COMPOSERS: Norgard
LABELS: Dacapo
WORKS: Symphony No. 3; Luna; Twilight
PERFORMER: Hedwig Rummel (alto) Danish National RSO & Choir/ Herbert Blomstedt, Tamás Veto´´, Jan Latham-Koenig
CATALOGUE NO: 8.224041 AAD (1968/89)
Per Nørgård’s Third Symphony (1972-5) marks the beginning of this leading Danish composer’s full maturity. The technical means – infinite rows and all – sound fearsome, but Nørgård’s novel ways with the harmonic series lead to music of real individuality. Extravagance too, in the lengthy second of the Symphony’s two movements, with its choral settings of medieval texts and Rilke. The earlier Luna is less imaginative texture music, the later Twilight merely rather bizarre. Performances and recordings are variable; my copy of this generously endowed disc slipped badly at the end. Keith Potter
Norgard: Symphony No. 3; Luna; Twilight
Per Nørgård’s Third Symphony (1972-5) marks the beginning of this leading Danish composer’s full maturity. The technical means – infinite rows and all – sound fearsome, but Nørgård’s novel ways with the harmonic series lead to music of real individuality. Extravagance too, in the lengthy second of the Symphony’s two movements, with its choral settings of medieval texts and Rilke. The earlier Luna is less imaginative texture music, the later Twilight merely rather bizarre. Performances and recordings are variable; my copy of this generously endowed disc slipped badly at the end. Keith Potter
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:09 pm