Ib Nørholm (1931–2019)

More sad news with the death of Danish composer and organist Ib Nørholm, who died on Monday aged 88.

Nørholm was born in Søberg, Denmark. He began his study of the piano aged 9, later learning the organ. He was a precocious as a composer, producing his chamber opera The Snail and the Rose Hedge at the age of 18. This was followed by studies at The Royal Danish Conservatoire with Vagn Holmboe. 

His early works place him in the lineage of Carl Nielsen and that of his teacher Holmboe. In the late 50s and early 60s, however, he was influenced by the avant-garde works of Stockhausen, Boulez and others and began to explore serialism and graphic notation. He quickly eschewed this and adopted a style that later became known as ‘new simplicity’. 

Nørholm was particularly known as a symphonist, though he was active in all genres: apart from his 13 symphonies his major works include concertos for violin and cello, eight string quartets and much other chamber music, several chamber operas, solo instrument sonatas, choral music and songs.

From 1965 Nørholm was a teacher at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense and from 1981–2000 Professor of Composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He was awarded the Gaudeamus International Composers Award in 1964 and the Carl Nielsen Prize in 1971. 

Ib Nørholm: Symphony No.9, Op.116 (1990)

Originally posted at Composition:Today ©Red Balloon Technology