Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer.

Life

Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own compositional development as a gradual one, with his true voice emerging with the chamber concerto, Four Compositions, of 1980. His notable students include Marc Mellits.

Writing about Ruders, the English critic Stephen Johnson states: "He can be gloriously, explosively extrovert one minute – withdrawn, haunted, intently inward-looking the next. Super-abundant high spirits alternate with pained, almost expressionistic lyricism; simplicity and directness with astringent irony."

Minor planet 5888 Ruders discovered by Eleanor Helin and Schelte J. Bus is named after him.

Music

Ruders has created a large body of music ranging from opera and orches…Read more on Wikipedia