For over 45 years Hendrik Bouman, Dutch composer, harpsichordist and conductor residing in France, is counted among the most innovative specialists in Early Music. His 170 compositions (to date) that he composes in the historical idioms of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as his solos and basso continuo realisations (principal harpsichordist of Musica Antiqua Köln 1976-1983) are a reference in the field of Early Music today.
In Spring 2022 Hendrik Bouman calls together his friends and colleagues Simon Standage and Tormod Dalen to form the core of his chamber ensemble Musica Felice for performing and recording, on his label DASH, his chamber music that he composes in the idioms of the 17th and 18th Centuries.
In October 2022 Hendrik Bouman, Simon Standage, Tormod Dalen and Hajo Bãss (viola and violin) record Hendrik Bouman's first volume of a series of CDs entitled Chamber Music for Anna, in the 13th Century Château de Belflou France. The recording is preceded by a concert in the castle, which includes several world premieres.
The following year in May 2023, Musica Felice's Hendrik Bouman, Simon Standage and Tormod Dalen record Bouman's second CD Chamber Music for Anna, in Château Belflou. On this occasion the Canadian violinist Olivier Brault seconds Simon Standage. The recording is again preceded by a concert with several world premieres, this time in Saint Michel de Lanès.
In 2009, Hendrik Bouman had calls on his musician friends, all renowned soloists and music directors in their own right, with whom he had worked previously, to join him in forming his ensemble Baroque SaMuse - violinist Simon Standage (UK), violinist /viola player Hajo Bäss (D), recorder player Heiko ter Schegget (NL) and cellist Tormod Dalen (N/F). Together with guest musicians Alison Bury, violin (UK), Andrew Kerr, violone (UK), flutist Greg Jeay and violinist Olivier Brault (CA) - the ensemble gave a world premiere of four of Bouman’s 5 Baroque Concertos for Anna, in Brighton, England in November 2009.
Baroque SaMuse’s concert performance was followed by a recording of Hendrik Bouman’s '5 Baroque Concertos for Anna' on CD in the Great Tudor Hall’ of Firle Place, the ancestral manor (16th C.) of the Family Gage, Sussex Downs, England.
The Baroque SaMuse Soloists then recorded Hendrik Bouman’s unaccompanied solos on the CD '7 Baroque Solos for Anna', both in Firle Place and in the historic 12th Century 'St. Michael and All Angels' Berwick Church in Sussex, renowned for its frescoes which were painted by the Bloomsbury Artists during World War II.
Simon Standage, “the British ambassador of the baroque violin” is at the origin of several of England's foremost baroque orchestras since half a century.
After serving the English Chamber Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia as its principal violinist, he dedicates himself exclusively to the baroque violin. He is co-founder of the English Concert with Trevor Pinnock, and shared the direction of the Academy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood.
Simon Standage is first violin in the Salomon Quartet - one of the first string quartets in modern times to perform on period instruments. He is co-founder with Richard Hickox of Collegium Musicum 90 with which he records extensively. Standage is regularly invited to direct specialised orchestras in America, in Europe and in Japan, notably the Collegium Musicum Telemann, Osaka, and the Haydn Sinfonietta, Vienna.
During his extensive career Simon Standage participates as soloist in 300 CD productions, including Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the complete violin concertos of Mozart and Haydn. Noteworthy among the many prizes Simon Standage receives is the Telemann Prize awarded by the German city of Magdeburg for his contribution to Telemann's music, notably by a 10-disc production for Chandos. In 2008 Simon Standage was awarded a medal for services to Polish culture, and in 2009 he received an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, United Kingdom.
In Spring 2022 Hendrik Bouman calls together his friends and colleagues Simon Standage and Tormod Dalen to form the core of his chamber ensemble Musica Felice for performing and recording, on his label DASH, his chamber music that he composes in the idioms of the 17th and 18th Centuries.
Simon Standage, first violinist and soloist in Hendrik Bouman's ensembles, world-premieres four compositions that Hendrik Bouman dedicates to him: the classical Sonate for violin and piano in B-flat major in the Eastbourne Festival; the Violin Concerto in D major with the The Baroque Muse in Brighton, England, which he then records in Firle Place, for Bouman's CD '5 Baroque Concertos for Anna'; the Overture in A major for volin and basso continuo in Château de Belflou, France in October 2022, which he performs and records with Hendrik Bouman on the CD Chamber Music for Anna I; Sonata La Via Della Seta in A minor the following year in 2023 which he performs with Musica Felice in Saint Michel de Lanès, France and then records in Château de Belflou on CD Chamber Music for Anna II, for DASH.
Simon Standage's rendering of Hendrik Bouman's Fantasy in G major for solo violin which he recorded in the ‘Great Tudor Hall’ in ‘Firle Place’ can be heard on Hendrik Bouman's CD 7 Baroque Solos for Anna , for DASH.
Simon Standage is Professor of baroque violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and teaches at summer courses in Warsaw.
Tormod dalen, Norwegian cellist residing in Paris, is renowned for "his titanic force and very beautiful phrasing". “The subtlety and dynamism” of his play finds its inspiration in baroque dance in which he has gained an expertise. He is co-founder of Ensemble Braccio which specialises in the earliest music for the violin family, and of Ritratto dell’Amore.
Tormod Dalen is principal cellist of the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, Le Concert Spirituel and Les Embassadeurs-La Grande Ecurie, and collaborates regularly with several other specialist baroque ensembles.
He records for Glossa, Deutsche Gramophon, Emi, Naxos and Calliope.
In 2002, with Hendrik Bouman's ensemble Concerto Felice, Tormod Dalen world premieres several of Bouman's contemporary baroque compositions, notably in the Wallonie Festival in Belgium.
In Autumn 2009, as cellist of Hendrik Bouman's Baroque SaMuse Tormod Dalen records in Firle Place in Sussex, England, Hendrik Bouman's CD '5 Baroque Concertos for Anna', notably in Hendrik Bouman's Cello Concerto in A minor (2005). The recording was preceded by its world premiere in Saint George Church in Brighton, England.
In the Eastbourne Festival in England in 2011, Tormod Dalen world premieres and records for the CD '7 Baroque Solos for Anna', Hendrik Bouman's Suite for Cello in D major (2003) in the 12th century church of Berwick, Sussex, which is renowned for its frescoes painted by the Bloomsbury Artists.
In Spring 2022, Hendrik Bouman calls again on his musician friends Simon Standage and Tormod Dalen to form the core of Hendrik Bouman's Musica Felice for the performing and recording of his chamber music for his label DASH.
In October 2022 Hendrik Bouman, Simon Standage, Tormod Dalen and Hajo Bãss record the first volume of a series of CDs entitled 'Chamber Music for Anna', in the 13th Century Château de Belflou. This is followed in May 2023 by the recording, again in the Belflou Castle, of Hendrik Bouman' second volume of 'Chamber Music for Anna' by Musica Felice, in which Tormod Dalen interprets Hendrik Bouman's Cello Sonata II in A minor (2022) which the composer had dedicated to him. Tormod Dalen had given its world premiere on May 21, 2023 in a concert given in Saint Michel de Lanès prior to the recording.
In 2020 /2021 Tormod Dalen recorded J.S.Bach’s six cello suites on 2 CDs for which he gained high acclaim.
Tormod Dalen holds a doctorate from the Norwegian National Academy of Music, Oslo, for his thesis on Choreographic gestures in Bach's 6 Cello Suites. He teaches at the Norwegian National Academy of Music and the Versailles Conservatory, and is invited to give lectures and masterclasses throughout Europe.
