Beschreibung
The title Monicalisms refers partly to Monica Schmidt Andersen who commissioned the piece. Partly to the fact that it is monodic music. But then again, this monodic single line of music divides into several layers of music played in different stradas. Much (though not exactly) in the same way as you can find it in Bachs suites for cello. If we invented a new word, and said, that the piece monicated the apparent single line, you might say, that the introductory single rhythm explodes into web of “monikalisms”.
Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen (*1958) studied composition with Ib Nørholm, Per Nørgård, Hans Abrahamsen and Karl Aage Rasmussen at the Royal Academies of Copenhagen and Aarhus. He has composed music in a large diversity of genres to ensembles such as The Rascher Sax 4-tet, Ensemble l’Art pour l’Art, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Madrid Radio Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and most of the leading Danish Ensembles and Orchestras.
Twice a First Prize Winner and receiver of a number of Grants. In 2008 his Concerto for Bang Di and Symphony Orchestra, „Of fire and Earth“, won second prize in Shanghai International Spring Music Festival.
Among major works are three Symphonies, concertos for oboe, saxophone, violin, accordion and large ensembles and latest, 2013-14, Toccata for organ and symphony-orchestra, in which he played the solopart at the premiere. He has also written operas and monodramas such as „Chains” (2015), “De profundis” (2009), “The Present of Eden“(2006) and „The Little Mermaid” (1999).
Besides being a composer SHN works as a church- and concert-organist, and as associate professor in Music Theory at the University of Copenhagen, with a large number of theoretical writings including articles. In Danish he has among others published a book on Per Nørgård, Virkeligheden fortæller mig altid flere historier, (Odense 1996) and is presently working on a thesis on the Danish version of the theory of harmonic function. In English he has published articles on Per Nørgård in The Music of Per Nørgård – Fourteen Interpretative Essays (ed. Anders Beyer, Scolar Press 1996) and the latest version of MGG.
