Danish
composer Bent Lorentzen was born 1935 in Stenvad, and grew up in Djursland
in the heart of Denmark.
His father, who was a doctor, was an enthusiastic amateur musician,
and as a South Jutlander educated in Kiel he was also familiar with
Wagner’s operas and German Late Romantic music.
Bent played music with the family and had already begun to compose before
he went to school. To his young ears Richard Strauss and Carl Nielsen
sounded boldly modern.
After his school years Bent studied at the Department of Musicology
of Aarhus University, and later went to the Royal Danish Academy of
Music in Copenhagen, where he studied cello and theory and took his
diploma in 1960. He studied composition with a.o. Knud Jeppesen, Holmboe,
Jersild and Høffding and now he serves as assistant professor at the
Royal Danish Academy of Music, Aarhus. Since 1971 Bent has been living
in Copenhagen, where he also works as a freelance composer.
During
his career as a composer, Mr. Lorentzen has received many grants for
his work. In 1982 he was awarded the Danish State Grant for Life and
in addition he has received several national as well as international
awards.
Lorentzen has composed music in most musical genres including works
for symphony orchestra, instrumental concertos, organ works, chamber
music, vocal and choir music as well as 13 operas in both comedies and
tragedies. His latest work "Steppenwolf" is awaiting for it's
premiere performance.
In addition to his composing career, Lorentzen has always been very
aware of the importance of bringing out new music to young people and
children. This interest has played a role in his writing compositions
for the youth of today, and played an important part in bringing out
his deep interest of expression and notation connected to the music
of our time.
Lorentzen has been described as "an unusual bird in the domestic aviary,
rich coloured and unpredictable, social and wilful at the same time"
but always deeply serious and genuine regardless of audience and genre.
His second work for accordion (the first, Tears, was written with the
encouragement of the late Mogens Ellegaard) we are grateful to Mr Lorentzen
for writing the 2002 Coupe Mondiale Test Piece.
Entitled
"Circus", this 7 minute work contains options for both piano
and button accordion, and is written in four movements:
- March
- Acrobats
- Lions
- Sabre Dance
The work was commissioned by the DHL for
the 55th Coupe Mondiale with financial support from the Danish Arts
Foundation.
The Publisher, Samfundet (www.samfundet.dk) is offering a 10,000 Danish
Kroner prize for the best performance of this work at the Coupe Mondiale.
For further information in both Danish
and English, please see: www.mic.dk and www.samfundet.dk
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