Langgaard: Complete Works for Violin & Piano, Vol. 2 Gunvor Sihm, Berit Johansen Tange, Per Salo, Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Thomas Søndergård

• Rued Langgaard (1893 - 1952): Sonata No. 1, BVN 94 "Viole":
• 1 Sonata No. 1, BVN 94 "Viole": I. Maestoso fiero espressivo 13:36
• 2 Sonata No. 1, BVN 94 "Viole": II. Molto allegro scherzoso 06:43
• 3 Sonata No. 1, BVN 94 "Viole": III. Lento cogitoso 08:45
• 4 Sonata No. 1, BVN 94 "Viole": IV. Molto allegro marcato 10:52
• Andante religioso, BVN 407:
• 5 Andante religioso, BVN 407 (Arr. Violin & Piano) 04:27
• Sunday Sonata, BVN 393:
• 6 Sunday Sonata, BVN 393: I. Poco allegro marcato 06:27
• 7 Sunday Sonata, BVN 393: II. Slowly, Earnestly 02:30
• 8 Sunday Sonata, BVN 393: III. Half Note = 50 02:43
• 9 Sunday Sonata, BVN 393: IV. Moderato - Presto 02:47
• Total Runtime 58:50

Info for Langgaard: Complete Works for Violin & Piano, Vol. 2

In the veritable musical frenzy that struck Rued Langgaard (1893-1952) near the end of his life, he composed several violin sonatas - a genre he had not paid much attention to since his early days. In this second in a series of three recordings presenting Langgaard's complete works for violin and piano the award-winning violinist Gunvor Sihm and the Langgaard expert Berit Johansen Tange perform the Violin Sonata No. 1, composed in the course of four days in mid-June when Langgaard was vacationing in Southern Sweden, and Langgaard's last work for violin, the Andante religioso, in addition to the Sunday Sonata, one of Langgaard's most bizarre and unpredictable compositions.

Gunvor Sihm, violin
Berit Johansen Tange, piano
Per Salo, piano
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Sondergard, conductor

Gunvor Sihm
trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, from where she graduated in 2014 under Professor Serguei Azizian. Before that Gunvor studied 2 years at San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Ian Swensen. Gunvor Sihm has won several prizes, among others the prestigious Van Hauen’s Music Prize 2011, the Eigil Harby Foundation’s scholarship in 2015 and Gladsaxe Music Prize 2018. From 2011-15 Gunvor played in the 1st violins of Copenhagen Phil, until she won the position as 2nd Concertmaster for the 2nd violins of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Gunvor was a soloist with among others Odense Symphony Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Tivoli Copenhagen Phil, Danish National Chamber Orchestra and, on several occasions, Copenhagen Phil. With Nightingale String Quartet Gunvor Sihm has recorded the complete string quartets by Rued Langgaard for Dacapo. The series has received worldwide critical acclaim, highlighted as ‘Chamber Choice’ in BBC Music Magazine, ‘Choice’ in Gramophone Magazine, as well as being awarded a DR P2 Prize. The quartet was in 2014 named ‘Gramophone Young Artist of the Year’ for the Langgaard recording series and received the honorary award from The Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Foundation in 2017. Gunvor trained violin and chamber music with Serguei Azizian and Tim Frederiksen, who both have served as mentors. She plays a Guarnerius anno 1725, kindly on loan from the Augustinus Foundation.

Berit Johansen Tange
The pianist Berit Johansen Tange trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Anne Øland and made her debut from the chamber music class in 2000. She has since 2002 held a position at the Academy as an accompanist and coach. Berit has performed as accompanist, chamber musician and soloist on numerous occasions, also outside Denmark, in Sweden, Finland, Scotland, France, Singapore and Malaysia. Berit has worked intensely with the music of Rued Langgaard. Besides the works for violin and piano it also applies to Langgaard’s solo piano music and songs, and she performs every year at the Rued Langgaard Festival in Ribe. Berit has released three CDs with the works for solo piano by Langgaard on Dacapo, of which the first volume was nominated for a DR P2 Prize. Berit Johansen Tange is co-editor of The Rued Langgaard Edition: Collected works for piano, published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen (2018).

Per Salo
Born in 1962 in Copenhagen Denmark, Per Salo studied piano and organ in Denmark, Italy and USA. In Denmark he studied with Grethe Krogh, Flemming Dreisig, Esther Wagning and John Damgaard. In New York, USA, he studied with Seymour Lipkin. Salo graduated with an Organ Diploma from the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in 1985 and with a Masters Degree in Piano Performance from Juilliard School of Music, New York in 1989. Per Salo is very active both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. His repertoire includes many Danish and contemporary works and many Danish composers have written music for him. In 1996 dedicated his piano concerto Concerto in due Tempi to Per Salo. Per Salo’s concert activities have brought him to all of the Scandinavian countries, most of Europe, Korea and the USA. Recently he appeared as a soloist in Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony at concerts in Germany and Denmark.

Since 1996 he is concentrating his chamber music work in the duo Åstrand/Salo with the violinist . In 2007 the duo released a CD with the violin music of Carl Nielsen. The CD won two prizes at Danish Music Awards same year: Chamber Music Release of the Year and P2 Prize - the special prize of the Danish listeners. Next CD is released in the spring 2009 containing the three violin sonatas of the Danish romantic composer . 1997 the two musicians formed The Danish Horn Trio together with the French horn player Jakob Keiding. The trio has played in many festivals throughout Scandinavia and Europe. In 2001 they made a recording of the two famous horn trios of Johannes Brahms and György Ligeti. Shortly after its release the CD was chosen as “CD of the Month” by the BBC Music Magazine.

Per Salo has recorded numerous CDs. As a piano soloist he has recorded music by several Danish composers (including Per Nørgaard, Ib Nørholm, Niels Viggo Bentzon, Rued Langgaard, Svend-Erik Tarp, Emil Hartmann og Hakon Børresen). He has also performed in a large number of chamber music recordings. In Denmark Per Salo has received many awards and prizes – a.o. The Artist Prize of the Danish Music Critics.

Since 1989 Per Salo has been holding a position as pianist and organist in the in Copenhagen.

Booklet for Langgaard: Complete Works for Violin & Piano, Vol. 2