The string quartets of Danish music's eccentric outsider Rued Langgaard are passionate works of the composer's youth, representing both his nostalgically romantic side and his profoundly visionary modernity.
This recording series presents all 8 quartets in the award-winning young Nightingale String Quartet's distinctly dramatic interpretation based on the revised Rued Langgaard Edition.
“The string quartets are the product of his turbulent youth, so it is fitting that they should be played by Denmark's new star quartet, the Nightingale...They have an uncanny affinity with Langgaard's wildly moody music and conjure plenty of exquisite moments on this surprisingly rewarding recording.” The Observer, 1st April 2012
“That it makes the impact it does here is owing to the Nightingale Quartet, whose individual and collective virtuosity is always at the service of Langgard's vision.” International Record Review, May 2012
“This young Danish ensemble throws itself into the music with a vehemence and sense of purpose...Dacapo's re-recording of these works is more than welcome; and to call the second volume 'eagerly anticpiated' would be a massive understatement” Gramophone Magazine, June 2012
“it soon becomes clear that this composer doesn't think like anyone else. The ideas can be lively, beautiful, touching, at times more than a little weird...Crucially the Nightingale Quartet understand all these aspects: the provocative vitality, the fragile romantic sensitivity and the striking intellectual independence behind it all. It's all beautifully recorded too.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2012 *****
“such are the breadth and depth of Langgaard's action-packed 'modernist conservatism', and so persuasive are these readings...by the young Nightingale String Quartet, making their debut to boot, that this disc really does demand pecuniary issues be put aside.” MusicWeb International, April 2013
Gramophone Magazine
BBC Music Magazine
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2013
