Friends may be interested in this new CD of VCs from Dacapo...
http://www.dacapo-records.dk/?page=catalogue&id=7588&setlanguage=en (http://www.dacapo-records.dk/?page=catalogue&id=7588&setlanguage=en)
The three concertos it contains are those by Niels Gade, Lange-Müller and Rued Langgaard.
Being a great fan of the Gade VC, I bought the CD for that particular work and am glad to say that the performance is splendid. For anyone unfamilar with the piece, this is late Gade (1880) - and very much all of a piece with other roughly contemporary VCs such as those by Reinecke and Dietrich. So, if you don't know it, here is a golden opportunity to acquire it on a CD with two other interesting rarities - of which more later...
I'm glad to learn of this release. It has not shown up on Amazon or Arkiv Music in the U.S. Will have to keep an eye open for it.
I'm also quite curious about the concerto by Langgaard. I'm never heard it, never seen another recording of it available. Would you care to comment on it?
The Langgaard VC is a curious, but enjoyable piece. Only nine and a half minutes long, it has a prominent part for piano and gives the impression of being a sort of pastiche, with (as the sleevenote indicates) high-Romantic passages mingling with others of a more neo-classical flavour. Not really my cup of tea, but a nice filler for the other two VCs on the CD.
The Lange-Müller VC is quite an original piece, sounding as though it is built on folk-like themes and having a rhapsodic feel throughout. It is occasionally very beautiful indeed and full of feeling. Highly recommended to those who don't know it!
Good to see this release, but if you really want to dive into the world of the Danish violin concerto, there's no beating this ten-disc set of twenty-six(!) violin concertos by everyone from Claus Schall (1757-1835) to Leif Thybo (1922-2001).
The complete box, reviewed at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/feb99/danish.htm (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/feb99/danish.htm), is I believe no longer available, but the individual two-disc sets still are: http://www.danacord.dk/collections/violin.html (http://www.danacord.dk/collections/violin.html).
-J
--
Jim Moskowitz
The Unknown Composers Page: http://kith.org/jimmosk/TOC.html
My latest list of unusual classical CDs for auction: http://tinyurl.com/527t7
True, although the recording quality of that (valuable) set is very variable, as is the quality of the music which it contains. The Gade VC, however, is a major neglected Romantic-era work and, with the excellent couplings on the new Dacapo CD, contributes to a thoroughly recommendable programme captured in superb modern sound and in top-flight performances.
Re: Langgaard's VC. My experience of Langgaard is that he gets more into a couple of minutes of music than allot of more highly rated composers get into a whole hour! I also admire his total disregard for conventional form. His symphonic cycle is (to quote 'The Honeymooner's) a real riot! You never know what he's going to do next!
Anyway,back to VC's. (The couplings sound good).
There's very little of substance in Langgaard's VC, unfortunately. It's the makeweight on a great CD...
Oh dear,not one of his best,eh? (I haven't heard it yet). I find his symphonies fascinating. One of the Gramophone critics reviewing the complete cycle (I have them on separate cd's) described him as 'losing the plot' after No 2. But it's the diversity,and sheer eccentricity, of the cycle that I find makes his symphonies so enthralling. All that variety from one mind. At times quite wacky. I think critics like that have a very conventional way of looking at things.
Another thing about Langgaard that impresses me is that however miserable and bitter he seems to have felt; it doesn't show in his music. I suppose it was his means of escape from his predicament,of course.
However,the other concerto's sound very interesting,and I'll have another nine odd minutes of Rued,for the archive!
Quote from: Pengelli on Monday 19 April 2010, 18:09
Another thing about Langgaard that impresses me is that however miserable and bitter he seems to have felt; it doesn't show in his music. I suppose it was his means of escape from his predicament,of course.
However,the other concerto's sound very interesting,and I'll have another nine odd minutes of Rued,for the archive!
