Symphony No.13 ''Belief in Wonders'' - Rued Langgaard

Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard.
I - Ret hurtigt (0:00) - Andante (2:19) - Lidt hurtigere (10:21) - Langsomt - Temmelig hurtigt (13:30) - Samme tempo (vildt) (17:40)- Elegant! (21:39)- Hurtigere (23:53)
Langgaard's Symphony No.13 was composed between September 1946 and July 1947, being mostly assembled from previous material and composition he had written before. He submitted it as part of a ballet concept for the Royal Danish Theatre, with the title "The Flower Festival in Ribe, Ballet based on Ribe ballads". However, the Theatre showed no interest in the proposal. Langgaard then sent it for the State Radio Corporation hoping for a performance, but it was repeatedly rejected.
In January 1951 he extensively reworked the piece, with material excised that would be part of Symphony No.14. Langgaard then sent the scores to the State Radio Corporation, in where they would lay in the music archives until 1965. The work had many subtitles before the composer's wife gave it the current one after his death. The work was finally premiered on October 12 of 1970, performed by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Per Dreier. With Symphonies 11 and 12, Langgaard had done his part in leading the symphonic genre astray and turning it into something meaningless. In the two next symphonies, however, he restablished his faith in music and in his task as a composer.
We have no information on how the title ("Undertro" in Danish) is to be understood. But it is obvious that there is a veiled reference to the number 13, which is traditionally associated, against the background of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, as an unlucky number, a number one avoids or skips in sequences. So there may be a kind of exorcistic sense in the title, inasmuch as undertro (which can mean "belief in wonders") can also be seen as a pun on its "opposite", overtro (‘superstition’), also in relation to the ominous significance of the number 13.
The work begins with the opening motif from Langgaard’s Symphony No.7 (1925). In this new context, the motif unfolds as a proper symphonic subject. The ascending motif is incidentally not Langgaard’s own, but a loan from the prelude to the unperformed opera "Lisette", composed in 1921 by Langgaard’s uncle, Axel Gade. Follows an andante section that was originally composed between 1926-8, as a funeral march intended for Symphony No.8. A solemn theme is presented and unfolds as a funeral march, rising in an expressive climax in its central part. The opening motive is then recapitulated. Follows then a development on these materials in the next part.
The fourth section features material from an Overture in B flat major written in 1943. It begins with a slow introduction of contemplative nature. The opening motive reappears right in the end, followed by a tempestuous variation in form of a scherzo. The organ enters near the end brilliantly, follows a contrasting section that could be considered as a trio. The opening motive of the work reappears, leading us to the continuation of the scherzo. The opening motive reappears once again, followed by a varied recapitulation of previous material. A powerful coda ends the whole work.
Picture: "Landscape at Hornbæk, Denmark." (1912) by the Danish painter Godfred Christensen.
Sources: bit.ly/3EWlUhN and bit.ly/3YrLDpB
Unfortunately the score is not available.

[@steveegallo3384]

Great music! BRAVO to Maestro Langgaard and to Godfred Christensen for his Hornbæk landscape. Cheers from Acapulco!

[@ericleiter6179]

Just like in the 7th's opening, that theme keeps making me think of the Shostakovich 5th opening...interesting to learn it's actually by Axel Gade, thanks for posting all of these!

[@NYNEO1]

Grandiošo ยอดเยี่ยม

[@Art-Bakman]

21:42 brilliant theme