Rued LANGGAARD (1893-1952)
String Quartets - Volume 1
String Quartet no.2, BVN 145 (1918/1931) [25:08]
String Quartet no.3, BVN 183 (1924) [14:44]
String Quartet no.6, BVN 160 (1918-19) [15:06]
Variations on Mig Hjertelig nu Laenges, BVN 71 (1914/1931) [15:20]
Nightingale String Quartet
rec. Concert Hall, Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, 10-12 December 2010, 16-18 June and 19-21 August 2011. DDD. SACD
DACAPO 6.220575 [70:18]
Dane Langgaard is one of those composers routinely reduced to a single characteristic
by populist music writers. Where Gesualdo is a 'murderer' and Brahms - regardless
of his age! - an 'old curmudgeon', Langgaard is "basically nuts", as a well-known
publication starkly describes him in its review of this CD. Yet it is difficult
to criticise the composer for his deeply-held religious beliefs - in that
regard his cacoethes has been shared by almost all composers in history.
Whereas if he was "nuts" for being an anti-establishment loner, then sanity
must surely be overrated.
The string quartets of Langgaard's generation-older compatriot Carl Nielsen
have still to attract the public acclaim they merit. That is due in part to
their relative absence from the recital stage, most quartets presumably afraid
to venture beyond the solid-gold repertoire of Beethoven, Shostakovich and
a few others. In recording terms, on the other hand, Nielsen has been reasonably
well served, especially with regard to symphonies, but Langgaard is still
at a stage where even his name remains widely unrecognised.
That needs to change, and Danish label Dacapo have been instrumental in setting
the wheels in motion, slowly drawing Langgaard out of the shadow cast by Nielsen
- hitherto believed by some to be Denmark's only composer - with their systematic
recording of his oeuvre. Pride of place in one respect goes to the 7-CD complete
symphonies, recorded by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the impressive
Thomas Dausgaard (review).
It does not sweep all prizes, however: besides the fairly hefty price ticket,
sound quality is nothing special, despite the 'Super-Audio' engineering. Indeed,
other reviews of the recording under consideration have praised its own technical
quality, but that frankly says more about the hearing of certain authors than
anything. Audio is certainly good in many respects, but almost fluorescently
bright, making the disc's shortlisting for the 2013 BBC Music Magazine Awards
slightly surprising. Even at 'Super-Audio' specification, Dacapo's engineering
seems to lag a little behind that of Scandinavian rivals BIS or Phono-Suecia,
and in that respect the premium price the 'SACD' tag attracts is rather high.
Nevertheless, such are the breadth and depth of Langgaard's action-packed
'modernist conservatism', and so persuasive are these readings - in this regard
fully deserving of a BBC or any other award - by the young Nightingale
String Quartet, making their debut to boot, that this disc really does
demand pecuniary issues be put aside. Some critics do seem to enjoy waxing
lyrical over Langgaard's 'wackiness' or 'eccentricity', but really his music
merely reflects an inventive fecundity and manifold sense of humour that give
rise to memorable music without recourse to gadgetry, affectation or cliché.
As far as Langgaard's quartets go, Dacapo are in direct competition mainly
with themselves - a double disc featuring all the above, plus nos. 4 and 5,
recorded by the estimable Kontra Quartet in the 1980s, originally appearing
on RCA LPs (DCCD
9302). In all, Langgaard wrote about three hours' worth of music for string
quartet, so there should be two more volumes. It appears the Kontra Quartet
never did complete their own Langgaard cycle, although in fairness there were
still gaps in the scholarship back then. Their accounts of Nielsen's four
(BIS CD-503-04) and Holmboe's magical twenty (Dacapo
8.207001), by the way, should be on every music-lover's shelf. Despite
the dampened acoustic, the latter is particularly good value, a 7-CD boxed
set widely available for half the price of the Langgaard symphonies!
Booklet notes here are extensive and informative, if slightly rambling in
translation, and given a suitably noirish cover. The scene is nicely set for
volume 2.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at artmusicreviews.co.uk
Inventive fecundity, manifold sense of humour … memorable music without
recourse to gadgetry, affectation or cliché.
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