As a composer, Rued Langgaard was practically self-taught, and already at an extremely young age he was a master of his craft. Langgaard did not shrink from the visionary and experimental, the eccentric and extreme, and his music ventured into areas where the outlooks, musical styles and qualitative norms of the twentieth century clash.

This is the first collected recording of Rued Langgaard’s string quartets. All recorded by the Nightingale String Quartet.

At the Gramophone Awards 2014 Nightingale String Quartet was named "Young artist of the Year“ as the first ensemble in the history of the prize, for the recordings of Langgaard’s string quartets.

From 2012-2014 the three discs in this box set were released individually (6220575, 6220576, 6220577) and sent the four Danish musicians in Nightingale String Quartet straight to the top in international music press, with awards like Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. Also American, French and German critics have fallen for Nightingale String Quartet’s Langgaard renditions and also in their homeland the series have received the highest praise.

The Nightingale String Quartet’s survey of the complete quartet works of Rued Langgaard (1893-1952) heralded the arrival of a major new ensemble and won the maverick Danish composer thousands of new fans. Poised and restrained one minute, wild and emotional the next, Langgaard’s string quartets reveal the composer’s breathtaking originality and individuality, oscillating between luscious Romanticism and outlandish experimentation. They are played with love and understanding on these multiple prize-winning recordings, here gathered together in a single release for the first time.

“Simply breathtaking” – San Francisco Chronicle

“The Nightingale Quartet understand all these aspects: the provocative vitality, the fragile romantic sensitivity and the striking intellectual independence behind it all” – BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★