Musicians - Rued Langgaard

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	Musicians - Rued Langgaard

Rued Langgaard (born 28 July 1893 in Copenhagen - died 10 July 1952 in Ribe) was a Danish late Romantic composer , organist, and conductor. His then-unconventional music was at odds with his Danish contemporaries and was only recognized 16 years after his death.

Life

Rued Langgaard was born in Copenhagen. His father, Siegfried Langgaard (1852-l9l4), was a composer, pianist and Royal Chamber Musician, and his mother Emma Langgaard (née Foss, 1861-1926) was also a pianist. Rued was their only child.

At age 5 he began to have piano lessons with his mother. Later his father also taught him. By age 7 Rued could play Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze and Chopin's mazurkas and started piano lessons with a teacher which continued for many years.

At age 7 or 8 he began to compose short pieces for the piano and to play the organ. At 10 he began to study the organ under Gustav Helsted, organist at the Jesuskirken in Valby, and the violin under Chr. Petersen, formerly of the Royal Orchestra. His parents little by little stopped giving him piano lessons. At age 11 he made his first public appearance as an organist and improviser on the organ at a concert at the Frederikskirken (Marmorkirken) in Copenhagen. At age 12 he started to study the theory of music under C.F.E. Horneman and later under Vilhelm Rosenberg.

At age 13 his first compositions -- 2 piano pieces and 2 songs -- were published and he was taught counterpoint by the celebrated composer Carl Nielsen for about a month. At age 14 his choral work, Musae triumphantes, was performed at a concert in Copenhagen, marking his public debut as a composer. During his teen years he continued composing works and went with his parents for a few weeks around Christmas and New Year's Eve. In this way he met the conductors Arthur Nikisch and Max Fiedler.

At age 18 for a while he served as assistant organist at the Frederikskirken (Marmorkirken) in Copenhagen. The next year his Symphony No. 1 received its first performance at a concert in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Max Fiedler. When he was just 20, his father died (in 1914). From 1915-1917 Rued was assistant organist at the Garnisons Kirke in Copenhagen but from 1917 onward he applied without success for the post of organist at a large number of churches in Copenhagen.

In 1922 a young woman named Constance Tetens moved in with Rued Langgaard and his mother in Copenhagen. His mother died in 1926. In 1927 Red Langgaard married Valborg Constance Olivia Tetens. Although Rued Langgaard was given a state grant from the age of the 30, his works and job applications were almost continually rejected by the establishment, and only at the age of 46 did he manage to get a permanent job, that being as organist at the cathedral in Ribe. Denmark.

Music

Langgaard composed in a late Romantic style, emphatically dramatic and endowed with colossal mood swings. Unquestionably, he was influenced by Richard Wagner and, in particular, Richard Strauss, and like Strauss he was a master of orchestration. He was a prolific composer for the large orchestra, writing 16 symphonies, and several other orchestral works.

'Music of the spheres', a symphonic work of great complexity, calling for a main orchestra with an organ and a choir, a supporting (distant) orchestra including a soprano voice, and a further piano, on which the strings are played directly rather than via the keys, was composed during World War I but only performed twice (in Germany in 1921-1922) in Langgaards life time, lying dormant for almost 50 years until being rediscovered. At this time, in the late 1960's, it was considered remarkably modern, indicating the pathfinding style in which Langgaard composed.

His unorthodoxy, as well as his sense of drama, extended to the titles of his compositions. His fourth and sixth symphonies are known as 'Leaf fall' and 'The heaven storming' respectively, whilst his symphonies nos. 13 and 16 are named 'Faithlessness' and 'Deluge of sun' respectively. Examples of names for individual movements are 'Wireless Caruso and Compulsive Energy' and 'Daddies rushing off to the Office' (in symphony no. 14, 'The Morning').

His total production of more than 400 works included more than 150 songs, works for piano, and organ, and an opera, 'Antikrist' (Antichrist).

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