I really love the music of Langgaard - the abrupt, kaleidoscopic sectionalism of his style very much brings Havergal Brian to mind. One of my favourite pieces is his sarcastic response to the acclaim which greeted Nielsen - the following is taken from the booklet notes for Chandos CHAN 9786:
Carl Nielsen, Our Great Composer (1948)
is one of the isolated composer's most
desperate – and sarcastic – utterances. In a
foreword to the piece (the whole text of which
is identical to the title) Langgaard complains
at having had to live and breathe in a musical
Denmark 'infested' by Carl Nielsen. Langgaard
was highly critical of Nielsen (1865–1931)
and his music, even though the latter was one
of Langgaard's most important sources of
inspiration around 1920. He submitted his
ironical tribute to Nielsen, which is 'dedicated
to "Musical life in Denmark" 1891–1948' to
Danish National Radio incomplete (only the
seven opening bars are fully scored)
accompanied by the acrid comment that the
orchestration could surely be completed by
Emil Reesen. Reesen was one of the people
who had assisted Carl Nielsen in the
orchestration of occasional music. The work
comprises thirty-two bars, and after the last
bar Langgaard dictates that the work is to be
'repeated to eternity!'. The present recording
of Bo Andersen's realisation of the score
attempts to indicate this.
He really,really did hate old Carl's guts,didn't he! Quite funny in a horrible sort of way. Of course,from our moral perspective, he should have been more philosophical,shouldn't he (?). But,my goodness,it must have so-o-o frustrating. I think I might have cracked too!
Funnily enough,I actually find Langgaard's music more rewarding than Nielsen's. I would honestly rather listen to Langgaard's best music,any day. Also, in his own way, I honestly think he's just as great a composer. As I said before,there is so much variety in his scores,yet he always manages to be his own man. Like Havergal Brian who was writing both 'The Tiger's' and the 'Gothic Symphony' at around the same time,you'll listen to some of his music and think,how could this have come from the same mind? Extroadinary! I honestly think that,in terms of of invention and sheer off the wall vision he very often left Carl Nielsen standing.
That's not to disparage Nielsen,who was of course,without doubt, a genius. But poor Rued certainly deserved his due!
Nielsen or Langgaard? Are you serious? Langgaard is a fascinating composer, but I'll keep Carl over Rued any day. True greatness must out.
By way of an aside, my appreciation of Nielsen's music went up very considerably (though I don't think my opinion was ever very low) when I became acquainted with his better vocal music. Some of his songs, even early strophic ones, are exceedingly charming, inventive (harmonically for example) and memorable and seem to shine lights on aspects of his personality that the symphonies and concertos by and large, I think, don't. Anyway! (And the opera Saul og David (?) besides being very good music is related to the symphonies it's contemporary with in intriguing ways :) )
Eric
I like Gade's VC very much. This is what you can expect of a real romantic concerto. The Lange-Müller is quite pleasant too, and Rued Langgaard's work... well, it's curious.
But, Pengelli, is Carl Nielsen a genius indeed? Could be. I only have one CD, the Naxos coupling his VC (not too bad, the work has its moments), the Clarinet Concerto and the Flute Concerto. I don't like these wind concertos at all. They don't trigger me to buy other works by Nielsen.
Quote from: Peter1953 on Monday 19 April 2010, 22:35
They don't trigger me to buy other works by Nielsen.
The heart of Nielsen is found in his six symphonies: to begin with the 'classical' first and work through to the eccentricities of the sixth is a wonderful journey. I would strongly recommend Blomstedt and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra on an inexpensive EMI Triple: these are great interpretations. Langgaard was a maverick, like Havergal Brian, and will accordingly always be on the fringes of the repertoire. Nielsen, like Sibelius, basically worked within the boundaries of classical form but pushed constantly to find new expression within these confines.
I would not want to be without the music of either composer - in this sense both Nielsen and Langgard are 'great composers' in my life.
The best Nielsen cycle IMHO is Blomstedt's later San Francisco set on Decca; and a close runner-up is the bargain-basement, but superlative set conducted by Kuchar on Brilliant. But do make the journey through Nielsen symphonies. It's one of the great cycles.
