Rued Langgaard

BACKGROUND TO…

(1893-1952)

Born in Copenhagen to parents who were both musicians, Langgaard showed prodigious musical talent from an early age, first as a pianist and then as an organist, making his debut on the latter instrument aged 11. His First Symphony was performed in Berlin in 1913. Initially his main influences were Liszt and Bruckner, but in 1916 he entered a new, experimental phase and composed his most radical work, Music of the Spheres, which involves an orchestra, organ and choir, a piano played directly on its strings, and an ‘off-stage’ orchestra and soprano.