There seems to be at least some interest in "the music of the north" (to
avoid any nationalistically sensitive terms), so how about the romantic
Danes? Nielsen we know (or at least we should).  Gade we may have heard of.
But how many others? Actually, we've discussed several over the past couple
of years.  The efforts of the Danish label Da Capo in association with
Marco Polo (another Klausian marketing conspiracy no doubt) have brought
the names of Weyse, J.P.E.  Hartmann, Borresen, L.  Nielsen and several
others before the public.  To start this discussion, how about a
chronological listing of Danish composers whose music I have heard:

    Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse  (1774-1842)
    Daniel Friedrich Rudolph Kuhlau  (1786-1832)
    Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann  (1805-1900)
    Johannes Frederik Frohlich  (1806-1860)
    Niels Wilhelm Gade  (1817-1890)
    Peter Arnold Heise  (1830-1879)
    Emil Hartmann  (1836-1898)
    Christian Frederik Emil Horneman  (1840-1906)
    Asger Hamerik  (1843-1923)
    Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller  (1850-1926)
    Victor Bendix  (1851-1926)
    Siegfried Langgaard  (1852-1914)
    Hilda Sehested  (1858-1936)
    Axel Gade  (1860-1921)
    Louis Glass  (1864-1936)
    Carl August Nielsen  (1865-1931)
    Hakon Borresen  (1876-1954)
    Ludolf Nielsen  (1876-1939)
    Rued Immanuel Langgaard  (1893-1952)
    Ebbe Hamerik  (1898-1951)
    Vagn Holmboe  (1909-1996)

Holmboe has been discussed, and I enjoy much of this highly-accessible
music greatly.  The symphonies and orchestral music on BIS is a wonderful
addition to any collection.  And, as I wrote above, Da Capo's recordings
of the music of Ludolf Nielsen and Hakon Borresen have also been discussed
on the list previously.  I should mention that Kuhlau, though German by
birth, is typically considered a Danish composer.  I can't say I know
Danish musical history well enough to preform a comprehensive survey, but
to make a tenuous tie to other recent posts on the symphonic output of
Finnish and English composers, I offer up a short list of the 19th-century
symphonies by Danish composers I've heard:

    FROHLICH          Symphony in E Flat Major, Op. 33  (1830)
    HARTMANN, J.P.E.  Symphony #1 in G minor, Op. 17  (1836)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #1 in C minor, Op. 5  (1842)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #2 in E Major, Op. 10  (1843)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #3 in A minor, Op. 15  (1847)
    HARTMANN, J.P.E.  Symphony #2 in E Major, Op. 48  (1848)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #4 in B Flat Major, Op. 20  (1850)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #5 in D minor, Op. 25  (1851)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #6 in G minor, Op. 32  (1857)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #7 in F Major, Op. 45  (1865)
    GADE, N.          Symphony #8 in B minor, Op. 47  (1870)
    HAMERIK, A.       Symphony #1 "Poetique" in F Major, Op. 29  (1880)
    BENDIX            Symphony #1 "Mountain Climbing" in C Major, Op. 16  (1882)
    HAMERIK, A.       Symphony #2 "Tragique" in C minor, Op. 32  (1883)
    HAMERIK, A.       Symphony #3 "Lyrique" in E Major, Op. 33  (1884)
    BENDIX            Symphony #2 "Sounds of Summer" in D Major, Op. 20  (1888)
    HAMERIK, A.       Symphony #4 "Majestueuse" in C Major, Op. 35  (1889)
    NIELSEN           Symphony #1 in G minor, Op. 7  (1892)
    BENDIX            Symphony #3 in A minor, Op. 25  (1895)
    HAMERIK, A.       Symphony #6 "Spirituale" in G Major, Op. 38  (1897)

To be clear, Weyse's seven symphonies were probably composed between
1795 and 1799, and though they were published in 1800, they are still
17th-century works.  Notice there's a real drought between 1800 and 1830
when the symphony by Frohlich was completed.  I don't believe I've missed
any available recordings, but if someone knows of symphonies by Danish
composers in this period, I would love to hear about them.

