Thanks for this post that might motivate me to finally explore the Dacapo Langgaard cycle, which I have owned for years but never played. I have, however, played the Dacapo recording of <i>Music of the Spheres</i> countless times. As glorious as that is, it could easily be bettered by a new recording that wasn’t made live; the crowd sounds spoil the magic at times.
I have a hard time seeing Pettersson as neglected in his native land during his life. His symphonies were premiered by major ensembles, Swedish television made at least two documentaries about him (that we were fortunate to get on DVD with the BIS releases). Certainly his disability and cantankerousness limited him, but he strikes me as as much a member of his country’s national musical establishment as various niche composers over in neighbouring Finland where I write this.
Well, perhaps i overstated the Pettersson neglect; it’s certainly the case that he’s neglected more widely, but i agree with what you say. Panufnik and Vermeulen definitely qualify though.
And yes – do listen to the Dacapo Langgaard cycle, my first journey through it was an absolute delight, and i go back to it often!
Chris L
3 months ago
I found my first foray through the Dacapo symphony cycle so baffling (in a good way!) that I may need to wait a little longer before tackling the symphonies again, Simon, but your article did get me rushing back to their recording of Music of the Spheres…and what a jaw-droppingly ahead-of-its-time work that is! With its curious mix of (then) cutting-edge avant-garde techniques and shameless Late Romanticism, one imagines it would work wonderfully well as the soundtrack to some sci-fi blockbuster or other that has still yet to be made…
Incidentally, one of the first pieces about Vermeulen I encountered was by Kyle Gann, who seemed to think that the Dutch did lionise him, calling him “the Charles Ives of Holland”, and his 2nd Symphony “the Dutch Sacre du Printemps“. But then Kyle Gann has been wrong about things before…
No cause for doubt about Panufnik, though, who was far more popular in the UK (to the point of being knighted, in fact) than he ever was in his country of origin.
My memory from what i’ve read of Vermeulen’s life was that – like Langgaard – the Dutch musical establishment tended to think of him as an eccentric troublemaker. Whereas with Panufnik it seems to me that he suffered neglect precisely because he fell between two stools, having left Poland but not being British, therefore not exactly celebrated in either place. Of course, he was knighted here, which says something about his regard here.
But ultimately, all three of those composers certainly suffer considerable neglect now, as does Langgaard, and it’s high time concert programmers pulled their heads out of their asses to realise what fascinating, underexplored repertoire is readily available to tantalise audience their audiences, rather than just the same old, same old.
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Thanks for this post that might motivate me to finally explore the Dacapo Langgaard cycle, which I have owned for years but never played. I have, however, played the Dacapo recording of <i>Music of the Spheres</i> countless times. As glorious as that is, it could easily be bettered by a new recording that wasn’t made live; the crowd sounds spoil the magic at times.
I have a hard time seeing Pettersson as neglected in his native land during his life. His symphonies were premiered by major ensembles, Swedish television made at least two documentaries about him (that we were fortunate to get on DVD with the BIS releases). Certainly his disability and cantankerousness limited him, but he strikes me as as much a member of his country’s national musical establishment as various niche composers over in neighbouring Finland where I write this.
Well, perhaps i overstated the Pettersson neglect; it’s certainly the case that he’s neglected more widely, but i agree with what you say. Panufnik and Vermeulen definitely qualify though.
And yes – do listen to the Dacapo Langgaard cycle, my first journey through it was an absolute delight, and i go back to it often!
I found my first foray through the Dacapo symphony cycle so baffling (in a good way!) that I may need to wait a little longer before tackling the symphonies again, Simon, but your article did get me rushing back to their recording of Music of the Spheres…and what a jaw-droppingly ahead-of-its-time work that is! With its curious mix of (then) cutting-edge avant-garde techniques and shameless Late Romanticism, one imagines it would work wonderfully well as the soundtrack to some sci-fi blockbuster or other that has still yet to be made…
Incidentally, one of the first pieces about Vermeulen I encountered was by Kyle Gann, who seemed to think that the Dutch did lionise him, calling him “the Charles Ives of Holland”, and his 2nd Symphony “the Dutch Sacre du Printemps“. But then Kyle Gann has been wrong about things before…
No cause for doubt about Panufnik, though, who was far more popular in the UK (to the point of being knighted, in fact) than he ever was in his country of origin.
My memory from what i’ve read of Vermeulen’s life was that – like Langgaard – the Dutch musical establishment tended to think of him as an eccentric troublemaker. Whereas with Panufnik it seems to me that he suffered neglect precisely because he fell between two stools, having left Poland but not being British, therefore not exactly celebrated in either place. Of course, he was knighted here, which says something about his regard here.
But ultimately, all three of those composers certainly suffer considerable neglect now, as does Langgaard, and it’s high time concert programmers pulled their heads out of their asses to realise what fascinating, underexplored repertoire is readily available to tantalise audience their audiences, rather than just the same old, same old.