Lars Frandsen Delivers Lecture on Henze
July 6, 2016
Lars Frandsen
In March, Lars Frandsen, the Conservatory's coordinator of guitar studies, presented a lecture/recital at his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music in London, on the music of Hans Werner Henze. He was also invited to reprise the lecture at Surrey University. Both invitations came at the behest of Professor Stephen Goss, who teaches at both institutions. Surrey University is also home to the International Guitar Research Centre (IGRC), over which John Williams, the brilliant English guitarist, presides. Frandsen's appearance at Surrey was part of a weeklong symposium at the IGRC.
Of his lecture/recital on Henze's "Royal Winter Music" sonata cycle, Frandsen says, "Widely regarded as one of the most important modern works for the classical guitar, my lecture/recital is the first English-language analysis of the entire sonata cycle. Henze's sonata cycle is based on Shakespearean characters and is unique in the solo instrumental literature of any instrument. The lecture featured demonstration of the interaction of nontonal and tonal techniques side-by-side as well as the performance of larger excerpts from several movements of the work."
A graduate of the RAM and Yale University, Frandsen earned his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music. He has long championed Henze's music through international performances and lectures.
