Tekla Griebel Wandall (1866–1940) composed throughout her life, but she struggled to make ends meet and after her passing her music fell into obscurity. But in the last couple of years, several of her works which have lain hidden in archive drawers have been published, revealing a composer with a special ability to unite the worlds of music and language in expressive songs.
Now an album with world premiere recordings of Tekla Griebel Wandall's songs will be released by Dacapo Records, featuring interpretations by a superb line-up of rising Danish singers, this release marks a first step toward giving the music the place it deserves.
Predicted her own rediscovery
Tekla Griebel Wandall grew up as the daughter of a German violinist who struggled to make a living as a musician. She never imagined she would become a composer, but when she as a young student attended an opera performance at the Royal Danish Theatre, everything changed. As if "by magic", she knew she was destined to write opera!
She was enrolled at the Copenhagen Conservatory and during the 1890s made her debut as a composer. She composed throughout her life, even as performances of her works after 1900 became increasingly rare. Her later obscurity tells a tragic story of a life of poverty, depression and a failed marriage, leaving little time for composition.
But even when she had forgotten by the public towards the end of her life, Tekla Griebel Wandall firmly believed that her music would be rediscovered. ‘When we have a number of significant female composers, the first among them will surely be remembered’, she wrote in 1917. Recently we have published a number of her works which has led to more performances and a bigger interest in these previously silent archives.
A privilege as a singer
Tekla Griebel Wandall had a particular fondness for songs, which allowed her to realise her true passion: music that was narrative, expressive and closely tied to action and text. She had special gift in the interplay between the expressive worlds of music and language and on this release, one senses her talent for both drama, longing, macabre irony and humour.
These rarely heard songs have been recorded by four remarkable young Danish singers. Baritone Asmus Hanke Frederiksen says: "It's a lovely challenge to get to put in the work of deciding how to shape the words and which musical phrases to highlight. It's a privilege to be one of the very first to work with this music".
Besides Asmus Hanke Frederiksen, you can look forward to listening to soprano Louise McClelland Jacobsen, mezzo-soprano Sophie Haagen, tenor Kristoffer Appel and pianist Laurits Dragsted on the recording.
Find more information and listen to the album here.