Thanks, Albion and Alan. Of course I cannot say anything about Nielsen, having only that disc with his concertos. I'll put Nielsen's symphonies on my CD's-to buy-list, and I can only hope the music isn't chaotic (to my ears, I realize), like his clarinet and flute concertos.
The wind concertos are, of course, very late Nielsen. Only Symphony No.6 has music anything like that - but Nos.1-5 are the very opposite of chaotic!
I wonder what Langgaard would have to say if he could join in? I don't like making comparisons really,but I must admit to playing Langgaard more than Nielsen.On the other hand, I don't wear outsize hats and my trousers aren't too short,so there could be some hope for me yet! I AM squarely in the Rued camp though.
Regards from Ribe.
"Camp" somehow seems an appropriate word for a lot of Langgaard...
.....but never Rued!
Really? ;)
Possibly,Alan!!!
Seriously,you do have a point there. Even as an admirer,and not particularly camp myself,I have to admit that you can't really get more camp than 'Antikrist'. Although,Schreker might come in as a close second. But then again,possibly more kitsch than camp.
NB: this does seem to have turned into a Langgaard thread.(I shall have to moderate myself). It strikes me that Gade and Lange-Muller should,perhaps, have been more eccentric and ranted a bit more ,or gone out for some nocturnal jaunts wearing peculiar items of clothing?
(I did like a milky Camp Coffee,incidentally,years ago).
Anyway,back to vc's (generally speaking) on Dacapo?
Quote from: Pengelli on Wednesday 21 April 2010, 14:52
Seriously,you do have a point there. Even as an admirer,and not particularly camp myself,I have to admit that you can't really get more camp than 'Antikrist'. Although,Schreker might come in as a close second. But then again,possibly more kitsch than camp.
NB: this does seem to have turned into a Langgaard thread.(I shall have to moderate myself). It strikes me that Gade and Lange-Muller should,perhaps, have been more eccentric and ranted a bit more ,or gone out for some nocturnal jaunts wearing peculiar items of clothing?
(I did like a milky Camp Coffee,incidentally,years ago).
Anyway,back to vc's (generally speaking) on Dacapo?
I'm hoping for, either on Dacapo or BIS, the three of Holmboe. One of them has already appeared (on Dacapo). It looks like BIS is slowly progressing integrally (if that's a word) through his output, but that's a guess. Anyone have any idea, anyways?
Eric
Quote from: Pengelli on Tuesday 20 April 2010, 18:48
.....but never Rued!
There IS of course father Siegfried's beautiful, beautiful second piano concerto. Makes you hungry for the first (and a third?).
Probably off-topic: The Nielsen Symphonies. I wrestled myself through the 6 symphonies for the first time, starting by 1 and ending with 6. Nielsen underwent definitely a development. Each symphony is different and is getting more and more progressive. Nothing wrong with that, but is this music that pleases me? What a strange and not seldom noisy music, especially 4, 5 and 6 (the two middle movements of the 2nd are beautiful). I'm looking for an encouragement to give the set another spin. I know that some music must grow on me, but what is the stimulus in the case of the Nielsen symphonies? Very well possible that I'm not yet ready for this music. Patience needed? Does anyone have the same experience?
Never judge a composer by his haircut. Yet Carl Nielsen certainly had a spiky side, with odd, sideways harmonic slips that rarely resolve to pleasant and familiar cadences (as Die Rosenkavalier's do). You can hear in the first symphony (I particularly like the Blomstedt/SFO recording) that Nielsen internalized early his predecessor Beethoven's example of writing music that sounds like committed struggle. It took him over two decades to get to the even noisier style of symphony 4. But when he got there, the struggle was, for me, even deeper and more far-reaching.
From the beginning this seriousness was an important part of Nielsen's appeal for me. It all depends on what one listens for in music. Carl Nielsen is not for everybody, nor according to Hugo Wolf is Johannes Brahms.
I encountered the Nielsen symphonies slowly -- Bernstein's third, Bernstein's and Horenstein's fifth, Martinon's fourth, and Ormandy's sixth (still competitive performances in my book) were released over a period of years.
