A listening guide for those new to Langgaard
 

Langgaard can 'supply' many kinds of music! Here are some ideas to begin with.

The works mentioned here are all on CD. The list will be updated as new recordings are made of important or characteristic works by Langgaard. Some of the works have been recorded in several versions, see the 'discography' or the list of what CD's have been released by various record companies in the section ordering books, scores and CD's.


If you want to start with just one work, the following can be recommended:

  • Symphony No. 1 Klippepastoraler (Rock Pastorals) (the great Late-Romantic gesture à la Bruckner or Mahler)
  • Symphony No. 10 Hin Torden-Bolig (You Dwelling of Thunder) (also majestic and Late Romantic, but more like Richard Strauss - and film music!)
  • Symphony No. 4 Løvfald (Fall of the Leave) (melancholic autumn moods, wind and rain)


You could also choose one of the more extreme (or eccentric) works to start with, for example:

  • Sfærernes Musik (Music of the Spheres) (cosmic, static and (relatively) calm - ideal for New Age fans!)
  • Symphony No. 11 Ixion (extremely short, weird symphony)
  • Symphony No. 6 Det Himmelrivende (The Heaven-Rending) (Langgaard's most 'modernist' work - with Late- Romantic elements)


If you have a special interest in CHAMBER MUSIC, for example, the following can be recommended:

  • String Quartet No. 3 (raw, very direct music, like Bartók in places)
  • String Quartet No. 6 (moody summer music based on a Swedish folk melody)


- or if your interest is PIANO MUSIC:

  • Afgrundsmusik (Music of the Abyss) (ambitious, complex work with striking effects)
  • Flammekamrene (Chambers of Flames) (virtuoso music in the style of Liszt/Skrjabin)


- or OPERA/VOCAL MUSIC:

  • Antikrist (Antichrist) (a majestic opera, embracing fifty years of music from Wagner to the beginnings of modernism)
  • Rosengårdsviser (Rosengaard Ballads) (three beautiful choral songs, the middle one very original!)
  • Fra Dybet (From the Deep) (short requiem, begins like Sjostakovitj and ends like a mixture of Verdi and Lloyd-Webber)
  • Lyrisches Intermezzo (Lyrical Intermezzo) (four traditional lieder based on classical texts by Heine)




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