Denmark in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was a rather backward
place musically.  Composers such as Gade and Weyse had to go to Vienna,
Leipzig, or elsewhere for training, and sometimes even for performances.
Denmark during this time was economically and politically depressed as
well.  As a marginal ally of Napoleon, the Napoleonic wars had taken a
toll on the country.  Though technically neutral, Denmark's entire navy
was preemptively captured by England in 1806, and a blockade of Denmark
followed that resulted in state bankruptcy in 1812.  (Interestingly, many
of these same events contributed to the re-establishment of an independent
Norway and a re-emergence of a distinct Norwegian culture in the 19th
century eventually leading to the works of such figures as composer Edvard
Grieg and the playwright Henrik Ibsen.) This decimated concert life
throughout the country, including the capitol.  In fact as late as 1842
Gade's first symphony was rejected for performance in Copenhagen, though it
was enthusiastically received by Mendelssohn and performed in Leipzig the
following year.  Things turned around a few years later as Gade's influence
back home became substantial.  I'll just quote from the New Grove article
on 19th-Century Danish Art Music by Niels Martin Jensen:

   After the decline of public concerts in the early 19th century the
   Musikforeningen, founded in Copenhagen in 1836, was important in the
   revival of concert life and had a decisive influence on musical life
   for nearly a century.  With is choir and orchestra it remained the
   centre of large-scale concert-giving and under the conductorship of
   Gade (1949-90) became the arbiter of contemporary taste.  As a prolific
   composer and as director and teacher at the Copenhagen Conservatory
   from 1867 Gade had considerable influence.  Symphonic music made
   great progress at this time in the works of J.F. Frohlich, J.P.E.
   Hartmann, Peter Heise, Emil Hartmann and others, although not until
   the end of the century did a reaction set in against orchestral music
   in the Classical style. ...

Gade's music has been very well represented on CD.  The complete symphonies
can be found on BIS, Da Capo, and Chandos, as well as much of his theatre
music, chamber music, and keyboard works.  J.P.E.  Hartmann is just now
getting some attention, with a complete opera, the ballet "Valkyrien"
(successfully staged in Denmark in 1861, years before Wagner's work based
on the same myth), the violin sonatas, the first two symphonies, and other
works can be found on releases from Da Capo, CPO, and Marco Polo.  Aside
from the E Flat Major Symphony available on Chandos (coupled with Gade's
fourth), finding Frohlich's works on CD is difficult, and Emil Hartmann
is almost completely unrepresented on CD.  More on him in a minute.

Actually, the impetus for this post came from an experience I had with
the Danish record company Danacord.  I've bought Danacord releases for
years, when I could find them, as they offer what are often the only
available recordings of music by composers such as Langgaard.  A few months
ago I visited their web site for the first time and noticed that they sold
discs directly to the public (to tie this to yet another thread, I see
this happening more and more as smaller labels struggle with inefficient
distribution).  I also noticed that they were offering several discs I had
never seen available in the U.S.  Specifically intriguing is a new series
of releases titled "Harmonious Families - Danish Compositions by Fathers
and Sons".  The first four volumes are out and feature music by J.P.E.
and his son Emil Hartmann, Niels and his son Axel Gade, Asger and his son
Ebbe Hamerik, and Siegfried and his son Rued Langgaard.

These discs contain performances of orchestral works by each pair, often
these are pieces that have not previously been recorded.  Excited at the
prospect of new discoveries, I placed an order on their web site for these
four discs, two discs to complete my collection of the Langgaard symphony
cycle, the complete symphonies of Bendix, and the first disc in what
promises to be a complete survey of the orchestral music of Louis Glass
containing the premiere recording of his fourth symphony.  I then put it
out of my mind.  Thinking I probably wouldn't see anything for weeks, and
as I don't do well with delayed gratification, I just forgot about it.  Boy
was I surprised.  Six days later my discs arrived in perfect shape.  That's
less than a week from Copenhagen to California.  I'm still amazed.  Still
more gratifying was the quality of the music, performances, and recordings.

Some standouts from the "Harmonious Families" series are the Cello
Concerto in D minor by Emil Hartmann (1879), the Violin Concerto #2 by Axel
Gade (1899), the "Cantus Firmus V" (sinfonia breve) by Ebbe Hamerik (1949),
and Siegried Langgaard's Piano Concerto in E minor (c.  1885).  The most
"modern" sounding are of course Ebbe Hamerik and Rued Langgaard.  The
"Cantus Firmus" reminds me of Vaughan Williams a little with its shifting
modalities but overall lyric conception.  I've always associated Langgaard
with Scriabin.  Their music is really quite different, and in general comes
from disparate influences, but the mystical qualities of the works of each
are similarly inspired in this respect.

The bottom line is that I'm extremely pleased with my shopping experience
at the Danacord web site, and recommend it highly to just about anyone.
They charge $15 a CD, which seems a little high, but I've seen Danacord
priced at $18-20 per disc in retail stores, so that's an improvement.
Throw in the fact that shipping is free if you buy eight or more discs,
and there's no tax, this really works out to be a good bargain.  As always,
links to labels, etc. can be found at Classical Net.

Dave
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