# SS 20.07.19 - Langgaard #4 "Fall Of The Leaf"



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening! 
_*
*For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Rued Langgaard **(1893 - 1952)*

Symphony No. 4 "Leaf-Fall or Fall Of The Leaf", BVN 124
1. Skovbrus (Rustle In The Forest)__
2. Solstreif (Glimpse Of Sun)__
3. Allargando
4. Torden (Thunderstorm)
5. Piu lento
6. Allegretto pastorale
7. Hostligt! (Autumnal)
8. Traet! (Tired)
9. Fortvivlelse (Dispair)
10. Tranquillo
11. Sempre con moto
12. Sondag Morgen (Sunday Morning)
13. Forbi! (At An End)

Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!_


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Another weekend is upon us and another symphony is up for your listening enjoyment. This weekend it's Danish composer Rued Langgaard's Fourth Symphony. I quite like this symphony but it's been ages since I heard it so I'm looking forward to revisiting it this weekend. I hope everyone can join in.

I'll be listening to this one on disc:




Thomas Dausgaard/Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I shall try this version via Spotify 
Never heard this before so keen to explore


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I'll be listening to disc 3 from this box, Thomas Dausgaard and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Well, I don't actually have the box but the performance is on YouTube. (Oh, I see it's the one that rdb linked to in post #2.)


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

Haydn man said:


> View attachment 121521
> 
> I shall try this version via Spotify
> Never heard this before so keen to explore


This one here for me too. I quite enjoy Langgaard


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## cougarjuno (Jul 1, 2012)

Same disc for me. Intriguing composer. Heard this symphony performed years ago. Another brilliant Scandinavian orchestrator.


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

I’ll listen to the Jarvi recording via IDAGIO. My only exposure to Langgard has been The Music of the Spheres, which I understand is sort of an anomaly stylistically. So this should be interesting.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

KenOC said:


> I'll be listening to disc 3 from this box, Thomas Dausgaard and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Well, I don't actually have the box but the performance is on YouTube. (Oh, I see it's the one that rdb linked to in post #2.)


I'll be giving this one an airing from the box which is in my collection!


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Haydn man said:


> View attachment 121521
> 
> I shall try this version via Spotify
> Never heard this before so keen to explore


This one and spotify


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm also with Dausgaard.

View attachment 121543


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

In fact I also listened to Jarvi's recording (on Spotify). With Dausgaard the work seemed rather a succession of symphonic gestures but I think perhaps Jarvi made it sound more like a symphony.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

I'll go with Frandsen's rendition here.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

This symphony consists of 13 scenes averaging something less than two minutes each. I could detect little in the way of larger-scale design – although it might simply have escaped me on a single hearing.

Anyway, it seemed that I was just “passing through,” which is a generous way of saying that perhaps Langgaard was making it up as he went along (almost certainly untrue, but that’s what it sounded like). Either way, it was overall a pleasant listen, though I’m unlikely to hear it again soon.


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## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

I've listened twice now -- once to Dausgaard, once to Jarvi -- and I'm torn. I really like _the music,_ but it is frustratingly fragmentary in its form. No sooner has he set the scene and established a section than it's over and we're off to the next thing. I have a suspicion it's a piece that only makes sense after several repeat listenings and real familiarity -- but most (all?) music benefits from that, doesn't it?  The orchestration is really nice though, there's something Mahlerian about it. My only previous experience with this composer was the Music of the Spheres, but that didn't do much for me. After this symphony though, I'm interested in diving in and hearing some more. Does anyone have suggestions on where to go next?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

No suggestions, but YouTube has the deep end of the pool with Dausgaard's complete cycle of 16 symphonies.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

MrMeatScience said:


> I've listened twice now -- once to Dausgaard, once to Jarvi -- and I'm torn. I really like _the music,_ but it is frustratingly fragmentary in its form. No sooner has he set the scene and established a section than it's over and we're off to the next thing. I have a suspicion it's a piece that only makes sense after several repeat listenings and real familiarity -- but most (all?) music benefits from that, doesn't it?  The orchestration is really nice though, there's something Mahlerian about it. My only previous experience with this composer was the Music of the Spheres, but that didn't do much for me. After this symphony though, I'm interested in diving in and hearing some more. Does anyone have suggestions on where to go next?


Symphonies 6, 1 and 3; Symphony 10/Stupel or Schønwandt.

Insektarium, The Fire Chambers, Flower Vignettes, Le Beguinage Sonata, Gijantali Hymns - all piano works.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

A boisterous, busy little symphony but it doesn't do much for me. I've tried a couple others on YT in the past but nothing really drew me in or captured my imagination.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I personally feel that Frandsen and Stupel give the work a bit more space and breadth, which suits the work well and adds extra lyricism/melancholy.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Just listened to No. 6, “Heaven-storming,” as joen-cph suggested. It seems much more like a “real symphony,” with extended sections and recognizable themes reappearing throughout. There’s quite a bit of counterpoint in the earlier parts. It certainly needs a re-listen, and is more inviting in that respect than No. 4.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

MrMeatScience said:


> I've listened twice now -- once to Dausgaard, once to Jarvi -- and I'm torn. I really like _the music,_ but it is frustratingly fragmentary in its form. No sooner has he set the scene and established a section than it's over and we're off to the next thing. I have a suspicion it's a piece that only makes sense after several repeat listenings and real familiarity -- but most (all?) music benefits from that, doesn't it?  The orchestration is really nice though, there's something Mahlerian about it. My only previous experience with this composer was the Music of the Spheres, but that didn't do much for me. After this symphony though, I'm interested in diving in and hearing some more. Does anyone have suggestions on where to go next?


This echos my thoughts after the initial listen to Jarvi
I suspect it will be much more rewarding with greater familiarity


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I like Langgaard's symphonies but the 4th is not one of the strongest. This recording for me.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> I personally feel that Frandsen and Stupel give the work a bit more space and breadth, which suits the work well and adds extra lyricism/melancholy.


I agree..........


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

I heard this symphony under Stupel once again (Danacord CD). I could feel how an inventive work it is despite its episodic nature or shape. It's a moody piece which sounds stormy, wistful, exalted, and even eerie at moments. Langgaard was a significant melodist, you can detect the way he develops the themes or ideas and they make sense in the end, and the effects he draws from the orchestra are striking, taking into account he used a standard instrumental palette with neither trombones nor extra percussion other than bells (?) in the _Sondag Morgen (Sunday Morning)_ section. It feels like a somewhat robust orchestra. The horns provide a magnificent sonority, that was one of the instruments Langgaard wanted to highlight here.

In addition, some influences seem coming from Strauss and Wagner, though it doesn't sound necessarily derivative. The composer handled them very well to big effect IMO. Even so I detect much originality and a personal stamp to convey musical ideas.

It definitely needs several listens to grasp the musical content. It's a shame that many people give up on first hearings. The more I pay attention to this piece, the more I get fascinated. I really love this work. Somehow it resonates with me in a way where words fail. The final melody that appears on the low strings and later on the upper strings gives me goosebumps. Just thought-provoking. Also, I find especially lovely and nostalgic the fragment from 3:06 to 4:15, for me it's like to behold a sunbeam through the leaves of a tree.

Among all the four recordings of it, Stupel remains as the most authoritative, lyrical, and with aplomb enough to make sense to the whole structure to me, followed by Järvi, Frandsen and finally Dausgaard which I consider too fast, he doesn't seem to understand the intention of the score (he's even worse in the 6th).


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