The past few years have been kind to Rued Langgaard. Two major BBC Proms performances and a spurt of CD releases have been contributing to telling and sharing the extraordinary story of Langgaard. Author Andrew Mellor has written an article about the Rued Langgaard Edition’s (RLE) rehabilitation of his works.
”Langgaard’s new champion in publishing form is Edition-S in Copenhagen. Prompted by the revitalised Rued Langgaard Foundation, a team of expert musicologists and practitioners is in the process of delivering critical editions of all Langgaard’s unpublished works – in effect, most of his canon. This is the true emancipation of his music, moving it beyond the realms of curious Danish truffle-hunters and into the orchestral, choral and ecclesiastical mainstream, where anyone anywhere who likes playing, singing or conducting good music can access it.” Writes Andrew Mellor.
The article focuses mostly on Langgard’s organ music in connection to the coming release of the first volume of his organ preludes. Mellor talks to Rued Langgaard experts such as former CEO of Edition·S Klaus Ib Jørgensen, editor of RLE Bendt Viinholdt and organist Birgitte Ebert in order to get to know the thoughts behind RLE. In Mellor’s characterisation of Langgaard small anecdotes about the composer sneaks in here and there such as his beautiful explanation of Langgaard’s music:
“Langgaard’s extreme moods and attitudes powered his intensely felt music. The piano works, string quartets and symphonies are often where he expresses himself most freely; but his music for organ holds subtler and, in a sense, more revealing truths.”
Mellor ends his article by pointing out that “Performance, rather than appraisal, was always the focus of the Rued Langgaard Edition, and it has shaped the chronology of the project since the symphony cycle began a decade ago.”
Rued Langgaard Editions’ future course is planned up until 2018, at which point all major works by the composer will hopefully be available in critical, performance ready editions.
Read the entire article here.