Music of the Spheres (Langgaard)

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Music of the Spheres ( Danish : Sfærernes Music ), is an orchestral work by the Danish composer Rued Langgaard , which is developed in the years 1916-1918 and was published 1919th It is written for two orchestras (a main orchestra and a "distant" orchestra), choir, organ , and a soprano soloist. Music of the Spheres is one of the few compositions by Langgaard that were published during his lifetime. The musicologist Bendt Viinholt Nielsen cataloged Langgaard's work and assigned music of the spheres the number BVN 128.

The work contains numerous innovations that were ahead of their time. One of these progressive ideas that was not used before the emergence of spherical music is the use of a piano without a lid, which enables direct play on the piano strings. Another innovation in music of the spheres is the extensive use of slowly moving clusters of strings, which led György Ligeti to refer to himself as "Langgaard epigones" when he was presented with a score of music of the spheres in the late 1960s .

analysis

The musicologist Eric Christensen describes in his analysis of works that use the “spatial dimension” as a basic concept, the space of music of the spheres. This is delimited at the top by repetitive lines of high notes from the violins and flutes , and at the bottom by kettledrums and low winds. Between the two bounding levels, the space is filled with clouds of sound and polyphonic tonal surfaces that make you forget the feeling of advancing time. Instead, time is made "present" by accelerating repetitive patterns. The form of music of the spheres is accumulative and closes with a vision of the "end of all things", expressed through harsh musical contrasts, such as brute music followed by noisy "anti-music" (produced by cymbals and timpani), juxtaposed with "heavenly" music , characterized by angelic choirs and harp sounds.

Langgaard uses numerous innovations in music of the spheres , such as two orchestras (a main orchestra and a small “distant” orchestra). These two orchestras have a rhythmic ratio of 8:18:28 to each other. Another novelty is the ability to play glissandi directly on the strings of a piano without a lid. The soprano soloist sings a poem in German by Ida Lock (1882–1951). The choir sings either without words or with solmization syllables , which deliberately do not correspond to the notes of the melody sung .

Langgaard himself described his work as follows: "In the music of the spheres, in nocturnal darkness and despair, I gave up any kind of motif, structure, form or coherence. The music is covered by a black veil and the impenetrable mists of death."

instrumentation

Main orchestra

Distant orchestra

Performances

Music of the Spheres premiered on November 26, 1921 at the Konzerthaus in Karlsruhe , Germany . The orchestra of the Badisches Landestheater played under the direction of Hans Seeber-van der Floe , the soloist ( soprano ) was Ellen Overgaard. The premiere was a success. A year later, in 1922, when the work was performed in Berlin , it received only moderate approval from the public and was no longer performed until 1968. The 1968 performance took place in Stockholm and with it the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the conductor Sergiu Comissiona ushered in a renaissance of Langgaard's music.

The work was first performed on Danish soil in 1969 in Rundhøjhallen, Holme, with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Per Dreier. Unfortunately, however, the soloist Margrethe Danielsen did not come to the concert in time. Two years later, in 1971, the work was given in a reduced version in Copenhagen . Therefore, the first full and full performance of the work in Denmark did not take place until 1980, in the concert hall of the "Radiohuset" (literally radio house), the former headquarters of Danish Radio, with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the direction of John Frandsen and with the Soprano Edith Guillaume.

In 2010 the music of the spheres celebrated its British premiere at the BBC Proms with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Thomas Dausgaard .

A performance lasts approximately 35 minutes.

Recordings

The first recording of spherical music was made in 1968 at the Nordic Music Days in Stockholm with Berit Lindholm ( soprano ), Akademiska Kören (Stockholm Academic Choir), and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Sergiu Comissiona . A 22-minute excerpt from the work was released the following year as a long-playing record by HMV / EMI (CSDS 1087). The first complete recording of music of the spheres was released in 1983 by the Danish label Danacord (DACOCD 206) with Edith Guillaume and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir, under the baton of John Frandsen.

Further recordings of music of the spheres were made in 1997 by Chandos (CHAN 9517) with Gitta-Maria Sjöberg ( soprano ), the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Gennadi Nikolajewitsch Roschdestwenski , and in 2010 by Dacapo Records (Dacapo 6.220535, 2010 ) with Inger Dam Jensen, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Choir and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard . The entire work was recorded for each of these two releases.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Rued Langgaard - Sfærernes Music. Retrieved May 8, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Rued Langgaard - Sfærernes Music (1918) - Music Sales Classical. Retrieved May 8, 2017 .
  3. ^ Rued Langgaard - composers folder. Retrieved May 8, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f American Symphony Orchestra - Rued Langgaard, Sfaerernes musik (Music of the Spheres). Retrieved May 8, 2017 (American English).
  5. ↑ Eric Christensen: The Musical Timespace. A Theory of Music Listening . Ed .: Aalborg University Press. ISBN 87-7307-922-7 , pp. 59-65 .
  6. ↑ Viinholt Nielsen, Bendt: Koncertopførelser af Rued Langgaards orkesterværker 1909-2002. Retrieved May 8, 2017 .
  7. ^ Rued Langgaard: return of a visionary composer . In: Telegraph.co.uk . ( telegraph.co.uk [accessed May 8, 2017]).
  8. ^ The Music of the Spheres, BVN 128 (Langgaard, Rued) - IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music. Retrieved May 8, 2017 .
  9. ^ Rued Langgaard - Diskography. Retrieved May 8, 2017 .