music austria – music information centre austria

2. December 2001

Take compositional skill bound to (good) tradition and season with a twist of self-irony. Then, take musical ideas with a pinch of comedy. Take one portion of poetry, three drops of naivety and twice as much intellect. Do not forget to temper well with some stylistic ability to emulate. Now, mix it all together with a unique, personal style and leave to simmer for several years. The ragout will turn out to be excellent. And its name is Fortin, Viktor Fortin.

Kleine Zeitung, Graz (Walther Neumann)

2004

Jolly Joker by Viktor Fortin
Viktor Fortin has done quite a bit of writing and arranging for recorder for Doblinger and other publishers, often in a popular idiom. Jolly Joker is a collection of seven short pieces with catchy titles [...] As the names imply, this is a colourful set of pieces, made all the more so by the occasional (and quite manageable) use of extended techniques such as multiphonics or singing and playing at the same time.
The main strength of the set, however, is Fortin's ability to produce a really satisfying jazzy effect with an economy of means that makes the music readily accessible even to lower intermediate players.

American Recorder (Scott Paterson)

21. July 2005

World premiere with a "Blacksmith"
[...] the idea arose, [...] to compose an exciting piece of music. And Fortin, commenting on his six-set "Variationen über ein Thema aus dem Umkreis Georg Friedrich Händels" [...] wanted to prove the adolescent claim for diversity. Thus, in addition to a quick swing-allegro he developed a coaxing Flugelhorn Blues, a rhythmic, modernising scherzo for hand, feet and voice, a Samba following Händel's Allelujy motif and a witty final set reflecting the central theme in the title: "Omega's Blacksmith". [...]
Each instrument is introduced in its own language, so is the language of Big Band and the traditional Swing character is averted by surprising changes in style [...]

Erlanger Nachrichten (Natalie Bost)

24. November 2005

Successful >birth of a piece of art<
The highlight of the evening [...] with the world premiere of [...]"Konzert für Alphorn und Symphonisches Blasorchester (concert for alphorn and symphonic wind orchestra)" by Viktor Fortin. [...] The orchestra plunged enthusiastically into the rain of Fortin's ideas, never letting the concert in three movements become boring. The composer's broad horizon is displayed in the clear references to Europe's classical and ecclesiastical music tradition and the additional stylistic devices from Jazz and Pop. He both playfully and artistically lets the elements collide and creates a virtuosic whole with his own ideas.

Kehler Zeitung (Stephan Hammers)

28. May 2006

Recorder and Senf (mustard)
The musical experience "Fortin und mehr..." turned into a"cabaret" festival with calibre! Both musicians, Dorothea Senf und Franns Wilfried Promnitz von Promnitzau, were ingenious [...] performing solo and chamber music pieces composed by Viktor Fortin between 1970 -2002 on the occasion of the composer's 70th birthday. Music, full of variety and colour, not abstract or alien to key and therefore listener friendly. As Viktor Fortin exclusively composed on commission, he always knew what audience he wrote the music for. The results are very different sound-wise with sets composed with lots of technical sophistication of simple but high virtuoso, the plethora of rhythms of which seems inexhaustible.

SZ Pirna (Peter Rütthart)