Duo Gelland is a Swedish-German violin duo on the international classical scene. The members are Cecilia and Martin Gelland. The duo was founded in 1994.

Life

Their early recordings of Cantus gemellus by Dieter Acker and the fiercely demanding one-hour-long cycle for two violins (1951) by

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers, he was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

showed the true potentials of the violin duo, inspiring many composers to turn to this medium. Duo Gelland received over 200 dedications, among them duos by: Giorgio Netti,

Bernd Franke Bernd Franke (born 12 February 1948) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Also an outfield player in his youth, young Bernd Franke made his steps towards the professional game following his impressiveness in the ranks of Sa ...

, Samuel Adler,

Hans-Joachim Hespos Hans-Joachim Hespos (13 March 1938 – 18 July 2022) was a German composer of avant-garde music. He was trained as a teacher and worked until 1984. Self-taught as a composer, he then worked freelance and created more than 200 works in many genre ...

, Alexander Keuk, Madeleine Isaksson,

Birgitte Alsted Birgitte Alsted (born 15 June 1942) is a Danish violinist, teacher and composer. Alsted was born in Odense, and was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and in Warsaw. She has done much within the electronic music and often uses crea ...

, Kerstin Jeppsson, , Maurice Karkoff, Olov Franzén,

Gunnar Bucht Gunnar Henrik Bucht (born 5 August 1927) is a Swedish composer and musicologist. Bucht studied composition with Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Carl Orff, and Max Deutsch Max Deutsch (17 November 1892 – 22 November 1982) was an Austrian-French compos ...

, Carin Bartosch Edström,

Rolf Martinsson Rolf Martinsson (born 1 May 1956 in Glimåkra, Skåne, Sweden) is a Music of Sweden, Swedish composer. Martinsson studied composition at Malmö Academy of Music, Malmö Academy of Music, Lund University 1981-85 under Brian Ferneyhough, Sven-David S ...

, Erika Förare, Miklós Maros, Gerhard Samuel,

Saman Samadi Saman Samadi (born 1984) is a Persian-American composer, performer, music scholar, and current doctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge. Biography Saman Samadi's work has been performed internationally—in the mid & far East, Europe, ...

Britta Byström Britta Byström (born 14 March 1977) is a Swedish classical composer who specializes in orchestral music but has also composed vocal music and opera. In 2015, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra honoured her as the winner of the Elaine Lebenbom Memoria ...

, Johan Ramström, Paula af Malmborg Ward, Marie Samuelsson, Peter Schuback,

Victoria Bond Victoria Ellen Bond (born 6 May 1945) is an American conductor and composer in New York City. Early life Victoria Bond was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of operatic bass and medical doctor Philip Bond (a vocalist with the New York ...

, Anders Hultqvist, Peter Lindroth, Max Käck, Cecilia Franke, Gunnar Valkare, Fredrik Hagstedt, , Nikolaus Brass, Michael Fiday, Andreas F. Staffel, Simon Christensen, Justin Henry Rubin, Gunnar Valkare. Duo Gelland also premiered duos by other composers – never performed due to lack of permanent violin duos – by

Werner Wolf Glaser Werner Wolf Glaser (14 April 1910 – 29 March 2006, Västerås, Sweden) was a German-born Swedish composer, conductor, pianist, professor, music critic, and poet. Life Born in Cologne, Glaser studied piano, conducting, and composition at the Co ...

, Gunnar Berg, Hans Holewa, Erika Förare, Oleg Gotskosik,

Ture Rangström Anders Johan Ture Rangström (30 November 1884 – 11 May 1947) belonged to a new generation of Swedish composers who, in the first decade of the 20th century, introduced modernism to their compositions. In addition to composing, Rangström was a ...

. Further important duos belonging to their repertory are those by

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

, James Dillon,

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (born 4 August 1968 in Graz) is an Austrian classical composer, visual artist and author. She gained fame mainly through her operas and music theater works, which often deal with topical and decidedly political themes of identity, ...

Giacinto Scelsi Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...

Roman Haubenstock-Ramati Roman Haubenstock-Ramati ( he, רוֹמן האובּנשׁטוֹק-רָמָתִי; 27 February 1919 – 3 March 1994) was a composer and music editor who worked in Kraków, Tel Aviv and Vienna. Life Haubenstock-Ramati was born in Kraków. He stud ...

