Future releases

Concertante works from one of Denmark’s most iconic composers and one of its freshest new voices. Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen was the great maverick of contemporary Nordic music until his death in 2016. For Violin and Orchestra ventures into the jungle in classic Gudmundsen-Holmgreen style, leading us to consider our place in a world full of noises. Allan Gravgaard Madsen’s double concerto Nachtmusik takes the opposite route, blossoming outwards from the microscopic examination of a single note. Danish National Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Christina Åstrand brings both works to life, joined by her duo partner Per Salo in Nachtmusik written for them.

All three composers featured on this recording were central to the Danish Golden Age, a period of blossoming in the arts and music that delivered countless gems. Here, principal players from the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra perform fine concertante works from two composers who are experiencing a renaissance and one who still languishes in obscurity. From the splendour of Kuhlau’s William Shakespeare and his melodious Concertino, the fresh melodic qualities of Gade’s Capriccio, and the as yet unpublished Oboe Concerto by Barth these new recordings from Aarhus make the case for four winning Danish scores.

This release delivers the thrill of discovery when Jakob Davidsen and company take the listener away from safe, conventional paths into a striking genre-hopping adventure. It’s a sombre tale, based on selected texts of William Shakespeare, Ursula Andkjær Olsen and Ole Sarvig but ones Davidsen imbues with gentle intimacy and vibrant colours.

Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) is the undisputed pioneer of faroese classical music, and this album features some of the faroe islands’ most talented performers, the new music ensemble aldubáran and violist Jákup lützen. Recorded in Tórshavn, the music they present here pivots on Rasmussen’s deft harbouring of momentum and energy, his gift for transformative tex- tures, and his closeness to the unique musical traditions and landscapes of the islands themselves – one of the most beautiful, distinctive and nature- rich archipelagos on earth.

Bent Sørensen’s distinctive music thrives on the intangible, from atmospheres and feelings to memories and dreams. This recording assembles three recent concertos from the Grawemeyer Award-winning composer performed by distin- guished Nordic soloists, beginning with a second piano concerto played by its dedicatee and inspiration, Leif Ove Andsnes. Sørensen’s clarinet concerto for Martin Fröst is inspired by the scents of Spanish poetry, while his trumpet concerto for Tine Thing Helseth feeds of his constant obsession with the beauty and vulnerability of Venice. Each is highly evocative and filled with Sørensen’s etched beauty.