Arguably, Ole Buck (b1945) is the doyen of Danish composers, though much less well known than was Nørgård. Buck was one of the earliest exponents – since 1968, when he turned his back on avant-garde experimentation – of the Scandinavian brand of minimalism known as the ‘New Simplicity’. Andrew Mellor’s delightful profile (4/25) fills in much of the essential detail for his distinguished career, though omitted to mention his many compositions for recorder virtuoso Michala Petri. (Some may know the vibrant duo Gymel for Michala and her harpsichordist mother, Hanne – 5/89). Buck’s Concerto rosignolo (‘Nightingale Concerto’, 2022) is the latest of these, a five-movement suite nowhere near as simple as an initial hearing might suggest.
The five movements play out in a continually refining, refocusing portrait of a nightingale, which gradually erodes the distinction between the composer and his subject. ‘It may not sound like much,’ Buck has commented, ‘since I have always aimed for simplicity and transparency – and the particular tone that characterises Michala’s playing fits beautifully into this concept. So, all in all, I had the feeling that the music was writing itself, with a nightingale perched on my desk, nodding in satisfaction: Exactly!’
Recorded live at Carl Nielsen Hall in Odense, Concerto rosignolo is a triumph of Buck’s indefatigable search for beauty in music, refusing to adopt easy options or slide into pastiche. For a work dominated by birdsong, there is no trace of Messiaen, for instance, but it is undeniably of the 21st century – no mean achievement. The performance from Petri and the Odense Symphony Orchestra under Eivind Gullberg Jensen is of impeccable virtuosity and musicianship and OUR’s sound is crystal-clear. A delight from first note to last. Guy Rickards, June 2026 Issue