Langgaard String Quartets, Vol. 1 Nightingale String Quartet

• 1 I. Bortdragende Stormskyer (Storm Clouds Receding) 08:36
• 2 II. Bortkorende Tog (Train Passing By) 02:18
• 3 III. Skumrende Landskab (Landscape in Twilight) 06:19
• 4 IV. Vandring (The Walk) 07:58
• String Quartet No. 3 BVN 183 (1924)
• 5 I. Poco allegro rapinsoso 07:30
• 6 II. Presto scherzo artifizioso 01:41
• 7 III. Tranquillo 05:36
• String Quartet No. 6 in one movement, BVN 160 (1918-19)
• 8 String Quartet No. 6, BVN 160 15:07
• Variations on Mig hjertelig nu længes (Oh, Sacred Head! Now Wounded) BVN 71 (1914; 1391)
• 9 Introduction Solenne sostenuto, lento 01:25
• 10 Variation 1 Andante sostenuto 01:21
• 11 Variation 2 Poco lento sempre tranquillo 01:37
• 12 Variation 3 Lento 01:31
• 13 Variation 4 Andante sostenuto - Lento - Andante sostenuto 02:23
• 14 Variation 5 Poco allegro tranquillo 02:07
• 15 Variation 6 Tranquillo sospirando 02:38
• 16 Variation 7 Poco allegro maestoso - Allegro fiero - Piu tranquillo 02:22
• Total Runtime 01:10:29

Info for Langgaard String Quartets, Vol. 1

The string quartets of Danish music's eccentric outsider Rued Langgaard (1893-1952) are passionate works of the composer's youth, representing both his nostalgically romantic side and his profoundly visionary modernity. For the first time on HighRes, this recording series presents all 8 quartets in the award-winning young Nightingale String Quartet's distinctly dramatic interpretation based on the revised Rued Langgaard Edition.

These are remarkable works. Rued Langgaard was, as we now know, basically nuts. He composed nine string quartets, more or less, because some of them share movements (or revisions of movements). Most date from his early period, the late 1910s and early 1920s, before he turned bitter and was forced to endure the neglect of the Danish musical establishment. They feature a reckless variety of material and encompass a vast expressive range. For example, the titles of the Second Quartet’s four movements are: Storm Clouds Receding; Train Passing By; Landscape in Twilight; and The Walk. The Third Quartet has three movements variously headed Rapacious; Artful (sound sample below); and Scoffing. Some might feel the music simply falls apart into a series of disconnected episodes. Maybe it does, but it is consistently entertaining, expressive, and curiously moving.

The performances here are marvelous, make no mistake. The Nightingale String Quartet relishes every bizarre nuance, from the chugging locomotive in the Second Quartet to the “Agitato orribilmente” and “Burlesco rustico” sections of the single-movement Sixth Quartet. But the playing never turns crude, and never indulges Langgaard’s wackier ideas at the expense of solid musical values. As if that weren’t enough, the program concludes with a mostly solemn series of variations on the hymn-tune “Oh, Sacred Head, Now Wounded”. Keeping this generally slow music moving purposefully forward is no mean feat, but these players manage it effortlessly. The sonics are warm, well balanced, and strikingly realistic. Langgaard was unquestionably a “character”, but he knew what he was doing. So do these players, and so does Dacapo in standing by him. Try this. Artistic Quality: 10, Sound Quality: 10 (David Hurwitz, Classic Today)

Nightingale String Quartet:
Josefine Dalsgaard, violin (1st in nos. 2 and 6)
Gunvor Sihm, violin (1st in no. 3 and Variations)
Marie Louise Broholt Jensen, viola
Louisa Schwab, cello

Recorded at the Concert Hall of the Royal Danish Academy of Music on 10-12 December 2010, 16-18 June and 19-21 August 2011
Recording producers: Tim Frederiksen and Simon Brinkmann
Sound engineer: Simon Brinkmann

Awards:
Gramophone Magazine, Editor's Choice - June 2012
BBC Music Magazine, Chamber Choice - June 2012

strong>Nightingale String Quartet
The Nightingale String Quartet was founded in 2007 by violinists Gunvor Sihm and Josefine Dalsgaard, violist Marie Louise Broholt Jensen, and cellist Louisa Schwab. All four are currently studying for their masters’ degrees at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Professor Tim Frederiksen as their chamber music mentor and coach. The Nightingale String Quartet was awarded the Danish Radio P2 talent prize 2010 “for – with burning passion, irresistible zest, and infectious mutual responsiveness – making the classical string quartet brim over with life, so that the music speaks directly and strongly to the newcomer as well as the experienced listener”. The Nightingale String Quartet has won prizes at several national as well as international chamber music competitions.

In June 2008 the Quartet won 1st prize at the Royal Danish Academy of Music scholarship chamber music competition. After playing together for only a year and a half, the Quartet won 2nd prize at the Danish Radio chamber music competition in February 2009. This was to be the beginning of a long succession of concerts in chamber music societies all over Denmark. In April 2010 the Nightingale String Quartet was awarded 2nd prize at the international chamber music competition “Charles Hennen Concours” in Holland. As a result of this prize, the Nightingale String Quartet was invited to take part in the summer course “Orlando Festival” in Holland along with only 3 other prizewinning quartets. At the festival they received dayly coachings from legendary violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi and played several concerts in the area. In 2011 the Quartet was awarded the Jacob Gade Major Scholarship and in 2011 the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation’s Minor Music Prize.

The Nightingale String Quartet’s name is inspired by Danish ‘national author’ Hans Christian Andersen’s story about the nightingale.

Booklet for Langgaard String Quartets, Vol. 1