The Danish composer, Poul Ruders, is one of the most talented and gifted voices of the immediate post-war generation. That he is rapidly becoming known in Britain owes much to the advocacy of Oliver Knussen who has conducted many of his pieces with the London Sinfonietta and for the BBC. Now, a welcome CD containing three of his concertos from the last decade has come from the Odense Symphony Orchestra under the conductor, Tamas Veto.
In finding and developing his own voice, Ruders has been something of a magpie throughout his composing life, seeking inspiration in different styles and idioms before assimilating them into his own imagination. The First Violin Concerto was composed in 1981 for a student orchestra and, for that reason, is the least demanding and most accessible of the pieces on this disc. It is a tribute to Vivaldi and his Four Seasons and, though the accompanying booklet describes the concerto as neo-classical, there is much in the writing that reminds one of minimalism. It is an attractive work and well played here by the young British violinist, Rebecca Hirsch.
A much tougher proposition is the Concerto for clarinet and twin orchestras of 1985. It comprises a single movement with the soloist (to quote the composer) ''a Pierrot-like vox humana in the grip of an orchestral vice''. The work was written for Niels Thomsen who gives a brilliant and committed performance. The most recent work is the Cello Concerto (Polydrama) of 1988, the final part of Drama-Trilogy, a cycle of three concertos. In its lyrical yet sombre writing, Ruders reveals his own authentic voice. Morten Zeuthen, the cellist for whom the work was written, is an impassioned and persuasive soloist.
In sum, this is an important disc of music by a composer who has taken his place in Scandinavian musical life and is rapidly entering the mainstream of our time.'