Langgaard's Lyre

[Lethevich]

Arggghhh! It is maddening to read in the booklet notes to the Dausgaard recording that there originally existed a similarly longer version of the third symphony, just like the second, but this one is lost. The third had a similarly big impact on me just now - I think that I prefer it to the second, as I was finally able to accept the piano as a symphonic part of the piece and not soloistic. Before I just sat bewildered, unable to consent to this. This piece, again, left me wishing for more, and despite its uber-Romanticism is a model of clarity and almost even brevity.

The specific phrase the notes use - "was considerably longer than in its final form" - is like a dagger through my heart

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

In Langgaard's Sinfonia Interna - which should have been No. 4 - I seem to remember there are echoes of the Third. Read about it here:


http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/apr00/lansinf.htm

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

The first two movements. The rest is on YouTube, too.


http://www.youtube.com/v/A0n_kpc3b58


http://www.youtube.com/v/zf_L2gVE1qs

[karlhenning]

Hmm, a friend once passed on to me a copy of the Sinfonia interna . . . .

[TheGSMoeller]

Hi Freinds,

Was interested in exploring Langgaard's symphonies, are there individual recordings that are highly recommended? Or should I just splurge for the Dausgaard/DNSO box set?
Thanks.

[Lethevich]

The most notable single issues that won't duplicate any of the material in the sets (if you later choose to pick one up) are these two:

[asin]B000000APJ[/asin] [asin]B00005AG71[/asin]

The Jarvi in particular is good stuff The Stupel cycle is not boxed, so picking up individual issues may be less problematic than Dausgaard - perhaps Johan could help you more with "favourite" recordings of each symphony: I lack the close familiarity with the works that he has.

[karlhenning]

Thanks, Sara! I wanted as well to suggest this one to Greg.

[TheGSMoeller]

Thanks, Sara! I wanted as well to suggest this one to Greg.

Thank you Sara and Karl, that's perfect! I already have Music of the Spheres, but getting 4 other symphonies is a great start.

and that's not a bad price either on Amazon.

[karlhenning]

This is one of three recordings I have of Sfærernes Musik . . . I haven't done a proper "comparative listening," but I find value in them all.

[Lethevich]

I already have Music of the Spheres, but getting 4 other symphonies is a great start.

It's a great selection too. No.14 is a bit "odd" (yet wonderful), but 4, 6 and 10 are central works - 10 is perhaps as close as the composer gets to a blockbuster.

[karlhenning]

So, if you've got blocks which want busting . . . .

[Scarpia]

I've had this set for a while and have not cracked it yet (although I have listened to Jarvi's recordings of a trio of Langgaard symphonies).  Too much good music in the world.   

[TheGSMoeller]

So, if you've got blocks which want busting . . . .

Have a 2 year-old, tons of blocks, Langgaard will bust them...hopefully.

This is Spheres I have...

[asin]B003T68VOE[/asin]

[karlhenning]

Have a 2 year-old, tons of blocks, Langgaard will bust them...hopefully.

This is Spheres I have...

That's my latest, and a lovely disc it is!

[Scarpia]

Have a 2 year-old, tons of blocks, Langgaard will bust them...hopefully.

This is Spheres I have...

[asin]B003T68VOE[/asin]

I always avoided that one because I feared it would be to "new agey."

[TheGSMoeller]

That's my latest, and a lovely disc it is!

Great!
Thanks again for the suggestions, friends.
Off to work.

[Lethevich]

I always avoided that one because I feared it would be to "new agey."

It's ethereal at times, but there isn't really any of the aesthetic you mention in Langgaard's music - much that he does is derived from Straussian heroic Romanticism, or to some degree Romantic nature mysticism. Music of the Spheres stems from these kind of things, but abstracts them to a ridiculous degree. Its soundworld is unique. The programmatic indications are also pure Langgaard - absolutely weird, and when they sound a bit... wiffle-esque, it's not in the Hovahness sense, it's just product of a very perculiar and individual mind

[karlhenning]

I always avoided that one because I feared it would be to "new agey."

Oh, but that's also got the "concert suite" from Antikrist, The End of Time . . . nothing remotely new agey about that!

[Scarpia]

Oh, but that's also got the "concert suite" from Antikrist, The End of Time . . . nothing remotely new agey about that!

Ok, another for the overburdened wish list.   

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

As Sara rightly says, I know my Stupel... So, which CDs would I recommend unreservedly, both for the works and his performances? I'd say, in order of 'essentialness'  - the one with Symphonies 2 & 3, then the one with 13 and 16, and finally the one with 10, 11 and 12, because of the (to me) unbeaten reading of the Tenth.

I think the Stupel recordings can be downloaded too (just look around the online stores). So you could also simply choose the works you'd like to have instead of complete CDs.