Martin Lohse

Martin Lohse
Copenhagen 2008
Background information
Birth name	Martin Lohse
Born	May 29, 1971 Copenhagen, Denmark
Genres	classical, experimental
Occupations	composer, teacher
Labels	Dacapo Records[1][2]/Naxos Records
Website	www.martinlohse.com

Martin Lohse (born May 29, 1971 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish 21st century classical composer and visual artist.^[3]

Biography

Martin Lohse began his education at the Musical Science Institute in Copenhagen (1990–92). In 1995 he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, where he studied composition and music theory as a pupil of Hans Abrahamsen and Niels Rosing-Schow. In 2000 he started a postgraduate course in composition and in 2004 he had his debut from the Royal Academy of Music.
In 2003, he received the 3-year Grant from The Danish Arts Foundation. Besides composing acoustic and electro acoustic music, he does abstract paintings – usually with a clash of disintegration and pure and clear colours.^[4]

Music

In my music, I try to encircle small musical moments and atmospheres, which can timeless progress and unfold. The collocation and collision of a “pure” and clear music with a disintegrated and multilayered music is one of the main characteristic of my music. In the heart, the music often emanate a harmonic and melodic reminiscence of past experiences in glints or longer periods which combined with a floating sensation (accelerando, decelerando etc.) creates a music with the organic form as one of its main foundations.

—Martin Lohse: www.martinlohse.com^[5]

Romantic and to some extend, Baroque music are key elements in the music of Martin Lohse. Smoke, Images balancantes, In liquid... and In remembrance... all have a reminiscence of the romantic style: Small motives and longer themes within a gliding tonality, mixed with a floating sensation of times, sometimes with long and continues accelerandoes or decelerandoes and at other times with tempos slowly departing from each other. The Baroque style is clear in a piece like Koncert, but it's also a part of works like In remembrance... In liquid... and Entity.

The music has some polystylist elements, not in the form of big clashes of different styles, but more in the sense of polytonality including polytempoes, f. ex in the work In liquid... for accordion and piano, where the accordion in the 1. movement starts slowly together with the piano, but gradually makes a forceful accelerando toward a brilliant baroque figure in a direct collision with the piano, which keeps the slow steady music from the start.

New Simplicity is an essential part of his music, with a direct input from his teacher Hans Abrahamsen, but also evolved with the meeting with Arvo Pärt and his music. It is used to concentrate the music, finding the essence in a motive, a harmonic progression or in a structural complex created by the composer. In works like Slow movement, Sorrow and 4. movement of In liquid... for violin and piano the minimalism is transformed or rather reduced to a nearly pure transcendental form.

Mobile

A musical technique developed by Martin Lohse in 2009 where he combines the polystylistic elements with a simple repeating sequence of chords, creating a music with both baroque and romantic elements, all in different tempos but with no or very few dissonances.

Numbering of works

Martin Lohse has divided his work in two parts.

1. 1996-2010 where selected works has been numbered No. 1/23 to No. 23/23.
2. 2009- where the works has been numbered No. 1, No. 2 and so on.

The overlap between the two periods is due to the work Moto immoto (2009–2010) which Lohse sees as the dividing work in his production.

Performances

Lohses works have been widely performed. Selected performances:

• Numus Festival in Aarhus (2000 and 2001), Denmark
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art near Copenhagen
• Danish radio
• Young Nordic Music Festival (UNM) in Oslo (1998) and Reykjavik (2002)
• Composers Biennale 2002, Copenhagen
• Magma, Nordic Music Days (2002)
• Warsaw Autumn (2002) (2004)

Media

Smoke

Dacapo Records: Ensemble Nordlys (clarinet, violin, cello & piano) Recorded at Matziusgården 25–30 June 2001, format=Ogg

Haiku no. 12

Dacapo Records: Ensemble Nordlys (clarinet, violin, cello & piano) Recorded at Matziusgården 25–30 June 2001, format=Ogg

• Problems playing the files? See media help.

Works

Selected works^[6]

Orchestral works

• Lurid Light No. 4/23. (1999) (symphony orchestra)
• In liquid... (accordion concerto) No. 18b/23 (2008–10) (acc & symphony orchestra)
• Moto immoto No. 1b. (2009–10) (symphony orchestra)

Vocal works

• The Dying Child No. 3/23. (1998) (4-part choir)
• Tree haiku No. 7/23. (1999) (12-part choir)
• Utroligheds froe No. 10/23. (2002) (psalm, 4-part choir)
• The Treads of Man No. 12/23. (2002) (mezzo-soprano solo)

Chamber works

• To follow the hope No. 1/23 (1996) (mezzosopr. & vln.)
• Istid No. 2/23 (1997) (cl, vln, vc & pno)
• Haiku No. 5/23 (1999) (cl, vln, vc & pno)
• Smoke No. 8/23 (2000) (cl, vln, vc & pno)
• Koncert No. 9/23 (2001) (cl, vln, vc & pno)
• In liquid... (vln & pno) No. 13/23 (2003) (vln, & pno)
• Image balancantes No. 15/23 (2004) (cl, vln, vc & pno)
• Nocturne No. 17/23 (2007) (pno solo)
• In liquid... (acc. & pno) No. 18/23 (2003–07) (acc & pno)
• 8 momenti mobile No. 19/23 (2008) (saxophone quartet)
• Ember No. 20/23 (2008) (sinfonietta: fl, ob, cl, fg, cor, 2 vln, va, vc, & cb)
• Concerto in tempi No. 2 (2010) (acc & pno)

Electroacustic works

• Vibration in blue and yellow No. 6/23 (1999) (tape)
• Entity No. 11/23 (1999–2002) (solo vln & five delays)
• Slow movement No. 14/23 (2004) (tape: orhestra samples )
• Sorrow No. 16/23 (2006) (tape: orhestra samples )
• Change ringing No. 21/23 (2009) (cl, arpa, marimba & tape: orhestra samples )
• Wood on strings No. 22/23 (2010) (string quartet & five delays)
• Speed No. 23/23 (2010) (solo marimba & five delays)

• Moto in moto No. 1 (2009) (tape: orhestra samples )

Correspondence chess

Awarded the grandmaster title^[7] in the International Correspondence Chess Federation in 2009.
Best result is a 3. place in the candidate tournament WCCC28CTO3, where a 1-2. place qualify to the final in the World Championship.

Notes

1. ^ Dacapo Records: Nordlys, Various
2. ^ Dacapo Records: Nordlys, Recycled
3. ^ Naxos.com. Biography; Lohse, Martin
4. ^ Warsaw Autumn 2004. Composers; Martin Lohse
5. ^ Homepage; Martin Lohse
6. ^ Homepage; Martin Lohse
7. ^ Player Details; GM Lohse, Martin

References

• Pryn, Christine. "Martin Lohse - en komponist med hjerte og hjerne", Dansk Musik Tidsskrift; 2004-2005 - 02, page 57-60 (in Danish)
• Naxos.com. Composer biography; Lohse, Martin
• Warsaw Autumn 2004. Composers; Martin Lohse
• Official site; International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF)

Persondata
Name	Lohse, Martin
Alternative names
Short description	Danish composer
Date of birth	29 May 1971
Place of birth	Copenhagen, Denmark
Date of death
Place of death