happy to be visited on the radio by composers and musicians with more or less good advice on how to do my work. But when it came to Borup-Jørgensen it was enriching and glorious, both because of his exceedingly friendly attitude, but also because he contributed useful suggestions and completely new angles to understanding his music.

Fact box
• "Marin" for orchestra
• Cast: DR Radio Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård, conductor
• Also contains a number of significant chamber music works by Borup-Jørgensen and DVD with the portrait film "Axel" and the animation film "Marin".
• OUR Recordings 2.110426
• "Nordic Sound" - Tribute to Axel Borup-Jørgensen
• Works by Bent Sørensen, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Sunleif Rasmussen,
• Mogens Christensen, Thomas Clausen and Borup-Jørgensen
• Cast: Michala Petri, recorder, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Clemens Schuldt, conductor
• OUR Recordings 6.220613
• "Floating Islands"
• Works for guitar solo. Cast: Frederik Munk Larsen, guitar
• OUR Recordings 6.220672
• www.ourrecordings.com