Per Nørgård & Poul Ruders: Works for Solo Cello Wilhelmina Smith

• Per Nørgård (b. 1932): Cello Sonata No. 1:
• 1 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 1: I. Lento ma espansivo - Allegro non troppo 06:06
• 2 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 1: II. Tranquillo 05:51
• 3 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 1: III. Allegro con brio 04:25
• Cello Sonata No. 2 "In due tempi":
• 4 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 2 "In due tempi": I. Solo intimo 10:51
• 5 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 2 "In due tempi": II. Solo in scèna 08:50
• Cello Sonata No. 3 "What - Is the Word!":
• 6 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 3 "What - Is the Word!": I. Prayer I 02:20
• 7 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 3 "What - Is the Word!": II. Outcry 03:12
• 8 Nørgård: Cello Sonata No. 3 "What - Is the Word!": III. Prayer II 01:57
• Poul Ruders (b. 1949): Bravourstudien:
• 9 Ruders: Bravourstudien: I. Overture 02:20
• 10 Ruders: Bravourstudien: II. Recitative 01:09
• 11 Ruders: Bravourstudien: III. Serenade I 02:50
• 12 Ruders: Bravourstudien: IV. Potpourri 00:51
• 13 Ruders: Bravourstudien: V. Etude 01:25
• 14 Ruders: Bravourstudien: VI. Intermezzo 01:36
• 15 Ruders: Bravourstudien: VII. Fantasia 01:27
• 16 Ruders: Bravourstudien: VIII. Serenade II 03:24
• 17 Ruders: Bravourstudien: IX. Finale. Variation classique 02:49
• 18 Ruders: Bravourstudien: X. L'homme armé 00:51
• Total Runtime 01:02:14

Info for Per Nørgård & Poul Ruders: Works for Solo Cello

Cellist Wilhelmina Smiths second album release on Ondine continues exploring contemporary Nordic repertoire for solo cello. In her new album Smith has focus on Danish contemporary composers, Per Nørgård (b. 1932) and Poul Ruders (b. 1949). Both Nørgård and Ruders are known for their large-scale orchestral works. Nørgård, in particular, is known for his eight symphonies and has been hailed by many as one of the greatest living symphonists. It is therefore intriguing to look closer to his two very early lyrical solo cello sonatas, early masterpieces written just before completing his 1st Symphony. In 1980, the composer revised his second sonata by adding an extensive second movement, almost an entirely new sonata, to the existing work. Nørgårds 3rd sonata What Is the Word! from 1999 is a short Sonata breve that takes its title from a quote by Irish playwriter Samuel Beckett. Another major Danish composer of our times, Poul Ruders (b. 1949), has also written 5 symphonies alongside several concertos and three operas. Ruders wrote his 10-movement Bravourstudien in 1976, just at the brink of a major stylistic change. This work is a set of variations on a Medieval folk tune Lhomme armé. In this work, however, the original theme is heard at the very end of the work.

Wilhelmina Smith, cello

Wilhelmina Smith
is an artist of intense commitment, poetic insight and dazzling versatility. She is a cellist whose artistic mission embraces a conversation through music, one that enthusiastically encompasses the music of the present placed within the context of a living past. As a soloist and recitalist as well as a collaborative musician and festival director, Mina has consistently advocated for composers with whom she has developed vital relationships, to have their music creatively positioned within an intellectually engaging context and performed with the utmost passion and technical assurance.

Ms. Smith was awarded a 2015-2016 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians. She made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra while a student at the Curtis Institute of Music and in 1997 was a prizewinner in the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition. She has been soloist with orchestras nationally and internationally including the Orquesta Millenium of Guatemala and the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia and has performed recitals across the US and Japan.

She has been a guest artist with the Philadelphia and Boston Chamber Music Societies, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and is a founding member of Music from Copland House. She has performed regularly in festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In 2005, she formed the Variation String Trio with violinist Jennifer Koh and violist Hsin-Yun Huang, a group that has performed across the US and Europe, and in 2012 formed a piano trio with pianist Lydia Artymiw and violinist Erin Keefe. She is founder and Artistic Director of Salt Bay Chamberfest, on the coast of Maine; a festival that has been home to performers and composers of international renown for over two decades.

Ms. Smith’s solo CD of sonatas by Britten and Schnittke with pianist Thomas Sauer was released on the Arabesque label in 2006. Her recordings of chamber music include the complete chamber works of Aaron Copland, and works by Sebastian Currier, John Musto, Pierre Jalbert, Jennifer Higdon, Tamar Muskal, Kaija Saariaho, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Torke, and Aaron Jay Kernis.

Booklet for Per Nørgård & Poul Ruders: Works for Solo Cello