performed by the WDR Sinfonie-Orchester under Rudolph Barshai There’s something epic and final and mysterious about ninth symphonies, isn’t there? Beethoven! Schubert (give or take)! Bruckner (roughly)! Dvorak! Mahler! They’ve come to mean something final in a composer’s output, his (give or … Continue reading Shostakovich Symphony no. 9 in E-flat major, op. 70
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis, or below with Davis and the Staatskapelle Dresden I’ll be honest: this is a work that really never made a single impression on me until I sat down to focus … Continue reading Elgar Symphony no. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55
performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Rafael Kubelik Yeah, a symphony that isn’t his ninth. And it’s superb, Dvorak at his finest. Dvorak could be one of those composers who’s been cursed by his own success from a few very … Continue reading Dvorak Symphony no. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
performed by the Orchestre National De L’O.R.T.F. under Jean Martinon Not the typical symphony choice is it? In fact, searches for other symphonies (on library bookshelves, the iTunes store, Amazon, etc.) are so riddled with recordings of the composer’s third symphony … Continue reading Saint-Saëns Symphony in A major
performed by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under David Zinman Radiant beams shoot through this region’s deep night, and we become aware of gigantic shadows which, rocking back and forth, close in on us and destroy everything within us except the … Continue reading Beethoven Symphony no. 5 in Cm, op.67
performed by the Odense Symphony Orchestra under Edward Serov (please note that the ‘third symphony’ on YouTube is actually his first. That’s an error. It’s a nice piece, but not the one we’ll talk about today. There’s no video available … Continue reading Ib Nørholm: Symphony no. 3, op. 57 ‘Day’s Nightmare’
performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Leif Segerstam I remember that every section of the symphony came to me, at strange moments, in a ‘complete vision’, like a sounding vision in time. Quoted from the composer, here (this … Continue reading Per Nørgård: Symphony no. 1, op. 13 ‘Sinfonia austera’
performed by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard A week ago, we discussed Rued Langgaard’s first symphony, an enormous five-movement thing of craggy, youthful, ambitious Romantic music, if not a bit too ambitious for a kid of only … Continue reading Langgaard Symphony no. 12 ‘Helsingeborg’, BVN 318
performed by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra under Owain Arwel Hughes (sorry- no video for this work. I highly, strongly recommend purchasing at least whatever album the fifth symphony appears on, if not the entire cycle, but I can understand that that may … Continue reading Vagn Holmboe: Symphony no. 5, op. 35
performed by the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra under Frank Cramer, a world premiere recording, or below by the Danish Composers’ Society Niels Finn Høffding was born on 10 March 1899 in Copenhagen. He studied under a person I wanted to introduce earlier, … Continue reading Finn Høffding: Symphony no. 3, op. 12
‘Mountain Pastorals’ performed by the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra under Ilya Stupel, or below by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard in what is likely a better performance, or this one with Segerstam Rud Immanuel Langgaard (spelled like … Continue reading Rued Langgaard: Symphony no. 1, BVN 32, ‘Klippepastoraler’
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi, with Soile Isokoski and Jorma Hynninen Nielsen’s third symphony premiered on 28 February 1912, in the same concert as the premiere of his violin concerto, this time with the composer on the … Continue reading Nielsen Symphony no. 3, op. 27 “Sinfonia Espansiva”
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi So… The inevitable Carl Nielsen. This is (likely) the Dane you’re looking for. I’d written multiple articles on works of Nielsen in the past, but they’re kind of like the middle … Continue reading Revisit: Nielsen Symphony no. 1 in Gm, op. 7
performed by the Omsk Philharmonic under Evgeni Shestakov Victor Emanuel Bendix was born on 17 May 1851 in Copenhagen, a Jewish Danish composer, student of Niels Gade (that again) and friend of one Carl Nielsen, who we’ve (briefly, long ago) seen … Continue reading Victor Bendix: Symphony no. 3 in Am, op. 25
‘Symphonie sérieuse’ performed by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard Asger Hamerik (sometimes spelled more German-ish as Hammerich, I am also guessing ‘Asger’ is the Danish equivalent of ‘Oscar’) was born on 8 April, 1843 in Frederiksburg, near Copenhagen. He … Continue reading Asger Hamerik: Symphony no. 5 in Gm, op. 36
performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Christopher Hogwood, or below by the Copenhagen Collegium Musicum under Michael Schønwandt (but I vastly prefer Hogwood) movements 3 and 4 here Niels Wilhelm Gade was born on 22 February, 1817 in Copenhagen, to … Continue reading Niels Gade: Symphony no. 6 in Gm, op. 32
performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Gottfried Rabl Egon Joseph Wellesz was born on October 21, 1885 to Hungarian Christians of Jewish ancestry. He grew up Protestant, but later converted to Catholicism. He studied under both Arnold Schoenberg, father … Continue reading Egon Wellesz: Symphony no. 4, ‘Sinfonia Austriaca’
performed by the London Philharmonic under Sir Adrian Boult second and third movements (this piece is featured on a list of pieces I heartily recommend to music directors for inclusion on their season programs. Check out the article here.) Meet … Continue reading Robert Simpson: Symphony no. 1
performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Gustav Leonhardt, or below by The English Concert under Andrew Manze Another Bach. There are many of them. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was born on March 8, 1714 to Johann … Continue reading C.P.E. Bach: Symphony no. 2 in E-flat, Wq. 183/2
performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sergiu Comissiona No one in the 1950s noticed, that I am always breaking up the structures, that I was creating a whole new symphonic form. Pettersson, from Paul Rapoport’s Allan Pettersson, p. 21 … Continue reading Pettersson Symphony no. 7
performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Leif Segerstam (this piece is featured on a list of pieces I heartily recommend to music directors for inclusion on their season programs. Check out the article here.) Karl-Birger Blomdahl was born … Continue reading Karl-Birger Blomdahl: Symphony no. 3, Facetter
Fugue for Thought 