Cello Libris Toke Møldrup

• Geoffrey Gordon (b. 1968): Cello Concerto:
• 1 Cello Concerto: Prologue 03:35
• 2 Cello Concerto: I. — 02:15
• 3 Cello Concerto: II. — 02:00
• 4 Cello Concerto: III. — 03:43
• 5 Cello Concerto: Cadenza I 00:53
• 6 Cello Concerto: IV. — 02:57
• 7 Cello Concerto: Cadenza II 01:58
• 8 Cello Concerto: V. — 03:00
• 9 Cello Concerto: Epilogue 03:54
• 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms):
• 10 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms): Prelude & Storm 06:00
• 11 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms): No. 1, Ferdinand and Miranda 05:45
• 12 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms): No. 2, Ariel and All His Quality 05:03
• 13 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms): No. 3, Caliban (And Sycorax) 03:59
• 14 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms): No. 4, The Isle Is Full of Noises 05:12
• 15 5 Impressions of "The Tempest" (Fathoms): No. 5, Prospero Drowns His Book 06:52
• Ode to a Nightingale:
• 16 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 1, My Heart Aches 03:25
• 17 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 2, O for a Draught of Vintage! 02:06
• 18 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 3, Fade Far Away, Dissolve 02:40
• 19 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 4, Away! Away! For I Will Fly to Thee 02:46
• 20 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 5, I Cannot See 02:44
• 21 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 6, Darkling I Listen 03:29
• 22 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 7, Thou Wast Not Born for Death 02:23
• 23 Ode to a Nightingale: No. 8, Forlorn 03:51
• Total Runtime 01:20:30

Info for Cello Libris

Dividing his time between the United States and the United Kingdom, the composer Geoffrey Gordon writes music that has been described as ‘darkly seductive’ (New York Times), ‘richly satisfying’ (BBC Music Magazine) and ‘iridescent and fierce’ (The Chicago Tribune). The present album brings together three of his recent works, all composed between 2013 and 2018 for the soloist recording them here, the Danish cellist Toke Møldrup. In several of his works, Gordon takes his inspiration from other art forms – sculptures by Giacometti, a self portrait by Warhol, a children’s picture book by Maurice Sendak. The works gathered here are inspired by or reactions to three literary masterworks. The ‘creative blueprint’ for the opening work, the Cello Concerto, is the novel Doktor Faustus by Thomas Mann. Organized into a Prologue and Seven Episodes, the work traces the progress of Mann’s protagonist Adrian Leverkühn from innocence to madness, with the cello both embodying and (occasionally) commenting on the proceedings. For this recording, Møldrup receives the support of the Copenhagen Phil and conductor Lan Shui. In the score of Fathoms, Gordon’s sonata for cello and piano, each of the five movements is headed with a quotation from Shakespeare’s The Tempest which sets the scene for the musical impression that follows. Here Møldrup is joined by the American pianist Steven Beck. The amply-filled album closes with Ode to a Nightingale, with the words of John Keat’s immortal poem heard from the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, and given emphasis by Toke Møldrup’s obbligato cello.

Toke Møldrup, cello
Steven Beck, piano
Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra
Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir
Lan Shui, conductor
Mogens Dahl, conductor

Toke Møldrup
The Danish cellist Toke Møldrup, 37, received Queen Ingrid’s Honorary Award for his achievements on the Danish music scene in 2014. In the 20 years of his career so far, he has performed both across Europe and in the United States, South America, Japan and the Middle East at venues such as the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein and the Berlin Konzerthaus. A frequent guest at Danish music societies, Møldrup has performed as a soloist with Danish and international symphony orchestras under conductors such as Aldo Ceccato, Sanntu Rouvali, Lan Shui and Joshua Weilerstein, and at festivals such as Bergen International Festival, Lincoln International Chamber Music Festival, Monte-Carlo Spring Arts Festival and Oberstdorf Music Summer. With a keen interest in developing the repertoire of the cello he has premiered many works by contemporary composers, among them the European premiere of John Williams’ cello concerto, Geoffrey Gordon’s cello concerto and Christian Winther Christensen’s concerto for cello and accordion. In 2017, he released the 6 suites for cello by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Toke Møldrup is principal cellist of the Copenhagen Philharmonic and since 2005 a teacher at the Royal Danish Academy of Music where he previously studied with his mentors, professors Morten Zeuthen and Tim Frederiksen.

A graduate of the Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe, with professor Martin Ostertag, he has studied privately and at master classes with capacities such as Valter Despálj, Hans Jensen, Ralph Kirschbaum and Yo-Yo Ma. Another important influence on his musical development is The Alban Berg Quartet with whom he learned from as a part of the Paizo Quartet, winner of the Grand Prize at The Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2003. He plays a David Tecchler cello (Rome, 1697) courtesy of the Augustinus Foundation.

Booklet for Cello Libris