Chamber Music - CHRISTENSEN, C.W. / ROSING-SCHOW, N. / OLSEN

It is magic through transparency. The music of Hans Abrahamsen, dark yet alluringly innocent, exhibits a pure, strong naivete that opens up into a genuine magical world of both the bright and the sombre kind. Performing two of his early works - Six Pieces for horn trio and his first string quartet 10 Preludes - Ensemble MidtVest brings out Abrahamsen's characteristic clear, precise tone. The same clarity inhabits his arrangements of Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopedies and Carl Nielsen's Fantasy Pieces, exploring and evoking the original works in a new, unmistakably Abrahamsenesque way.

SAVERY: String Quartet No. 2 / Trio / Synergie / Variations

This CD features Danish composer Erik Norby's (1936-2007) spectacular breakthrough work the Rainbow Snake from 1975 as well as his Edvard Munch Trilogy and the Rilke-Lieder for mezzo-soprano and orchestra in new recordings by the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra mezzo-soprano Hanne Fischer and conductor Bo Holten.

The Danish composer Per Nørgård (b. 1932) finds inspiration for his outstanding percussion music in the forces of nature, eastern mysticism and exotic rhythms. In the four works on this CD we encounter a melodic side to percussion, when for instance the soloist uses a violin bow to play the vibraphone and the musical saw. Two of the works were written especially for the Colombian-born percussionist Christian Martínez, who plays here with the Esbjerg Ensemble conducted by Petter Sundkvist.

ENSEMBLE NORDLYS: Recycled

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Auxiliary Blue

Lundby-Jaeger, B.: Chamber Music and Songs - Offertorium / 7

BACH, Erik: Reflexions / Berlin Revisited / Astrotrain

Morten Olsen's Be My Quiet Friend is an album of paradoxes. It took more than ten years to produce, but it’s based on moments. Certain passages are entirely improvised, while others were written out in detail. And the triumph is that it is in fact pointless to try to distinguish between the two...

The Will-o'-the-Wisps in Town is an extraordinary fairy tale cantata created by the Danish composer Per Nurgerd and his close friend, author Suzanne Brugger, on the basis of a little known fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. This world premiere recording focuses on the charismatic "Marsh With", sung by mezzo-soprano Helene Gjerris, who also premiered the work in Birmingham, UK, at the international celebration of the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth. Helene Gjerris has captivated audiences and composers since the mid-1990s. Several new works have been written especially for her. In contemporary music in particular her charismatic performance comes into it's element.

Norgard, P.: Piano Music

Berg, G.: Ar Goat / Triedra / 9 Duos / Melos I

Olsen, M.: In A Silent Way / Oryq / Ictus / Kata