Jesper Koch
(f. 1967)
Jesper Koch har studeret hos Andy Pape, Ib Nørholm, Colin Mathews, Karl Aage Rasmussen og Olav Anton Thommesen.
I 1988 modtog han Carl Nielsens æres-legat for komponister.
I 1992 vandt han 1. prisen ved Rostrum i Paris i kategorien komponister under 30 med værket Ice-Breaking.
I 1994 modtog han det 3-årige arbejdslegat fra Statens Kunstfond.
I 1997 debutkoncert fra Det Jydske Musikkonservatorium i Århus og i København.
I 2001 modtog han Dansk Komponistforenings legat.
Jesper Koch began composing when he was 11 years old. His sonority-based musical idiom has a
personal tone that testifies to a poetic disposition. A performance at the Fifth Danish Composers'
Biennial of his tone poem ”Alice under Skies” from 1998 was accorded the praise that one could
almost hear little rabbits hopping across the meadow! As the title suggests, the work was inspired
by Lewis Carroll's famous children's book Alice in Wonderland. The work was premiered by
Collegium Musicum and Owain Arwel Hughes in the year of its composition. Koch has studied
with among others Andy Pape, Karl Aage Rasmussen, Olav Anton Thommesen and Colin
Mathews. In 1992, with the work Ice-Breaking for two accordions and percussion, he won First
Prize at ROSTRUM in Paris in the category for composers under 30. He was awarded the Carl
Nielsen Grant for Composers in 1988, and six years later he received the three-year working grant
of the National Arts Foundation. At the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen he studied
composition with Ib Nørholm, Hans Abrahamsen. Jesper Koch made his official debut from the
Royal Danish Academy of Music in Aarhus in 1997. His debut concert demonstrated the broad
palette with which Jesper Koch paints: Images of Lorca for piano solo, Dreamchild for flute, viola
and harp, Down The Rabbit-Hole for wind quintet, Three portraits with shadows for mezzo-soprano
and chamber ensemble to texts by Lorca. And last but not least "Jabberwocky" for solo accordion,
an instrument of which Jesper Koch is particularly fond. Ice-Breaking has already been mentioned,
but Diversions for accordion-orchestra should also be mentioned. Since his debut Koch has
composed many works, commissioned for example by the Odense Symphony orchestra, Danish
National Symphony Orchestra(DR), Copenhagen Philharmonic, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. In
2001 he was appointed composer-in-residence for the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra. Several
of Koch's chamber works have been released on the Kontrapunkt label under the title Jesper Koch,
Chamber Music 1.
In 2003 a CD with four orchestral works played by Odense Symfoniorkester was released on the
label Da Capo.
Besides the Nordic countries, Jesper Koch's music has been performed in Austria, Holland, Canada,
USA, France, Sweden(World music days 2009) and recently(2014/2015) in Germany(Rostock and
Karlsruhe) where his cello concerto ”Dreamscapes” was played with great succes.
A CD, to be released on the label Da Capo, with ”Dreamscapes”, "Lonesome(for clarinet, strings,
harp and perc.) and the the recently composed "Arcadia Lost"(violin concerto) was recorded in
november 2017 by Odense Symfoniorkester.
In 2019 DR-Vokalensemblet will record my "Choir Book"(dur. 60 min with 7 chapters), set to
poems by Frank Kjørup, also on the label Da Capo Records!
"With its deep fundamental tone and its vocal and instrumental articulation, the work extends
beyond the concept of Danish music, and has a wide international horizon," Professor Jan Maegaard
has said of his music. The ability to elucidate musical structures from different angles and the
coloristically aware interplay of harmony and instrumentation demonstrate a compositional scope
with a convincing inner logic. His works are carefully conceived with a sure sense of form and
structure, where all superfluous formulations have been peeled away so that the idea appears as the
overall unifying factor.
The reviewers have long agreed on his great imaginative storytelling talent and humorous elements.
But the humour is combined with a rigorous aesthetic that makes Koch careful in his choice of
resources. Perhaps that is precisely why his stories are so distinctly outlined. "Modernism with
atmospheric images" could be the heading for Koch's music.
