Future releases

Just after the world ground to a halt due to the coronavirus, James Black found himself in receipt of a large working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation. He had the means to compose, and the lockdown would give him a motive for the specific project he set his mind to. This recording is what he produced – an album bound by restriction and that flirts with failure, but delivers powerfully on the fundamentals of art and expression.

This is a story about a struggle for power in old Denmark, and a magnificent opera about events which led to the murder of King Erik Clipping in 1286. To present this dramatic episode from Danish history, a power play rooted in love, jealousy and honour, Heise composed gripping music with a razor-sharp dramatic sense and great lyrical beauty. It is Danish romance at its most powerful and immediate.

Long regarded by Danish musicians as their secret treasure, the songs of Peter Heise perfectly represent the unique qualities and achievements of the Danish Golden Age. Though mostly not in direct contact with each other, these artists and writers shared a profound interest in exploring and understanding their personal life and experience, and left a body of introspective work which has had a huge impact on European culture. No longer a secret, these songs can now take their rightful place alongside the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Christen Købke, Søren Kierkegaard and so many others.

The last stage on a long journey, here is the third and final instalment of a warmly received Langgaard cycle undertaken by violinist Gunvor Sihm and pianist Berit Johansen Tange. The present volume includes the violin sonatas nos. 2 and 3 – highly accomplished works with strong individual features – and two single-movement pieces composed by Langgaard the precocious teenager: the charming Aubade written on a summer holiday with his parents, and the dark-coloured Night Watchman’s Song.