Sporck, Jo

Sporck, Jo

Jo Sporck (1953) has conquered a unique position in present day music with a highly recognisable personal idiom. His intense lyrical approach captivates the listener. He keeps his distance from the trend of ‘innovation for innovation's sake': 'Renewal happens because of inner necessity, not because of trends.' Jo Sporck has written chamber music, opera’s, works for orchestra, stage music and choir.

Chemistry
Jo Sporck was born and raised in Heerlen, in the south of the Netherlands. He started his musical education as a boy soprano in the church choir. Piano lessons follow soon. After his secondary education, he enrolled as a student of chemistry but changed his mind in favour of the Maastricht Conservatory. There he successfully completed his piano studies with a soloist's diploma. Then he moved to Tilburg where he studied composition with Jan van Dijk and Hans Kox.

Festivals
In Tilburg he initiated and during 12 years presided over the successful chamber music centre 'The Link'. Meanwhile his reputation as a composer grew. He successfully participated in the international Gaudeamus Festival. Invitations to a variety of festivals followed: festivals in Montevideo, New York (Charles Ives Festival), Seattle (Music of the Mystics), Antwerp (Festival of Flanders), Moscow (Moscow Autumn) and Den Bosch (November Music).
Most striking is the favourable reception of Sporck's music in Russia. At least twenty of his works were premiered in Moscow. In 2003 he was programmed in St Petersburg together with his two sons.

Space
Spatial effects are of growing importance in Jo Sporck's music, which becomes manifest for the first time in 'Spacemusic' for oboe, strings and voices. His music emphasises melody above all, derived from a tone series formulae he has himself devised, and associated chords. Another element of his unique personal style is the use of polyphony. The most recent CD with chamber music, For Silent Days, was released by the label Etcetera. Scores are available from Hubert Hoche Verlag (Germany) and Muziekcentrum Nederland.

The press
The Strad (Catherine Nelson)
"… Sporck has an individual and compelling musical voice, his works delicately constructed and inhabiting a vivid sound world. Lutoslawski described his music as 'an extremely exciting world' and Sporck certainly shares the older composer's feel for sonority and vibrant colourings. … his language (is) discordant yet divine."

International Record Review (John Kersey)
"…Sporck’s music fairly bristles with melodic ideas… rhythmic and melodic patterns which are often arresting in their prevailingly intense emotional mind-set… He can give the impression of a spontaneous outpouring of ideas born of an unusually single-minded creative vision."