The Danish record company Dacapo is renewing
its supporters of Rued Langgaard (1893-1952). It was the second
volume of the Dacapo recordings of Langgaard’s
Violin Sonatas from 2004 that turned me on to this marvelous,
lovably strange, utterly romantic, occasionally acerbic, short-lived
20th century composer. Since then, I’ve tracked
down most Langgaard releases – especially his symphonic oeuvre.
Alas, not until Dacapo started recording the symphonies with
the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard
(on hybrid SACDs, no less), were there truly credible, excellent
versions of these works available – the laudable and fine
efforts of Ilya Stupel and the Artur Rubinstein State Philharmonic
Orchestra or various Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra performances
(all Danacord)
notwithstanding. I reviewed Symphonies 12 through 14 earlier
last year (“There is Something Wonderful in the State of
Denmark”; Rob Barnett’s review for MusicWeb is here)
and the latest release with Symphony No.1 is in some ways
even more impressive.
That’s in most part due to the work itself.
Although written when Langgaard was still a teenager (1908-1911,
premiered by an enlarged Berlin Philharmonic off 100+ musicians
on April 10th 1913), it betrays a master craftsman
and – most importantly – a master melodist. It reminds us
of the “theory” that Glenn Gould once posited - mostly in
reference to Berg’s Piano Sonata op.1 - that the first work
of a composer can often be his best and most original. I would
not go so far as to claim that Langgaard never wrote a better
piece, but he set the bar very high here, not unlike what
he did in the early Aubade
for Violin and Piano, the genuine sweetness of which
must impress all who hear it. Langgaard, who went on
to found a music society to “counterbalance the horrors of
modern music”, never adjusted to - much less adapted to -
the dissonant and dodecaphonic style of his contemporary composers.
Consequently he was shunned by critics after 1918.
Langgaard is not ashamed of the occasional
Tchaikovskian melodic phrase - four minutes into the first
movement, check for yourself if you resist the urge to figure
skate to that music. He’s also unafraid of Wagnerian bombast,
and it’s all put to perfect, sumptuous use in this five movement
symphony. It depicts a hike from the rocky shores of a mountain
to its pinnacle, the movements are named “Surf and Glimpses
of the Sun”, “Mountain Flowers”, “Legend”, “Mountain Ascent”,
and finally: “Courage”. Although programmatic, it works perfectly
well as absolute music. It’s a bold, audacious, uninhibited,
unabashedly pleasant symphony – perhaps like early, very frivolous
Mahler – minus the Angst and the chromatic twists.
Or might it be described as de-kitsched Rachmaninov? Whatever
the case, it’s a glorious sixty minutes played exceedingly
well and captured in glorious sound. One of my favorite
recordings of 2008 and urgently recommended to anyone
who likes romantic orchestral music, whether Tchaikovsky or
Sibelius, Bruckner or Respighi.
Jens F. Laurson
Langgaard Reviews on MusicWeb International
Organ & Piano Music
Messis, In Tenebras Exteriores / Fleming Dreisig / Danacord 485-486
Review
by Rob Barnett
Piano Music
/ Peter Froundjian / Danacord 430
Review
by Rob Barnett
Piano Music
/ Berit Johansen Tange / Dacapo 8.226025
Review
by Rob Barnett
Piano Music Vol.1 / Bengt Johnsson / Danacord 369
Review
by Rob Barnett
“Insektarium” & other piano music / Rosalind Bevan
/ ClassicO 240
Review
by Rob Barnett
Orchestral
Music & Opera
“Enchanting Music” - Three Songs for Choir (as well
as works for choir by Holmboe and Haumann) / Coro Misto, Søren
Birch / Danacord 546
Review
by Terry Barfoot
Antichrist
/ Tyrolian SO, Niels Muus / Danacord 517
Review
by Rob Barnett
The End Of Time, From 'The Song of Solomon', Interdict, “Carl
Nielsen - Our Great Composer” / Danish National Radio Choir
& SO, Gennady Rozhdestvensky / Chandos 9786
Review
by Rob Barnett
Sinfonia interna / Canzone Choir Aarhus SO, Frans Rasmussen / Dacapo 8.224136
Review by
Rob Barnett
Music of the Spheres, Four Tone Pictures / Danish National Radio
Choir & Radio SO, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky / Chandos 9517
Review
by Rob Barnett
Piano Concerto “From Arild” / Oleg Marshev , Danish Philharmonic Orchestra, South
Jutland, Matthias Aeschbacher / Danacord 535
Review
by John France
Symphonies 4 & 6, Music of the Spheres / Danish Radio
Symphony Orchestra, John Frandsen / Danacord 340-341
Review
by Peter Grahame Woolf
Symphonies 4 & 5 (both versions) / Danish National RSO, Thomas Dausgaard / Dacapo 8.224215
Review
by Rob Barnett
Symphonies 6-8 / Danish National RSO, Thomas Dausgaard / Dacapo 8.224180
Review
by Rob Barnett
Review
by Terry Barfoot
Symphonies 9-11 / Danish National RSO, Thomas Dausgaard /
Dacapo 8.224182
Review
by Rob Barnett
Symphonies 12-13 / Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Choir DR, Thomas Dausgaard
/ Dacapo 6.220517
Review
by Rob Barnett
Symphonies 4, 6, 10,
14, Music of the Spheres / Danish National RSO, Schønwandt, Frandsen,
Schmidt / Danacord 560
Review
by Rob Barnett
Complete Symphonies (1-16), Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra
& Choir, Ilya Stupel / Danacord 404-410
Review
by John France
Chamber
Music
Violin Sonatas, Vol.1 / Serguei Azizian & Anne Øland / Dacapo 8.224153
Review
by Jonathan Woolf
Review
by Rob Barnett
Violin Sonatas, Vol.2 / Serguei Azizian & Anne Øland / Dacapo 8. 226006
Review
by Rob Barnett
Review
by Jonathan Woolf
Chamber Music (incl. Septet & String Quartet in A flat major) / Annette L Simonsen
(mezzo), Randers Chamber Orchestra / Dacapo 8.224139
Review
by Rob Barnett
String Quartets / Kontra Quartet / Dacapo 9302a/b
Review
by Jonathan Woolf
String Quartet No.3 (& Carl Nielsen Violin Concerto) / Miró String Quartet / Bridge
9100
Review
by Jonathan Woolf
Danish National
Symphony Orchestra DR/Thomas Dausgaard 
