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Symphony No. 9


Symphony No. 9 Fra Dronning Dagmars By (From the Town of Queen Dagmar) is easily accessible music with a national and historical background. The symphony was performed for the first time by the State Broadcasting Service in 1943, and sections of it were played many times during the German occupation, especially the 3rd Movement, which is based on the tune of the popular ballad Dronning Dagmar ligger i Ribe syg (Queen Dagmar in Ribe on her sick-bed lies). Now, as then, this melody rings out every day over the town at noon from the bell tower of Ribe cathedral.


Listen to the bells of Ribe Cathedral...
- and compare this with the beginning of the above Movement of Langgaard's symphony. This Movement Satsen was peformed by Århus City Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Jensen in Ribe in November 1949. Thomas Alvad, a music teacher at the Cathedral School in Ribe, remembers this occasion...




Rued Langgaard photographed in Troense in July 1942, while he was working on Symphony No. 9.