, Jacqueline Fontyn. Duo Gelland's performance of Traumwerk by James Dillon was filmed by Johan Ramström. It was awarded the Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2008. Another award is the Interpreter’s Prize of the Society of Swedish Composers (FST). The inscription reads: ''They take on the new music with an overwhelming empathy and a virtually feverish intensity, catching the audience in a bubble of absolute presence''. Duo Gelland received dedications of works for violin duo and orchestra or ensemble by Harold Blumenfeld (premiered 1996),

Ingvar Karkoff Yngvar Harra (or Ingvar; Proto-Norse ''*Ingu-Hariz''; non, Yngvarr ; d. early 7th century) was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi. He is reported to have fa ...

(premiered 2009), Alexander Keuk (premiered 2013), Olov Franzén (premiered 2014), Olof Lindgren (premiered 2002). Håkan Larsson (premiered 2002). January 2003 Duo Gelland premiered Håkan Larsson's Angesicht in Angesicht – inspired by

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

's films – for violin duo and orchestra in the Berliner Philharmonie. Spring 2003 two works for violin duo and choir by Hans-Erik Dahlgren and Olof Lindgren were premiered together with

Dresdner Kammerchor The Dresdner Kammerchor (Dresden Chamber Choir) is a mixed chamber choir which was founded in 1985 by Hans-Christoph Rademann in Dresden and is still conducted by him. The semiprofessional ensemble of about 40 singers has appeared internationally. ...

and Hans-Christoph Rademann. In Berliner Philharmonie 2006 together with the

RIAS Kammerchor The RIAS Kammerchor (RIAS Chamber Choir) is a German choir based in Berlin, Germany. It receives support from the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin ("Berlin Radio Orchestra and Choirs"), a limited-liability company owned by the public bro ...

and Hans-Christoph Rademann, Duo Gelland premiered works for violin duo and choir by

Sunleif Rasmussen Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961 in Sandur in the Faroe Islands) is the foremost Faroese composer of classical music. Biography Rasmussen studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as a music teacher and jazz pianist. Fro ...

, Peter Schuback and Håkan Larsson. The dramatic and physical qualities of Duo Gelland's stage presence has been cultivated in cross over productions e.g. in provocatively moving The donkey on Mars, text Kasëm Trebeshina (Albania), in collaboration with choreographer Britta Hanssen and composer Birgitte Alsted. Here the synthesis of emotion, motion, word and sound is explored in a mode which could be referred to as violin theater. Duo Gelland's growing historic repertory involves research in archives and libraries. The musicologist Ulrich Mazurowicz points out that the second half of the 18th century into the beginning of the 19th century was a period when string duos were printed more often than any other constellation including songs, operas, string quartets, music for orchestra or piano. Of all these string duos the major part was violin duos. Duo Gelland's continuous study of historic literature on music performance, theory and philosophy is a source of inspiration facing both their old and their new repertoire. Characteristic for Duo Gelland's work with new music is the close collaboration with composers and the search for an individual world of sounds for each new composition approached. As artists in residence 2002 – 2011 in the municipality of

Strömsund Strömsund (; sma, Straejmie) is a locality and the seat of Strömsund Municipality in Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,589 inhabitants in 2010. Stroms church (''Ströms kyrka'') was inaugurated in 1847.The Grand Hotel dates to 1909. The Court Ho ...

Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the north a ...

, northern Sweden, Duo Gelland developed their interactive and mutually artistically stimulating work with children and teens referred to as The Strömsund method. The teachers of the violinists were

Max Rostal Max Rostal (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship. Biography Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn to a Jewish merchant family. As a child prodigy, he started studyin ...

Walter Levin Walter Levin (December 6, 1924 – August 4, 2017) was the founder, first violinist, and guiding spirit of the LaSalle Quartet (active 1947–1987), which was known for its championing of contemporary composers, for its recordings of the Second V ...

and each one of the other members of the

LaSalle Quartet The LaSalle Quartet was a string quartet active from 1946 to 1987. It was founded by first violinist Walter Levin. The LaSalle's name is attributed to an apartment on LaSalle Street in Manhattan, where some of its members lived during the quarte ...

