In the realm of classical music, Rued Langgaard (1893–1952) is a composer who continues to surprise. Each encounter with his arch-Romantic oeuvre promises a departure into uncharted territory, a testament to his ever-evolving creative spirit. This holds particularly true of his songs to Danish texts, many of which are recorded here for the first time, performed by Louise McClelland Jacobsen and Kristian Riisager. In these songs, from his early days as a hyper-talented teenager through to his first works as a young visionary in his early twenties, we draw near to the essence of Langgaard, not only as a musical genius but as a human being.

Rued Langgaard is known as a composer of majestic and eccentric orchestral works, which now, years after his death, have finally gained international recognition.

But Langgaard was also an excellent composer of songs. This album presents a collection of songs written in his early days as a hyper-talented teen through his early twenties.

In these small scaled songs, he experimented with a wide range of different stylistic expressions, from the backwards looking Romantic to poetic impressionism and melodramatic, almost Gothic eeriness.

A lot of the songs are highly emotional, affected by Langgaard’s teenage love for Dora From, whom he met in the summer of 1913. They never became a couple, but the encounter became a lifelong bittersweet experience for him, filled with melancholy and a dream about redemption

The songs are set to Danish and Norwegian texts, including texts written by Langgaard himself. The album also presents the collection Russian Songs, set to texts that are adaptations of poetry from Ukraine.

The album is recorded by two up-and-coming musicians: soprano Louise McClelland (DK/NZ) (b. 1997) and pianist Kristian Riisager (DK) (b. 1996).