Sunleif Rasmussen

Sunleif Rasmussen, 2009.

Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961 in Sandur ) is an important Faroese composer of classical music of the second half of the 20th century.

Life

After studying in Norway , he returned to Tórshavn , where he worked as a music teacher and jazz pianist. From 1990 to 1995 he was the first Faroese to study composition at the Royal Danish Music Academy in Copenhagen with Ib Nørholm and electronic music with Ivar Frounberg . At IRCAM in Paris he came into contact with composers such as Tristan Murail and Gérard Grisey . In 1992 he received two awards. In 1997 he received a three-year grant from the Danish State Cultural Fund.

In 2002 he was the first Faroese to win the Nordic Council Music Prize with his Symphony No. 1 Oceanic Days (1995–1997), the first Faroese symphony, which was composed on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the House of the North and premiered there. A special feature of this symphony is that synthesizer speakers and two drummers are positioned behind the audience, which is surrounded by music like an island in the sea.

“Sunleif Rasmussen has put the Faroe Islands on the musical map. His symphony Oceanic Days takes its inspiration from both the Faroese landscape and the ancient Faroese chorales. From this, Sunleif Rasmussen has created a work of far-reaching dimensions, radiant, irresistible and artistic purity, which unites artistic claim and poetry. "

- NOMUS committee for the establishment of the Nordic Council Music Prize.

Against his jazz background and the rich folk music tradition of his country , he combines this with electroacoustic and spectral music , so that in the end an abstraction of the traditional songs is created that makes the original melody unrecognizable. Rasmussen draws further inspiration from the literary work of William Heinesen (1900–1991).

On October 7, 2006, the piece Creatio caeli et terrae was performed in the chamber music hall of the Berlin Philharmonic . Dies quartus (The creation of heaven and earth. Day four) from Rasmussen's cycle on the creation story in Genesis, premiered by the RIAS Chamber Choir . On October 12, 2006, Rasmussen's opera Í Óðamansgarði was premiered in Tórshavn . It is the first Faroese opera. The text is by Dánial Hoydal .

Discography (selection)

• Sourrounded , Caput Ensemble Reykjavík, 2002
• Symphony No. 1 / Saxophone Concerto , Danish National Symphony Orchestra, 2005

Web links

• Schott Musik - Review: Sunleif Rasmussen, Symphony No. 1 (in German)
• Label DK (for the award ceremony of the Nordic Council)
• North - The Top of Europe, No. 4, Sept. 2002 (PDF, in German)