Ricardo Odnoposoff Ricardo Odnoposoff (February 24, 1914 – October 26, 2004) was a Jewish Argentine-Austrian-American violinist of the 20th century. He was a former concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic. He was dismissed on September 1, 19 ...

, Gerhart Hetzel,

Kurt Sassmannshaus Kurt Sassmannshaus is a German violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music and Great Wall International Music Academy. Life and career Born in Würzburg, Germany, he is the son of violin ...

, Ingeborg Scheerer, Josef Grünfarb, Machie Oguri-Kudo and for shorter periods Valery Klimov, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Pierre d'Archambeau, composition and Allan Sapp

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

Discography

, ''Seven Sonatas for Two Violins'' (1951), 58 min. *

, ''Duo'' (1966), 17 min. * Dieter Acker, ''Cantus gemellus'' (1973) 9 min. *Erika Förare, ''Duo op. 1'' (1976–79), 27 min. and ''Duo no. 2'' (2002), 12 min. * James Dillon, ''Traumwerk'' (1995–96), 26 min. *Olof Lindgren, ''Jieleden Vuilie'' (Chant of Life) (1995) and other works (1995–2002), 67 min. *Olov Franzén, ''Autumn Duo'' (1997), 16 min. *Anders Hultqvist, ''Apricot trees exist'' (1998/2000), 9 min. *

, ''Zweigeigen'' (2001), 13 min. *

, ''Partita'' (2001), 15 min. and ''Tre per due'' (2004), 16 min. *Peter Schuback, ''del altro al altro'' (2001), 14 min. *Max Käck, ''Aonia terra'' (2001), 12 min. *Håkan Larsson, ''När intet blir allt'' (2002), 14 min. *Kerstin Jeppsson, ''Canto cromàtico'' (2002) 18 min. *Hans-Erik Dahlgren, ''Imagines Memoriae'' (2002) and other works (2002–2004), 32 min. *

, ''Symbiosis'' (2003), 19 min. *

, ''Largo'' (2004) 7 min. and ''Gelland Suite'' (2004), 8 min. *

, ''"in between (IV)"'' (2007), 11 min. *Oleg Gotskosik, ''From the Jewish Folk tradition'' (1990), 23 min. *Cecilia Franke, ''Febris'' (2005), 11 min. *Johan Ramström, ''KAKEL'' (2002), 13 min. *Johan Ramström, ''Vallombrosa'' (2008), 7 min. *Hans-Erik Dahlgren, ''Imagines memoriae'' (2002), 12 min. *Sanna Ahvenjärvi, ''Fingers to the Bone'' (2004), 12 min. *Tapio Lappalainen, ''Violin Duo'' (2004), 7 min. * Alexander Keuk, ''Bagatelle'' (2003), 11 min. *Aron Hidman, ''Chaconne'' (2001), 12 min. *Johan Samskog, ''Al cielo'' (2001), 13 min. *Jonas Asplund, ''Forms of the floating fragments'' (2007), 11 min. *Justin Henry Rubin, ''Three Chorales'' (2009), 7 min. *Justin Henry Rubin, ''Samuel Greenberg Constellation'' (2009), 10 min. *Fredrik Hagstedt, ''Depurazione'' (2002), 29 min. *Fredrik Hagstedt, ''Sinfonia per due violini'' (2011), 46 min. *Giorgio Netti, ''inoltre'' (2006), 18 min. * Ole Lützow-Holm, ''Terra'' 8-band version, 15 min. *Peter Lindroth, ''Para dos violines'' (2014–15), 21 min. *Justin Henry Rubin, ''There were three Ravens'' (2011), 8 min. *Justin Henry Rubin, ''Canon'' (2011), 2 min. *Maria Lithell Flyg, ''Duolog'' (2015), 6 min. * Jacqueline Fontyn, ''Analecta'' (1981), 9 min. *Carin Bartosch Edström, ''Asthmose'' (2006), 15 min. * Samuel Adler, ''Five Related Miniatures'' (2014), 11 min. *

, ''Volley'' (2016), 11 min. * Marie Samuelsson, ''Two lives'' (2013), 10 min. *

, ''Hat que caminar sognando'' (1989), 17 min. *

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s thr ...

