Peter Lange-Müller (1853-1926)
Piano Trio in F Minor, Op. 53
1 I. Moderato con moto 00:14:38
2 II. Allegretto piacevole – l’istesso tempo (scherzando) – Tempo I 00:07:44
3 III. Allegro con brio, ma non troppo presto 00:09:17

Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890)
Piano Trio in F Major, Op. 42
4 I. Allegro animato 00:09:05
5 II. Allegro molto vivace 00:03:33
6 III. Andantino 00:03:14
7 IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 00:06:08
Piano Trio Movement in B-Flat Major
8 Adagio – Allegro con fuoco 00:12:06

Rued Langgaard (1893-1952)
Fjeldblomster (Mountain Flowers), BVN 34
9 Adagio molto 00:09:05

The Danish Piano Trio:
Lars Bjørnkjær - violin
Toke Møldrup - cello
Katrine Gislinge - piano 

This debut album of The Danish Piano Trio presents a fascinating string of Romantic trios. From the perfectly balanced world of Danish music’s ‘godfather’ Niels W. Gade over the sensitive and dramatic turn-of-the-century art of P.E. Lange-Müller, the album concludes with the beautiful single-movement Mountain Flowers from 1908 by the hyper-Romantic prodigy Rued Langgaard. ---dacapo-records.dk

If you're familiar with Denmark's rich musical heritage, then you might already be predisposed to give this release a listen. If not, then let me encourage you to do so. These works compare favorably (I think) to those by the famous composers that inspired them -- Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Wagner.

Peter Lange-Muller was a pianist as well as a composer. Robert Schumann was one of his major influences (Danish folk song being another). Indeed, his 1898 Trio for piano, violin, and cello in f minor, Op. 53 has a certain Schumann quality to it (and not just the piano part).

The work has a certain impulsive restlessness to it. But while Lange-Muller's music is highly emotional, it never threatens to go off the rails the way some of Schumann's later works seem to. Perhaps it's the folk song element that keeps the work grounded. Nevertheless, Lange-Muller's trio is an exciting and beautifully crafted work.

Niels W. Gade is represented by two works; the Piano Trio in F major, and the Piano Trio Movement. Gade became director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra after Mendelssohn's death. His music also shows the influence of his colleague and friend. Gade was also influenced by Danish folk song. His 1863 trio has clean, uncluttered lines and the emotional restraint of Mendelssohn, but all with a completely original voice. His 1838 Piano Trio Movement is an interesting torso. The 22-year-old Gade may have been overly ambitious with his projected four-movement trio, but the surviving completed movement satisfies on its own.

Rued Langgard was best known for his orchestral works. Fjeldblomster (Mountain Flowers), written when he was fifteen, concludes the album. This short work shows Langgard's love of Wagner in its construction, and only hints at the original composer Langgard would become. ---RGraves321, hbdirect.com

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Niels Gade - Die Heilige Nacht, Gefion, Zion

01. Die Heilige Nacht op.40 - I. Einleitung. Andante    [6:15.10]
02. Die Heilige Nacht op.40 - II. Andantino sostenuto    [5:51.23]
03. Die Heilige Nacht op.40 - III. Moderato. Andante    [5:34.07]
04. Gefion op.54 - I. Allegro maestoso    [3:04.30]
05. Gefion op.54 - II. Animato    [1:57.50]
06. Gefion op.54 - III. Allegro non troppo    [6:12.38]
07. Gefion op.54 - IV. Allegro risoluto    [2:50.20]
08. Gefion op.54 - V. Allegro vivace    [5:01.07]
09. Zion op.49 - I. Introduction. Allegro maestoso    [2:21.73]
10. Zion op.49 - II. Departure from Egypt    [5:10.70]
11. Zion op.49 - III. The Captivity in Babylon    [9:23.65]
12. Zion op.49 - IV. Return - Prophecy of the New Jerusalem    [11:21.50]

Kirsten Dolberg - contralto
Per Høyer - baritone
The Canzone Choir
Aalborg Symphony Orchestra
Frans Rasmussen - conductor

