Leonard Bernstein once quipped that Gustav Mahler knew that “the gig was up” and that it was unlikely he would have a “successor” as his symphonies had left such huge shoes to fill. Basically, he was right, at least in the Austro-Germanic tradition, as the symphony had almost (sublimely, it must be added) collapsed under its own weight. What was there left to be said? 

In 15 years of Limelight reviewing, this release is probably the most bizarre I’ve ever been asked to review – not because of the music itself, which is more often than not highly derivative – but because of the circumstances surrounding its composition. To quote Samuel Johnson, another genius of the bon mot, on the subject of dancing bears: “It is not that it is done well, but the fact that it is done at all.”  

Rued Langgaard was born in 1893 to a pair of highly musical parents. His father, Siegfried Langgaard was a known composer and highly skilled chamber musician, and his mother, Emma Langgaard was a highly skilled pianist. It was his mother who introduced...