, ''Serenata per un satellite'' (1969), 15 min. *Jeremy Wagner, ''Oberleitung'' (2013), 7 min. *Michael Duffy, ''A Lifeless Object, Alive (Dysarthria)'' (2013), 4 min. *Joshua Musikantow, ''Autochrome Lumière'' (2016), 9 min. *Sam Krahn, ''Resistance/resonance'' (2013), 7 min. *Adam Zahller, ''Difficult Ferns'' (2014), 16 min. *Tiffany M. Skidmore, ''cistern . anechoic . sonolucent'' (2016), 10 min.

Awards

*Jämtlands Landstingets Kulturpris 2011 *Nutida Sound 2011 * Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2008 *Rosenborg-Gehrmans Ensemble Prize 2005 *The Society of Swedish Composers’ Interpreter’s Prize (FST) 2003 *Västerbotten County Council Great Award 2002 *Västerbottens-Kurirens Kulturpris 2000

Bibliography

Duo Gelland

*Das große Lexikon der Violine, Laaber 2015: Duo Gelland. *Stefan Drees, ''Experimentierfreude und Repertoireerkundung. Zur Arbeit des Duo Gelland'', in: Die Tonkunst 4, 2008, 466f *Stefan Drees, ''Until the singing of the spheres brings us together'', in: Die Tonkunst 3, 2008, 419f *Stefan Drees, ''Engagement im Dienste einer vernachlässigten Gattung'', in: Dissonanz 93, März 2006, 43f *Anna Rudroff, ''Ästhetische Erfahrung als Ziel von Musikunterricht – Fragen an ein musikpädagogisches Praxiskonzept aus Schweden'', Leipzig 2008 *Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (''MGG''), Kassel 1994–2008: ''Duo Gelland'' *Gunilla Petersén, ''Hyllad violinduo har fötterna i jämtlänsk jord'', Kammarmusik-Nytt, 2009. *Jonas Asplund, ''...det rör om i hjärnan på något sätt: En beskrivning av en interpretationsprocess inom samtida konstmusik ur ett kommunikationsperspektiv'', Örebro Universitet, Örebro 2007 *Ylva Nyberg, ''Duo Gelland'', in: Nutida Musik 47, 2004, H. 1, 38f *Gustaf Jilker, ''Kulturambassadörer'', in: Samefolket 2002, H. 9, 46 *Henrik Martén, ''Duo Gelland – en färgstark ensemble'', in: Kammarmusik-Nytt 19, 2002, H. 2, 9 *Stefani Ragni, ''I violini del grande nord'', in: Studi e documentazioni 20, 2001, Nr. 41, 37f *Cecilia Gelland, ''Tystnaden är utrotningshotad'', in: Coniunctio 2008 *Martin Gelland, ''Gehörtes re-formulieren – Sprechen über Musik als musikpädagogisches Konzept'', Zeitschrift Ästhetische Bildung, Jg. 10 Nr. 1 (2018) *Martin Gelland, ''... um etwas davon plötzlich aufleuchten zu lassen'', Darstellungsprobleme individuellen Erlebens, Zeitschrift Ästhetische Bildung, Jg. 6 Nr. 2 (2014) *Martin Gelland, ''Erzwungene Kunst: Schmerz und Freiheitserlebnis'',

und

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

im Wechselspiel, in: Musik-Konzepte Heft 162, July 2013 *Martin Gelland, ''Sprunghaftes im gelähmten Stillstand'',

(1911–1980) zum 100. Geburtstag, in: Die Tonkunst 4, 2011

Violin duo and history

* Ulrich Mazurowicz, ''Das Streichduett in Wien von 1760 bis zum Tode Joseph Haydns'', Eichstätter Abhandlungen zur Musikwissenschaft, Band 1, Hans Schneider, Tutzing 1982 * Walter Kolneder, ''Das Buch der Violine'', Antlantis, 1972 and 1993 *

Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski (17 June 1822 – 13 December 1896) was a German violinist, conductor, and musicologist. Life Wasielewski was born on 17 June 1822 in the village of Groß-Leesen (Polish: Leźno), near Danzig as the eighth of el ...

, ''Die Violine und ihre Meister'', 1868, 4th edition Dresden 1927

External links

* {{authority control Chamber music groups Contemporary classical music ensembles