Largely self-taught, the Danish composer Poul Ruders has profited from the example of Penderecki and has now acquired an established international reputation. He started his career as an organist, while as a composer he has been described as a neo-Romantic.

Operas

Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale has a libretto by Paul Bentley based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. Bentley also provided the libretto for Kafka’s Trial, with its blending of events in Kafka’s life with his haunting novel The Trial.

Orchestral Music

Orchestral works by Ruders include two violin concertos, a Piano Concerto, Dramaphonia for piano and chamber ensemble, symphonies, and evocative and imaginative pieces, often of immediate appeal.

Chamber and Instrumental Music

Ruders has added to percussion repertoire in the solo A Drummer’s Tale – Episode Two and in pieces that involve percussion and keyboard. His compositions also include string quartets.