Why write a Tuba concerto?

Well, tagalie, you might well regret asking me to 'take it away', as you'd be here until Christmas!

I can say, though, that Langgaard has been a huge discovery for me and I set out my reasons why in the upcoming Gramophone piece. What it all boils down to is his skill and the fact that he simply had to say what he said (musically, I mean). When you look into the context of how Denmark treated him, you realise why the music has such force but can, occasionally, be erratic.

I seem to disagree with many other Langgaard fans about which of his works are the masterpieces and which are the misfires. With reference to Parla's comment, you certainly don't need the "right mindset" to appreciate what a unique and brilliant achievement the Fourth Symphony is, or even the choral songs (including Hostfuglen - a simple demonstration of exceptional originality and supreme craftsmanship).

There are, of the sixteen symphonies, a handful which were produced under strained personal circumstances (like the Eleventh) and can possibly mark RL out as a musical crank; that he was not, just listen to the Second Symphony. I think that piece, with its predecessor, proves that RL had no problems in the orchestration department. Subsequently, a piece like "The End of Time" shows how he moved orchestration forward (writing Adams five decades before Adams).

Gramophone will carry a review of the Nightingale Quartet's 'volume 1' of the RL complete works for string quartet in the June issue, the same issue as the Icons piece on him. I'll be blogging furiously around that time, too, leading up to that performance of the Eleventh at a 'high profile summer music festival' I alluded to.

I certainly agree with Parla, however, in relation to the piano works - though there's an Ivesian quality to these that still has you wondering what on earth RL was on about. A quick survey of his life, though, explains much.

Sorry for twisting a conversation about tuba concertos onto Rued Langgaard...

It had occurred to me that this may have been the case as Rozhdestvensky can be a remarkably banal, bordering on the lazy, conductor at times.

I await your article with hope of a renewal of my enthusiasm.

Well, troyen1, you may have been right and RL might just not be your bag, but if not it would be fantastic to welcome another Lannggaardian into the fold.

Parla - interesting questions - I feel you can hear a huge amount of Strauss and Wagner in the First and Second Symphonies. The first is Straussian in terms of orchestral effect: the way the huge orchestral tapestry is 'marshalled' to such spectacular effect. Then in the Second I feel you have a Straussian main theme (the very opening theme, with its chromatic inflection) but a Wagnerian structure and residue. I actually think the final movement of the Second sounds like a missing act from Tannhauser.

In both these works, I think RL simply feels compelled to write and not to write like Nielsen; his state of maturity perhaps just led him to write like his idols. I used to think the scores were pastiche-like and vacuous, but the more I listen the more actual RL I hear...but I've not worked out quite how to describe that yet.

You're also bang right about the Violin Concerto - highly unusual but quite magical orchestration, with a piano tinkling away and a sort of constant shifting of the underlay that reminds me of Brahms (I think this is also very much apparent in the Fourth Symphony).

I'm struggling slightly with Messis but persevering. A Gramophone critic who has resisted my attempts to convert him to Langgaard emailed me recently saying that he'd 'discovered' Messis and perhaps he was wrong about RL after all...

Why write a violin concerto? why write any piece of music? Because you have something to say. Because you have a group of players who want something to perform. I had heard of the Tuba Concerto by Vaughan Williams but I have not heard it. Is it any good. I must say this thread has made me want to hear it. It's a late piece but I think his 8th Symphony is underated. Is there a recommendation.