Vagn Holmboe (1909 - 1996)

composer

Vagn Holmboe (1909-96) is the most prominent Danish symphonist since Carl Nielsen. With his teaching and his many works from a composing career of over sixty years, Holmboe has a great influence on Danish music and Nordic music in general. He composed about 400 works, and has now finally achieved his definitive international breakthrough. Holmboe`s music is luminously clear and precise, striking in its lines and rhythms. Over the years Holmboe was greatly preoccupied with the folk music principle of going straight to the core of the music. He combined this with his own symphonic turn of mind, with roots as far back as Haydn. Even in his shorter pieces Holmboe was unmistakably a symphonist. The structures are clear and strong, and the music develops organically from simple material into a balanced totality. Holmboe`s central genres are the symphony and the string quartet. He composed fourteen symphonies and 21 string quartets in the finest European tradition. In addition we must single out his instrumental concertos (from 1939 until 1956 he wrote thirteen concertos for one or more soloists and chamber orchestra), and the choral works, several of which are already classics of Nordic music and are sung by both professionals and amateurs. Holmboe himself has long enjoyed classic status as one of the leading Nordic composers of this century.

Live Dates

Holmboe stock riding high
Second-hand copies of Vagn Holmboe’s string quartets recorded by the Kontra Quartet are circulating on the Internet at sky-high prices.
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Holmboe i høj kurs
Brugte eksemplarer af Holmboes strygekvartetter cirkulerer på Internettet til skyhøje priser
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01 September 2010 Gramophone

Vagn Holmboe: Works for violin and piano
"Holmboe's complete output for violin and piano, delivered impeccably"
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01 January 2010 Fanfare Magazine

Vagn Holmboe: The Key Masterpieces
"As an introduction to the world of Vagn Holmboe, this set probably couldn’t be bettered. Be prepared to be delighted."
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Discography

	The Complete String Quartets Vagn Holmboe CD 8.207001 (2010) 7 CD box set of all Holmboe's string quartets in the highly acclaimed recordings by the Kontra Quartet
	Works for violin and piano Vagn Holmboe CD 8.226063 (2009) A most convincing love of music-making is evident in these works by the master Holmboe
	The Key Masterpieces Vagn Holmboe CD 8.226101-02 (2009) An outstanding introduction to the clear-sighted master of 20th-century Nordic music
	Romantic Trombone Concertos SACD 6.220526 (2006) One of the world’s best trombonists shines in works by among others Holmboe and Launy Grøndahl
	L'Homme Armé - Works for Solo Cello CD 8.226007 (2005) Monumental collection of new works for solo cello – virtuosic and powerful!
	Passage - Danish Piano Trios Trio Ondine CD 8.226009 (2005) Danish piano trios throughout a century, including an unknown work of Carl Nielsen’s youth
	Sinfonias I-IV Vagn Holmboe CD 8.226017-18 (2004) Four intense string works that together form the major work Kairos
	From the Merry Life of a Spy Art of Brass Copenhagen CD 8.226001 (2003) Sparklingly incisive performance of a virtuoso brass quintet
	Requiem for Nietzsche Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224207 (2002) An impressive, uncompromising oratorio based on the life of Nietzsche – a major work in Danish music
	String Quartets Vol. 7 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224131 (2001) This unsurpassed series concludes with Holmboe’s very last work, completed by his pupil Per Nørgård
	Preludes for Sinfonietta Vol. 2 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224124 (2001) Profound, magical music from Vagn Holmboe’s old age
	String Quartets Vol. 6 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224128 (2001) Penultimate CD in the definitive series with String Quartets 17, 19 and 20, written in the 1980s
	Preludes for Sinfonietta Vol. 1 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224123 (2000)
	String Quartets Vol. 5 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224127 (1999)
	String Quartets Vol. 4 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224101 (1998) Three strong quartets from the beginning of the 1970s – a very fruitful period for Holmboe
	Chamber Concertos Vol. 4 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224087 (1998) The last four of the fantastic series of Holmboe’s short instrumental concertos
	String Quartets Vol. 3 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224073 (1997) Grand recordings of String Quartets 7, 8 and 9, composed in the mid-1960s
	Chamber Concertos Vol. 3 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224086 (1997) Concerto no. 7 for oboe, Concerto no. 9 for violin and viola, and no. 8, which is a “Concerto for orchestra”
	Chamber Concertos Vol. 2 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224063 (1997) Top Danish soloists meet in a lively interplay of violin, viola and piano trio
	Chamber Concertos Vol. 1 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224038 (1996) First-recordings of a fantastic series of works: 13 solo concertos written in an outburst that extended just a few years
	Oboe and Piano CD 8.224043 (1996)
	String Quartets Vol. 2 Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224026 (1996) String Quartets 2, 5 and 6, the starting shots for Holmboe’s immersion in the genre
	Works for Organ CD 8.224018 (1995) Organ meets harp and percussion in works from the end of the 20th century
	Songs CD 8.224010 (1995) Songs from the post-war era by among others Herman D. Koppel and Vagn Holmboe
	Wind Quintets CD 8.224001 (1994) Carl Nielsen’s masterpiece and more recent quintets by Abrahamsen, Holmboe and Nørgård
	String Quartets Vol. 1 Vagn Holmboe DCCD 9203 (1993) The start of the prizewinning series, played by four musician with a close links with the composer. A must!
	Works for A Cappella Choir Vagn Holmboe DCCD 9204 (1993) Perfect, insightful interpretations of Holmboe’s powerful, robust choral music