Re premiere and recording of Ole Schmidts Guitar Concert from 1976

Guitar concerto from 1976 is brought back to life. 

In the late 1990s I met Ole Schmidt, and he mentioned and suggested that I play his guitar concerto from 1976 - which I had no idea existed at the time - and subsequently sent me the handwritten score. 

Ole Schmidt (1928-2010) Danish conductor, composer and classical pianist and jazz pianist - was a huge personality. His music is original, fierce. Full of juice and power and in many musical directions. His instrumental concertos have attracted international attention. His flute concerto has also received a Grammy. 

At the time he spoke about the need to review the guitar part. He himself was very open to the idea that something should be done. He was fully aware that his lack of knowledge of the instrument meant that something had to be rewritten/rearranged. He was annoyed that the concerto had been hidden away. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get to it before Ole Schmidt got sick and died. 

The years passed, but then a couple of years ago I found the score again, read it closely and became quite excited and inspired. We don't have many Danish guitar concertos, and I really wanted to dive into the notes and get the guitar part realized. Bring the concerto back to life.

Chamber orchestra instrumentation: flute, oboe/English horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, harp and strings. 

The concerto is in 3 movements

1st movement. Allegro moderato. Happy and musical. Relatively traditional in its structure with presentation of different themes. Presentation of the guitar in different ways. Conversations with the orchestra's instruments.

2nd movement starts and ends as a duo with the harp. The middle part is the great cadence. Here I think you can sense that Ole Schmidt is inspired by Joaquin Rodrigo's famous 2nd movement from his concerto Aranjuez, which Schmidt conducted several times in 1975/76.

3rd movement. Toccata. (electric guitar). The guitarist switches to his Gibson and stands up and pumps out a sustained rhythmic energy, which gradually varies and becomes more and more intense. The strings (Pizz) and percussion start with an ostinato rhythm. The winds introduce various rhythmic riffs that become more and more persistent. The movement develops in different time signatures and becomes more and more intense. In this movement, you can really hear Ole Schmidt's love for rhythmic music, while he remains true to his own special tonal language. 

The corrections have been especially in the 2nd movement/cadence, which I have co-composed and embroidered on and actually expanded.

In the toccata, 3rd movement, I have also tried to make the solo electric guitar voice more spectacular with various pedal effects and tonal quirks. As previously written, Ole Schmidt loved the idea of ​​shaking up the effects a bit. 

I am proud to bring this guitar concerto to life again and am very grateful to the DKDM and KUV funds for making it possible. Many thanks also to EDITION WILHELM HANSEN for reissuing the concert with the new changes, as well as the piano score. 

Scandinavian Guitar Duo spiller på Anders Koppel's nye album: Chamber Concertos

På et nyt album med kammerkoncerter af Anders Koppel kan du høre Concertino for to guitarer og kammerensemble, som kombinerer latinamerikanske rytmer med et køligt nordisk gemyt.

Værket er skrevet til og indspillet af Scandinavian Guitar Duo, bestående Jesper Sivebæk og Per Pålsson. I mere end tre årtier har duoen sat deres markante præg på den danske kammermusikscene, med deres kombination af teknisk dygtighed og kunstnerisk finesse

Album release 15. marts på CD og streaming.

Lyt her

New Album: All Classic

Since their debut 30 years ago, guitarists Per Pålsson and Jesper Sivebæk - the Scandinavian Guitar Duo have established themselves among the most popular chamber ensembles in Denmark. They literally exploded on the concert scene just shortly after graduating from the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Southern Denmark when they won first prize in Danish Radio’s prestigious Chamber Music Competition. From that auspicious beginning their fame and accomplishments continue to grow, receiving the Sonning Foundation’s special Segovia Prize, founded by the legendary Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia as well as taking Gold or Silver in many international guitar competitions. The Duo has toured in Europe, USA and China. While impeccable in their musicianship, it is their incredible interconnectedness as a duo, performing almost as a single instrument, that has wowed critics and audiences the world over.

For their new album, Per and Jesper chose some of the pieces they love most dearly and have played for many years. From their own arrangement of Händel’s virtuosic Chaconne to the enchanting innocence of Faure’s Dolly Suites, (written by Faure for his daughter), an original from Fernando Sor, the Paganini of the guitar, and of course, a stop along the way to sunny Spain, courtesy of Enrique Granados as well. While fans of the guitar will thrill to the Duo’s effortless precision, this is an album that most fully displays the guitar as beloved broadcaster and teacher Jim McCutcheon has described as “the instrument held closest to the heart.”