Theater music of Danish romantic composer C.F.E.
Horneman (1840-1906), an influence on the early Nielsen and champion of
Danish nationalism. Horneman's earlier compositions, like the Overture and Ballet Music from "Aladdin" and the Melodrama from "Esther" are Grieglike, but his music grows more rhythmically complex and dramatic in Kalanus's Fever Dreams and The Struggle with the Muses suite, until his most advanced and best work, the Gurre Suite,
which could absolutely have been written by Nielsen, especially the
first movement (Overture). Owain Arwel Hughes leads the Aalborg Symphony
Orchestra on this 1998 BIS disc.
From the American Record Guide review:
This collection of Christian Hornemann's (1840-1906) theater music is most welcome. He was a minor composer who dared to oppose the Danish musical establishment led by Gade. Leipzig trained, this friend of Grieg managed to eventually gain Gade's respect with his early concert overture, Aladdin, written when he was 23. He later wrote an opera to follow the overture. The Act III ballet music is a colorful sequence filled with pseudo-orientalisms. The other works here are all suites of incidental music written for stage works by Danish playwrights. The works they accompanied are now largely forgotten, but Hornemann's music remains vital and interesting. He was skilled at orchestration, and the music all has a fine sense of drama. In short, they are well worth the attention of the adventurous listener. Except the Aladdin Overture and the Gurre Suite, these are first recordings. Those works are included in a superb Chandos disc that offers all 12 movements of the incidental music to Drachmann's drama rather than just the four recorded by BIS. (There are also recordings of these works on Point and Sterling.) Orwain Arwel Hughes has a flair for the music and he obtains good playing from the Aarlborg Symphony. His readings of the Aladdin Overture and the Gurre Suite are as fine as Michael Schonwandt's on Chandos. Because of the difference in the two programs, to know Hornemann's music one really must obtain both discs. Hornemann may not be a household name, but his music deserves to be better known. --Carl Bauman
Disc, booklet, and case are in very good condition.
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