Caspar de Gelmini wins prize
Major composition prize goes to Caspar de Gelmini
This year, the third prize of Bavarian Radios prestigious composition competition Musica Viva has gone to a student of composition at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Caspar de Gelmini.
His work for orchestra, Nightline, was selected from a total of 126 contestants’ works submitted.
In addition to this honour, Caspar will receive 5000 Euros. No less important, his work will be performed at a concert with Bavarian Radio’s Symphony Orchestra, ranked as one of the world’s absolute best orchestras.
Soon to be 30-year old Caspar de Gelmini, who is of
German-Italian ethnicity, studied last year at The Royal College of
Music in Stockholm as an exchange student in the Erasmus Programme. He
has returned to Stockholm to attend the Master’s Programme in
Composition.
How does he describe his work, Nightline?
– It is about a trip from the central station in Berlin to Sassnitz, and with the ferry to
Malmö, then from Malmö to Stockholm. My piece is inspired by this trip with the night train.
Does that mean this is programme music?
– No, not in the regular sense of what that means. What I describe in the music are my impressions. That is where I begin when I compose. If someone listening in the concert hall then is led in a similar direction - that I don’t know, nor does it matter to me!
– How does the music sound – is there a well-known composer one thinks off when hearing your work?
– I would say in that case György Ligeti. What I have written is atonal music, but it is based on my own system. That’s how it is today. You cannot write music that is built on the tonal system, like Brahms... Today various composers seek their own systems, I have mine.
– What do you think this award will mean for you in the future?
– Actually I don’t dare believe so much, but I hope that it will open more doors for me internationally. It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to study at various conservatories in different countries. Now I am studying in Stockholm. I would very much like to attend the Conservatory in Paris too. Perhaps the Musica Viva-prize will increase the possibility of that.
The last time the Musica Viva-prize was awarded, in 2008, Caspar de Gelmini won the first prize with his work, Farben. He values this year’s third place no less and will of course be there on May 27 next year in the Hercules Hall in Munich when Nightline will be publically performed.
Denna sida uppdaterades senast: 2012-01-31 av Måns Tengnér