Der er noget legende over Jesper Kochs musik. Han har et fint øre for hvad
der klinger smukt, for melodi og for instrumenternes farve, og så bliver
han aldrig ved for længe - timingen er perfekt. Man får indtryk af, at han
er indædt perfektionist. (Politiken)
Værkliste:
Spoon-river triptykon, 1988
for obo, fagot, horn, violin og cello (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Ice-breaking, 1989
for 2 accodeons og percussion
(Edition·S – music¬sound¬art)
Jabberwocky, 1995
for accordeon solo (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Dream-child, 1995
for fløjte, viola og harpe (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Tre portrætter med skygge, 1994
for mezzosopr., klarinet, viola, kontrabas, klaver og slagtøj (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Land of dreams, 1996
for viola og guitar (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Se første side af partituret. Brug tilbageknappen for at komme tilbafe til denne oversigt.
Roundelay, 1995
for 3 guitarer (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Min barndoms vandringer, 1996
Kvartet for blokfløjte, violin cello og guitar (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Se første side af partituret. Brug tilbageknappen for at komme tilbage til denne oversigt.
Down the Rabbit-hole, 1996
Kvintet for fløjte, obo, klarinet, fagot og horn (Edition Kontrapunkt)
Se første side af partituret. Brug tilbageknappen for at komme tilbage til denne oversigt.
Images of Lorca, 1996-1997
for klaver
I en klaverafdeling tegnede Jesper Kochs Images Of Lorca et fint atmosfærisk
stemningsbillede med klokker og spansk farvede melodistumper, der gav
appetit på mere af denne 30-årige... (Politiken)
Funerailles, 1997
Trio for horn, violin og klaver
Se første side af partituret. Brug tilbageknappen for at komme tilbage til denne oversigt.
Och jord....
for orkester 1997 (under revision)
Uropført november 1997 af Odense Symfoniorkester. Dir.: Tamás
Vetö.
... Anderledes med den kun 30-årige Jesper Koch, der havde en lovende debut her
i foråret. Odense Symfoniorkester uropførte Och jord, efter Lucas
Moodyssons digt Sommaren et symfonisk digt, der skildrer vor tanke. og
hensynsløse udpining af den gamle jord, uden dramatik, i en smuk fritonal,
impressionistisk orkesterstil.
Hans musik vender sig imod en modernistisk ekspresivitet og synes at læne
sig til en ældre tradition med en forsigtig ungdommelig blufærdighed. (Information)
Alice under skies
Pastorale for kammerorkester 1997
Hent første side af partituret i pdf format.
Uropført januar 1998 af Collegium Musicum. Dir.: Owain Arwel Hughes
Genopført i revideret form i marts 2000 af Radiounderholdningsorkesteret. Dir.: Konstancia Gourza.
Remembrance, 1998
for Strygkvartet
Skrevet til og uropført af Carl Nielsen kvartetten juni 1998.
Uropførtes i revideret skikkelse 9. juni 1999.
i Odense.
Krybskytten
for kor a cappella 1999.
Tekst: Dansk folkevise
Kvartet for Klarinet, Violin, Cello og Klaver 1999.
Uropførtes 25. april 1999 af Den danske Trio og John Kruse, i Odense.
In memoriam (c.m.k)
passacaglia for orkester 1999-2000.
Uropføres af Ålborg Symfoniorkester den 5. april 2000, dir.: Nicholas Braithwaite.
Koncerten transmitteres direkte af P2musik/DRKlassisk.
Og genudsendes af DRKlassisk den 24. April Kl. 17:00.
Kontrapunkt har 1998 udgivet en CD med kammermusik af Jesper Koch. [Kontrapunkt 32280].
Den indeholder: Dream-child, Images of Lorca, Land of Dreams, Wanderings of my childhood, Jabberwocky, Funérailles og Down the rabbit-hole.
Og du kan købe den hos jpc
eller hos
Kontrapunkt
Jesper pr. email.
Nodeeksempler og billeder venligst stillet til rådighed af Edition Kontrapunkt.