Langgaard's Lyre

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I love the Third Symphony (a piano concerto in all but name). The Stupel cannot be bettered here, btw. I admire Dausgaard, but Stupel has more of that enthusiasm and fire I associate with Langgaard.

[cilgwyn]

I thought you were an admirer. You're lucky of course. I was looking at the prices of the Stupel recordings. They haved rocketed! I can't help but ask,now! How does the baritone compare in the Stupel recording?  And does Stupel make the work sound more cohesive?
The artwork on those cds is more interesting too. Suitably strange. Who did the paintings,by the way?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well, vocally the Dausgaard recordings are almost always superior. Stupel uses Polish soloists and a Polish choir, and they don't do Danish very well. In the Second Symphony there is a text setting in German, and there things are okay in every way. As for the striking artwork, it's by one Ramón de Lecea.

[Karl Henning]

Rued de la Paix!

[cilgwyn]

 
Thank you for your reply. Sometimes a bit of commitment is what's really important. You have a now rare luxury. Two complete cycles of this fascinating cycle to compare and enjoy! Hopefully,at some point the Stupel recordings will be reissued.
I'll look up that painter later,when I have more time. Not that I actually like them,as such. But they certainly are eye catching and seem appropriate to the music on the cds.
Wish I'd bought them now!!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Rued de la Paix!

[Cato]

Quote from: Cato on August 25, 2016, 06:53:02 AM

And did I hear an echo of the Pachelbel Canon in the last minute of the Second Movement? 

Oh no, not again ....

https://www.youtube.com/v/JdxkVQy7QLM

Great stuff! 

"The canon is everywhere, doctor!  It won't go away!!!"

[Karl Henning]

Can't see allot of enthusiasm for Langgaard's Fifteenth here. A favourite of mine. Surely one of his most original creations. It's jam packed with great ideas,and so d*** wierd! The story behind it is similarly great. Thought up by Langgaard's on one of his nocturnal walks;he began sketching it out at four in the morning,when it was nice and quiet (lsensible chap) and finished the sketch at Seven the same morning! (Wonder what time he got up in the morning? IF he got up?!!) "In a preface to the symphony" he compares Ribe to Bruges". Bruges is the city described by George Rodenbach in his novel 'Bruges-la-morte' (which I've read,of course! ) which was a source of inspiration for Langgaard,and also for Korngold's 'Die Tote Stadt'. Rued Langgaard compares the experience of Ribe's mean,downtown,nocturnal streets to the legend of 'Orpheus and Euydice'. Feeling like Orpheus " rushing into the stormy night to visit the vanished Eurydice,but finding only "dead Ribe" The street lamps of Ribe signifying the "shades of the underworld","flickering strettlights and the sound of the cathedral......". In fact,just like where I live at four in the morning!  But with loads of empty pint glasses,WKD bottles,pools of vomit and half empty fast food cartons,and no cathedral. Even the lightings the same! In fact,any more cuts and it could have the same low ambient lighting as Hades. The punch ups on the way home certainly belong there!! Nothing like a friendly,"Wot are you looking at mate?' when you're on the way home from your nightly tipple!!

As requested (in a sense), I have revisited the Fifteenth this morning.

Chalk it up to my background, but I don't find much that is at all weird in it.  It is certainly satisfactory.


(Are you sure you have got the story, and the symphony, matched up aright? Just checking.)

[cilgwyn]

Yes,wrong word! I think I meant wacky! It's so difficult posting while doing dozens of other things (see below!)! It's just the way Langgaard seems to throw these things together. (Not that he did literally throw them....the manuscripts,I mean) I never know what to expect. I remember the first time I heard the symphony thinking,wow? This virile sounding baritone suddenly bellowing out. And with gusto! The music itself isn't particularly wierd,or wierd at all,on the scale of things. It's more the eccentricity of Langgaard's constructions,the juxtapositions......which I think works against wider acceptance of his music in the concert halls;but is one of the reasons allot of people are actually attracted to his music.
Come to think of it,the Fifteenth works better with cordless headphones on. There you are immersed in some task and something catches the ear unexpectedly. (Another reason not to listen to Jon Leifs at the top of a ladder!) If I actually sat next to the cd player concentrating solely on the music itself I'd probably not be so stirred;and more possibly worrying about the longeurs.
So there you are,Karl. Try it again with cordless headphones. But make sure you're doing some menial task (and preferably more than one) while listening!
As to the story behind the symphony (which has probably coloured my judgement! ). You got me panicking then.....but yes;it's there on pages Seven and eight of the Dacapo booklet. I've got it in front of me,now! Must watch that step!!!

What about the Eleventh? Now,how would you describe that one?!!!! You're the composer!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Just speaking as a humble writer and listener - 'Ixion', aka Symphony No. 11, is madness.

[cilgwyn]

Not of the Ixion!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Not of the Ixion!

 

[Karl Henning]

[...] So there you are, Karl. Try it again with cordless headphones. But make sure you're doing some menial task (and preferably more than one) while listening!

But — that is how I listened! (Well, headphones, doing menial tasks . . . I do not have cordless headphones.)

[Karl Henning]

What about the Eleventh? Now,how would you describe that one?!!!! You're the composer!

Okay, a little later I shall revisit Ixion, I promise!

[cilgwyn]

I'm going to listen to the Fifteenth again.later on. This time sitting near the cd player,so I can actually SEE the tracking on the display,as I listen!!!
The Eleventh? I seem to recall this symphony sparked off an evenings debate here,once? What I would call it? Manic,perhaps?

[Karl Henning]

Okay, a little later I shall revisit Ixion, I promise!

Ixion strikes me as wholesome, good-natured, energetic. Am I missing something? 

[cilgwyn]

Only manic!

[vandermolen]

I'm going to listen to the Fifteenth again.later on. This time sitting near the cd player,so I can actually SEE the tracking on the display,as I listen!!!
The Eleventh? I seem to recall this symphony sparked off an evenings debate here,once? What I would call it? Manic,perhaps?

Must listen to No.15

[cilgwyn]

I've just listened to No 15,again. This time I kept near the machine so I could keep an eye on which track was which. I also used the program button on the remote. The bad news is I still love it. In fact,I'm listening to it for the third time in succession,now. Although,to be honest,I'm upstairs so I can't get to the off button! (The cd player is downstairs). I like all of it and I still think the chorus and singing is absolutely terrific. I only wish I could afford to pay them to come and sing it here!! Definitely a favourite.....which is not the same as saying it's one of his best! And eccentric as opposed to wierd! (Did I say wacky?! )

[cilgwyn]

I'm listening to it for the Fourth time. I'm like Vandermolen. "I can't stop listening!" and currently finding this symphony seriously addictive. I'm also wondering why that angry theme on the brass reminds me of the music in some of those old Westerns,representing Native Americans.  You know the sort of music?!! Coincidental,of course.
I don't think I will play it a fifth time,though. It isn't helping my migraine symptoms!! Love it or not!

Ixion next!!