On ClassicsToday: Loving Langgaard, Chamber Music Edition

Loving Langgaard: Chamber Music Edition

Review by: Jens F. Laurson

Artistic Quality: ?

Sound Quality: ?

If you draw a squiggly line between Brahms, Sibelius, and Einojuhani Rautavaara and put down your palm flat in the middle, you’ll have arrived, more or less, at Rued Langgaard’s idiom–or slightly north of it. If that eschews a concrete definition, well, so does the composer: Langgaard (1893-1952) was the quintessential oddball composer of the 20th century, although he may never have meant to be. He was either well ahead of his time, stylistically, or purposefully behind. You might find him looking for Wagnerian sounds, coupled with some of the colorful strangeness of Scriabin, and the lushness of Richard Strauss. Elsewhere he bumps up against the boundaries of form and tonality in the most kaleidoscopic, imaginative ways... continue reading 

Forbes Classical CD Of The Week: Tasty Danishes (Piano Trio Edition)

...finally, there is the little ten-minute “Mountain Flowers” Piano Trio by Rued Langgaard (1893-1952). Langgaard-lovers – and if you get into Langgaard at all it is difficult not to become a card-carrying member) might say: ‘Woha! This Trio strikes my ears as familiar’ Yes, because it became the excellently-ambitious First Symphony’s second movement. It’s the part where he stops to smell the roses along his impetuous ascent of the symphonic mountaintop and gives a window in the calmer aspects of the beauty that the 15-year old (!) prodigy that would undergo so many musical transformations (and frustrations) yet, was capable of. The Danish Piano Trio / Den Danske Klavertrio (the ensemble, not the genre – made up of pianist Katrine Gislinge, violinist Lars Bjørnkjær and cellist Toke Møldrup) performs lovingly-beautifully on their inaugural recording – and just as importantly they perform repertoire that should be heard – and heard more often…

-> Classical CD Of The Week: Tasty Danishes (Piano Trio Edition)

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Forbes Classical CD Of The Week: Rued Langgaard, A Danish Lark

…Rued Langgaard (1893 – 1952) is a strangely wonder-full romantic composer, whose 16 symphonies cover the gamut from massively delightful to charmingly bizarre. The unabashedly romantic style of the Wagner-quotes and Strauss-flavor sprinkled Second Symphony (“Awakening of Spring”) is as intriguing as the impressionist 23-minute, 13-movement Fourth Symphony. His violin and piano miniatures are among the sweetest found in the 20th century. A real "Surprised by Beauty"-composer, if ever there will be a third edition. His works for string quartet included in the first string quartet-devoted volume of Dacapo’s…

-> Classical CD Of The Week: Rued Langgaard, A Danish Lark

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Dip Your Ears, No. 150 (Langgaard’s Stringed Nightingale)

Rued Langgaard String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 6, Variations on “Oh, Sacred Head” Nightingale String Quartet Dacapo SACD

Musical Nattergale

Rued Langgaard (1893—1952) is a strange and most wonder-full romantic composer, whose 16 symphonies cover the gamut from massively delightful to charmingly bizarre. His violin and piano miniatures are among the sweetest found in the 20^th century. His works for string quartet included in the first string quartet-devoted volume of Dacapo’s superb Langaard series, have more bite and the occasional acerbic note, but they don’t stray far from the general harmonic and melodic principles that make the Danish composer so intriguing… especially the one-movement Sixth Quartet. Astonishingly, all but one work languished unpublished until the 1990s, when these pieces, containing the whole microcosm of 20^th century classical styles, were rediscovered. Dacapo is improving on their 1984 set with the Kontra Quartet by including all the works for string quartet in this series, and the Nightingale String Quartet adds a pinch of extra enthusiasm and exactitude.