Gade studied violin and composition and became acquainted with Danish poetry and folk music. Both Mendelssohn and Schumann, who were his friends, were attracted by the Scandinavian character of his music. Schumann wrote of him in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, and in 1843 Mendelssohn conducted Gade’s first symphony in Leipzig. Gade conducted in Leipzig from 1844 to 1848 and became conductor of the Copenhagen Musical Society in 1850. In 1866 he became a director of the new Copenhagen Conservatory. Gade’s early works, reflecting the spirit of Danish folk tunes, were among the first 19th-century examples of the use of native musical idioms and nationalist themes. Under the influence of Mendelssohn, his later works show greater technical command, often at the expense of the style that had made his earlier works attractive. His compositions include the overtures Echoes from Ossian (published as Opus 1) and In the Highlands; the cantatas Zion, The Crusaders, and Psyche; eight symphonies; three ballets; a violin concerto; a string quartet; and other works. ---britannica.com

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1 	Prolog: "Herr Oluf Abends hielt an sein Ross" 	3:12 	
2 	No. 1 "In’s blaue Meer die Sonne sinkt" 	4:40 		
3 	No. 2 "So oft mein Auge die Fluren schaut" 	4:40 		
4 	No. 3 "Zäum’ auf mein Ross" 	3:44 		
5 	No. 4 "Nacht, o wie stille" 	4:12 		
6 	No. 5 "Leicht nun schwebt der Tanz" 	2:28 	 	
7 	No. 6 "Willkommen, Herr Oluf" 	5:52 	11,81 kr. 	
8 	No. 7 Morgengesang: "Im Osten geht die Sonne auf" 	2:48 		
9 	No. 8 "Ich wartet’ an des Hauses Thür" 	5:03 		
10 	No. 9 "Hör’ du, Herr Oluf, sag’ an mir" 	5:19 		
11 	Epilog: "Drum rath’ ich jedem Jüngling an" 	1:11

Sophie Junker - soprano
Ivonne Fuchs - alto
Johannes Weisser - baritone

Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Concerto Copenhagen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen - conductor

Elverskud (The Elf-King’s Daughter) is a dramatic cantata from 1854, based on Danish medieval ballads. It became one of Niels W. Gade’s greatest successes, not only in his native Denmark, but throughout Europe, where Elverskud was performed several hundred times, often conducted by Gade himself. Gade was especially admired in Germany, and on this album Elverskud is not only played on period instruments for the first time, but is also sung for the first time with the German text that brought the work international fame. Perhaps this Danish national work isn’t so Danish after all? ---dacapo-records.dk

The first half of the nineteenth century was the age of ­National Romanticism in Denmark. In literature, art and music this ­period was characterized by an intense preoccupation with Norse mythology, the old Danish popular ballads and other national subjects. Gade’s teacher and mentor, the versatile composer, organist and publisher A.P. Berggreen, had quite simply made it part of his aesthetic programme to incorporate the ballad style as an element in art music. And these very thoughts were to be of crucial importance to Gade’s music. From his breakthrough work, the overture Echoes of Ossian (1840) and the First Symphony (1841-42) he drew in­spi­ra­tio­n from ballad melodies. But the inspiration was not only musical: in some notes from the period 1839-41, referred to as Gade’s ‘composer’s diary’, he actually put together a kind of literary programme for the compositions he was working on at this time.

Some ten years later Gade once more made use of the Elf-Shot ballad, but this time as the text for a work for soloists, choir and ­orchestra. This period – the beginning of the 1850s – was one of the most fruitful periods in Gade’s career as a composer and probably also one of the happiest in his life. The music for The Elf-King’s Daughter was created over a period of about three years from 1851 until 1854. The first part was composed in 1851 – a fair copy is dated December 1851. In Denmark The Elf-King’s Daughter quickly became very popular and soon achieved the status of national heritage. The Elf-King’s Daughter is furthermore among the few works by Gade that have appeared regularly on Danish concert programmes after Gade’s death and until our own time. In 2006 The Elf-King’s Daughter was listed in the national ‘Cultural Canon’ of the Ministry of Culture.

The Elf-King’s Daughter is framed by a Prologue and an Epilogue, in which the chorus reflects on how dangerous it is for young men to approach the Elf-Hill by night. Prologue and Epilogue are both based on the ballad The Elf-Hill, and Gade uses the same musical material in both.

The Elf-King’s Daughter is one of Gade’s most consummate and happy inspirations. Textually and musically, he has struck a fine balance in it between national and more universal elements. Gade himself emphasized that the music was not based on folk songs and insisted that the subtitle of the work should be Ballad after a Danish folk tale and not ‘after a Danish folk ballad’. Nevertheless the melodic material in several cases reveals subtle affinities with the ballad melodies of Elf-Shot and The Elf-Hill, not in the form of direct quotations but rather in what could be called ballad intonations. And in this way Gade supremely realized Berggreen’s vision of an integration of folk melodies in art music. ---dacapo-records.dk

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