RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Christian Frederik Emil HORNEMAN (1840-1906)
Gurre Suite (1900) [16:21]
Suite from ‘The Contest with the Muses’ (1896) [13:19]
Ouverture Héroique. Concert Overture (1867) [12:33]
Suite from Kalanus (1890) [23:52]
Danish National Symphony Orchestra /Johannes Gustavsson
rec. June 2010 (Gurre Suite and The Contest with the Muses)
and May 2011, Koncerthuset, Studio 1, Copenhagen.
DACAPO 6.220564 SACD [66:07]
C.F.E. Horneman struggled to achieve success as a composer, and by all accounts
was a difficult and embittered character by the end of his life. This was
despite being a notable educator and creating a music institute which became
a viable alternative to the Copenhagen Academy of Music. He was held in high
esteem by Grieg, and his famous fellow-countryman Carl Nielsen described him
as ‘the bright flame and lambent fire of Danish music’.You can be pretty sure
if you like Nielsen you will be in tune with much of what can be found here.
As the booklet notes for this release ably summarise, ‘Horneman was a composer
of rich talents, but never had the opportunity to unfold them as they deserved.’
This collection of Horneman’s orchestral works is dominated by pieces with
a background in mythological and historical dramas. The Ouverture Héroique
is one of very few of his pieces not connected with the theatre, and there
is apparently no clue to what the title refers. This is a substantial work
in a grand romantic idiom, with plenty of drama and striking musical gestures.
One can’t help imagining programmatic content of one kind or another, with
the music moving through numerous clearly defined sections, now macho and
defiant, here and there tender, secretive and after a promise of encroaching
adventure, a grand climax with more than a hint of Beethoven and Berlioz in
the mix.
More developed musically and with numerous Nielsen-esque moments, the Gurre
Suite was written for the tale of King Valdemar Atterdag, who was fonder
of his castle at Gurre than respectful of the Kingdom of Heaven. The play
by Holger Drachmann revolves around a love triangle, and Hormenan’s score
responds to the romantic themes with positive vibes and warmth of expression.
Instantly attractive and accessible, the composer’s clean orchestration and
open harmonies and melodic shapes are lapped up by the Danish National Symphony
Orchestra. Nielsen is called to mind in the harmonies of the opening minutes
of the Overture, there is a flavour of Grieg about the gentle Allegretto
which forms the prelude to Act II, and the tenderness of Tove’s Funeral
Procession is sublime. The suite ends with an energetic Allegro non
troppo which conjures ‘In the woods by Gurre’.
The Suite from ‘The Contest with the Muses’ is on the theme of King
Thyramis of ancient Greece, whose contest with the muses left him blind and
insane. The booklet tells of the strife caused around the originally planned
theatre production, and the final première only took place after Horneman’s
death. This has some beautiful pieces, including a luminous female chorus
in the Mus-Kor which Philip Glass would have turned into an entire
opera, and glowing passages of harmonic development such as the opening passage
of the otherwise pulsating Satyrdans. The finale is another lively
number, the Bakkantisk Dans, which entertains again not only through
rhythmic impact, but through highly inventive harmonic twists.
Kalnus was written for a projected play about the encounter between
the Indian sage and Alexander The Great. The production was once again only
realised after the composer’s death, but the suite was made in the same year
as the incidental music, thus saving the score for posterity. The opening
movement is a genuinely ravishing Andante sostenuto which builds
to a descriptive Andante. Festive music precedes the darkly dramatic
sentencing of Kalnus. Alexander himself is personified in an Allegro
con fuoco filled with suitably noble pomp. Shivering strings and reflectively
nostalgic melodic sequences serve for Kalnus in feverish dreams which
precedes Kalnus’ Død, a Molto maestoso which portrays the
grim but noble sacrifice of the hero.
This is a marvellously performed and recorded release which is full of rich
discovery. Fans of Nordic/Danish music need not hesitate, and should put this
disc on their list of purchases; immediate or planned. Young conductor Johannes
Gustavsson brings out the best of the very fine Danish National Symphony Orchestra,
but one also senses that these musicians are also responding with every ounce
of their abilities to the music of their forgotten countryman. It all sounds
like great fun to play as well as to hear, and the DaCapo/Danish Broadcasting
Corporation SACD engineering is superb.
Dominy Clements
A wealth of discovery, and with performances to match.