Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer.
Born inRingsted, Ruders trained as anorganist, and studied orchestration withKarl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own compositional development as a gradual one, with his true voice emerging with the chamber concerto,Four Compositions, of 1980. His notable students includeMarc Mellits.
Writing about Ruders, the English critic Stephen Johnson states: "He can be gloriously, explosively extrovert one minute – withdrawn, haunted, intently inward-looking the next. Super-abundant high spirits alternate with pained, almost expressionistic lyricism; simplicity and directness with astringent irony."[1]
Minor planet5888 Ruders discovered byEleanor Helin andSchelte J. Bus is named after him.[2]
Ruders has created a large body of music ranging from opera and orchestral works through chamber, vocal and solo music in a variety of styles, from theVivaldi pastiche of his firstviolin concerto (1981) to the explosive modernism ofManhattan Abstraction (1982).
Other works include the operasTycho (1986),The Handmaid's Tale (1998, with libretto byPaul Bentley),Proces Kafka /Kafka's Trial (2005, again with libretto by Bentley),Selma Ježková (2007, after Trier'sDancer in the Dark[3]), and the fairytale operaThe Thirteenth Child (2016), fivesymphonies, fourstring quartets, Violin Concerto No. 1 (1981),Etude and Ricercare (1994) for guitar, for David Starobin,The Bells (songs) withLucy Shelton, soprano, and theChristmas Gospel (1994) and twopiano sonatas;Abysm (2000) forBirmingham Contemporary Music Group. Ruders has written several works for theAmericanguitarist and promoter of new musicDavid Starobin:Psalmodies (1989) andPaganini Variations for guitar and orchestra (1999–2000), andPsalmodies Suite (1990),Etude and Ricercare (1994) andChaconne (1996) for sologuitar. Ruders has composed aConcerto in Pieces (1995), which is a set of variations on the "Witches' Chorus" fromPurcell's operaDido and Aeneas.[1]
His fourth symphony,An organ symphony, (with a significant part fororgan) was a joint international commission by theDallas Symphony Orchestra,Odense Symphony Orchestra and theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The world premiere took place in theMorton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, Texas, 20 January 2011.[4]
