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Thursday, May 24, 2018

Rued Langgaard - String Quartets Nos. 2, 3 & 6 (Nightingale String Quartet)


Information

Composer: Rued Langgaard
  • (01-04) String Quartet No. 2 BVN 145
  • (05-07) String Quartet No. 3, BVN 183
  • (08) String Quartet No. 6 in one movement, BVN 160
  • (09-16) Variations on "Mig hjertelig nu længes", BVN 71

Nightingale String Quartet
Josefie Dalsgaard, violin
Gunvor Sihm, violin
Marie Louise Broholt Jensen, viola
Louisa Schwab,cello

Date: 2012
Label: Dacapo
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Review

Danish quartet’s debut disc kicks off new Langgaard cycle

The majority of Langgaard’s 10 string quartets (only six of which are numbered) are concentrated in his twenties and early thirties, which is to say the time of what many of his admirers, myself included, would consider his finest works: Symphonies Nos 4 to 6, the opera Antikrist and Music of the Spheres. Even so, and despite the fact that I had long ago heard the Kontra Quartet’s performances both live and in their first recorded incarnation on RCA LPs, the impact of the Second and Third Quartets came as a shock – not far short of a first encounter with, say, the Janá∂ek quartets.

That’s partly because they are so packed with incident. With its strenuous, conflictual rhythms and flighty inventiveness, No 2 (1918) sets the bar high; and No 3 (1924) displays a concentrated blend of eruptive combativeness and whimsical extravagance that is if anything even more impressive. True, the ‘Sixth’ Quartet (the numbering is chaotic and anything but chronological) and the Variations are less distinctive, but they are never less than resourceful and their relaxed tone is welcome as a respite from the high metabolic rate of the main works on the disc.

Then there is the contribution of the Nightingale Quartet. This young Danish ensemble throws itself into the music with a vehemence and sense of purpose that go far beyond the pioneering venture of the Kontras. By the clock the Nightingales may be a little slower but they bring such impetus and fire to bear that you would hardly guess. They are also far better recorded, in a warmer, more spacious acoustic, and the booklet essay, by Bendt Viinholdt Nielsen, doyen of Langgaard scholars, is top-notch. So Dacapo’s re-recording of these works is more than welcome; and to call the second volume ‘eagerly anticipated’ would be a massive understatement.

-- David Fanning, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Apr13/Langgaard_quartets_v1_6220575.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/apr/01/langgaard-string-quartets-1-nightingale-review
https://www.amazon.com/Langgaard-String-Quartets-Dacapo-6220575/dp/B007C7FFMM
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Langgaard-String-Quartets-Dacapo-6220575/dp/B007C7FFMM

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Rued Langgaard (28 July 1893 – 10 July 1952) was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. Langgaard composed in a late Romantic style which was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries and was recognized only 16 years after his death. Influenced by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, he was a master of orchestration and a prolific composer for the large orchestra, writing 16 symphonies as well as other orchestral works. His total production of over 400 works included more than 150 songs, works for piano, organ, and an opera entitled Antikrist (The Antichrist).

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Nightingale String Quartet was formed in 2007 and consists of Gunvor Sihm and Josefine Dalsgaard, violins, Marie Louise Broholt Jensen, viola, and Louisa Schwab, cello. All four are students in the soloist course at the academies in Copenhagen and Aarhus with Professor Tim Frederiksen as mentor and chamber music teacher. Since September 2012 the quartet has also studied regularly with Professor Hatto Beyerle, founder of the Alban Berg Quartet and ECMA (European Chamber Music Academy). The Quartet has won prizes in several chamber music competitions in Denmark and abroad.
https://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/artist-nightingale-string-quartet.aspx
http://www.nightingalestringquartet.com/

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5 comments:

  1. Copy Adfly (adf.ly/XXXXXX) or LinkShrink (linkshrink.net/XXXXXX) to your browser's address bar, wait 5 seconds, then click on 'Skip [This] Ad' (or 'Continue') (yellow button, top right).
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  2. Wiil you re-up this link, or, (better!!) re-up all the string quartets (3 cds), please?
    Thanks in advance!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I already posted the complete quartets here:
      https://classicalmjourney.blogspot.com/2020/01/rued-langgaard-string-quartets.html

      Delete