Langgaard's Lyre

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Is there a reason for the immediate openings of no.7 and 13 sounding the same? I thought I was listening to the wrong thing at first

The reason is simple: Langgaard often reworked his music. Symphonies 7 and 13 share the same main idea, but they lead to very different works. It is as if Langgaard discovered more potential in that opening theme of the Seventh and got inspired to do something wholly different with it. (No. 13 is the better work, IMO.)

[Lethevich]

Thanks, this sounds interesting - when I can stomach that theme again () I'll play them both in a row.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Thanks, this sounds interesting - when I can stomach that theme again () I'll play them both in a row.

I know what you mean...

[karlhenning]

(Must get that Dausgaard box . . . .)

[vandermolen]

Re: Delius

I am not a great fan but the very end of his Requiem is deeply moving IMO.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Re: Delius

I am not a great fan but the very end of his Requiem is deeply moving IMO.

It is. But also uplifting, I find. The wheel of life and death...

[Dundonnell]

I know that this thread is (or should be!) about Langgaard but I would just like to put on record that I do like 'Paris: The Song of a Great City'.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I know that this thread is (or should be!) about Langgaard but I would just like to put on record that I do like 'Paris: The Song of a Great City'.

You're getting there, Colin, you're getting there. 'Paris' - exuberance and introspection in a perfect balance. It's 'early' Delius, but a mature work all the same.

[Wilhelm Richard]

Jezetha (and others),
Where do you suggest one should begin in exploring Langgaard (and Brian, now that he has come up).

Incidentally, I am not at all turned off by massive orchestration/choirs/organs...the bigger the better (though the more subtle is not at all lost on me either). 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Jezetha (and others),
Where do you suggest one should begin in exploring Langgaard (and Brian, now that he has come up).

Incidentally, I am not at all turned off by massive orchestration/choirs/organs...the bigger the better (though the more subtle is not at all lost on me either). 

I'd say, if you want to get your first impression of Langgaard try the Chandos CD with symphonies 4, 5 and 6. As for Brian - start with his 'Gothic' (Naxos). I think you'd like that. Look here:

http://theconcerthall.blogspot.com/search/label/Brian

(Don't download that Second. It's not very convincing. If you like more Brian, PM me.)

[vandermolen]

I know that this thread is (or should be!) about Langgaard but I would just like to put on record that I do like 'Paris: The Song of a Great City'.

Is it as good as Walton's First Symphony?

[Christo]

Yes, I like An American in Paris too. 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Is it as good as Walton's First Symphony?

Yes, I like An American in Paris too. 

Now now, chaps, this is serious...

But no - Walton's First is stronger. And yes - there is a link between Delius and Gershwin, harmonically, melodically. What connects both composers is the influence of black music.

[Christo]

And yes - there is a link between Delius and Gershwin, harmonically, melodically. What connects both composers is the influence of black music.

Sure. One might even claim Delius's opera Koanga (1897) to have been the first "black" opera, in this respect. Delius had, of course, heard black music while growing oranges in Florida, on the plantation his father bought him in order to to steer him away from a doomed career as a composer ...

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Sure. One might even claim Delius's opera Koanga (1897) to have been the first "black" opera, in this respect. Delius had, of course, heard black music while growing oranges in Florida, on the plantation his father bought him in order to to steer him away from a doomed career as a composer ...

All correct. You know your facts. 

[Christo]

All correct. You know your facts. 

No. I google them  0:)

(But I've always been intrigued by Koanga since I heard La Calinda - one of those pieces that may haunt you when you're a boy of fourteen.  At least, it haunted me ... 

[Wilhelm Richard]

Have heard the Music of Spheres (it is actually playing now, for about the fifth time today)...Gorgeous. 




Time to get into the symphonies.

[karlhenning]

I'm hoping the complete symphony box remains in print long enough for me to scrape together the requisite shekels.

[Dundonnell]

I'm hoping the complete symphony box remains in print long enough for me to scrape together the requisite shekels.

Guy Rickard's comments in the new issue of "The Gramophone" magazine:

"The course of Langgaards's 16 symphonies....was neither smooth nor logical, with a bewildering array of styles, forms and durations... Listening to the set makes for an intriguing if unsettling experience. There is logical development of sorts through the first six; had Langgaard stopped there in 1930 his canon would seem no more irregular than Melartin's but the increasingly anarchic manner of Nos. 7-9(1925-42) show his musical language and expressive equilibrium unravelling. There's synthesis of sorts in the multi-layered Tenth but Nos. 13-16(1946-51) inhabit uneasy worlds of unreconciled styles where the borderlines with pastiche are blurred. Chaotic, vigorous and vital in equal measure, Dausgaard, Danish Radio and Dacapo do the cycle proud...."

[karlhenning]

I think I've run into those comments on a time, Colin.

At this point, I have heard not quite half of the symphonies, and a fairly broad chronological sampling.  I'm keen to hear all the rest, too.