In retrospect, I'm glad I had time to get used to the quirks of the Bernstein third performance before encountering the later works. I doubt I'd have the patience to sit through recordings of all six over, say, a weekend. Or eat six mutton chops in a row, either. If you want to "get into" Nielsen, I'd suggest picking the symphony that appeals to you the most -- or if there isn't one, the third or fourth -- and listen to it occasionally. Chances are the "strange" in the music will take care of itself. It did with me.
Hope you're listening to the Blomstedt/SFO or Schonwandt set, as those performances are uniformly excellent. I have the Kuchar but am less impressed by it than Alan is. Kuchar is exciting, and in some movements (such as 2/3) as good as anyone, but to me he doesn't give the music quite enough breathing room. To each his own.
Thanks, chill319, for your useful comments. Yes, I have the EMI-set performed by the Danish RSO under Blomstedt. Occasionally I will listen to one of his symphonies and start with the accessible 2nd.
I remember hearing the finale of Nielsen 3 a couple of years ago, and being overwhelmed by it. Not even wanting to begin with the rest, I played the movement again, and found out this way about his progressive tonality. Then I had someone recommending me the Blomstedt SFO cycle, and I was hooked. Although I now own several recordings of the complete symphonies, I must say I prefer the Blomstedt/SFO - and I think it's not just because I've heard that one first; a combination of what seem to me to be exactly the right tempi and perfect orchestral sound, makes these symphonies sound more monumental here than in any other recording I know. I really have to agree Nielsen's is one of the best symphonic cycles around, even though I still can't quite 'get' the 6th.
His shorter orchestral works can also be quite amazing; I think the Helios overture at full volume is one of the things my neighbours came to dislike me for...
...and I just noticed all this is rather off thread, apologies!
(So I might add that I still don't like his violin concerto, but it hasn't been recorded by Dacapo anyway...)
I dont understand Nielsen's violin concerto but there is a cantabile passage well into the first 4 or 5 mins of the Ist movement that I dont mind returning to.
What's not to understand? Isn't the VC one of Nielsen's most approachable mature works?
I think I need to hear the Nielsen VC with fresh ears myself. I'd be interested to know which recording/s of the Nielsen VC appeal/s most to forum members. Something on Da Capo, perhaps?
A really marvellous recording of the Nielsen VC is that by Cho-Liang Lin on Sony. And you get the Sibelius thrown in. Sadly, it appears that it may be deleted, although it's still available at Amazon over here...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Nielsen-Concertos-Philharmonia-Orchestra/dp/B00005NUPX/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275296309&sr=1-10 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Nielsen-Concertos-Philharmonia-Orchestra/dp/B00005NUPX/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275296309&sr=1-10)
...and at Amazon in the States...
http://www.amazon.com/Sibelius-Nielsen-Violin-Concertos-Carl/dp/B00077F94I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275296435&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Sibelius-Nielsen-Violin-Concertos-Carl/dp/B00077F94I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275296435&sr=1-1)
Quote from: Alan Howe on Sunday 30 May 2010, 09:57
What's not to understand? Isn't the VC one of Nielsen's most approachable mature works?
I'm sorry but I find his quirky Clarinet more approachable... even his flute concerto! I simply dont get the violin concerto.........perhaps I need to listen to it again!!!!
Thanks, Alan. Lin/Salonen duly ordered, opting for the US release as it has been remastered whereas the UK disk has not. I dithered for a minute between this and the Borgstrom before choosing.
Have been listening to the Lin/Salonen recording of the Nielsen VC. To borrow from another thread, before hearing this recording I didn't know the work was this good (or better than good). The VC's intense lyricism is all the more moving for being utterly unsentimental. And the soundspace provided by the engineers really lets the fiddle float. Pure pleasure.
That is a simply marvellous CD.
Speaking of Violin concertos how is SIGISMOND STOJOWSKI's concerto. I havent heard it but if its anything like his piano concerti, its sure to be headily romantic!!!
The Stojowski VC is lovely - but the AP recording is compromised by the weak youth orchestra, more's the pity. Still worth trying, though; after all, when's a rival version likely to come out?