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| At long last, the music of Danish composer Dag Henrik Esrum-Hellerup is being seriously explored and recorded - by Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic. Esrum-Hellerup has been championed for many years by his devotees and developed something of a cult following. Indeed, it may well be he is one of the world's most talked about composers who is not recorded. The reason for this has been certain seemingly insurmountable obstacles in obtaining complete scores. Robert Layton, the world's acknowledged authority on Scandinavian music in general and on Sibelius in particular, noted in his entry in the 1980 New Grove Dictionary how elusive his music has been to locate: much of it is lost or destroyed and, until recently, only some flute quartets survived (which readily show the influence of his teacher, Kuhlau). |
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André Pirro's biography (Paris, 1910) has long since been unavailable, though some if its contents have been referred to by the distinguished Danish scholar Dan Fog. Born in Graested on 19 July 1803, Esrum-Hellerup rose to fame in a manner that was, we are told, as rapid as his decline into obscurity. However, Chandos has managed to find (or in some cases reconstruct) enough material for at least one CD of his purely orchestral music, which will be released next year. Although many of his most important works are lost to us (including his opera Alys og Elvertøj - much admired by Smetana - and the opera Firlingesøstrene i Konstantinopel which was inspired by Kuhlau's Trilingebrødrene fra Damaskus), his music is slowly emerging from its catacomb onto CD. Rumon Gamba commented: "I can't tell you the excitement I had on hearing this music - it's as though an elusive, haunting ghost has been captured through the ether and reincarnated into a living being; indeed, this is music of real flesh and blood, and its emergence onto CD will more than surprise people - it will shock them!" It is not possible to say how many volumes the series will stretch to, but Brian Pidgeon of the BBC Philharmonic is "confident that the series will run and run". Rumon Gamba has formed an exciting partnership with the BBC Philharmonic. His recordings in Chandos' film music series of Alwyn, Arnold, Auric, Richard Rodney Bennett, Bliss and Rawsthorne have received unanimous critical acclaim. His forthcoming CD of music by Eric Coates (CHAN 9869) has already generated much interest, but this first CD featuring the music of Esrum-Hellerup could well prove his most exciting recording to date. Repertoire
~ Esrum-Hellerup: Orchestral Works For
further information, please contact: Other points of interest: The Esrum-Hellerup Choir was formed in 1983 as a tribute to the composer, and its wide-ranging repertoire and tour schedule can be found on the internet (Esrum-Hellerup Koret) or by email Finally, the claim - on the slenderest of evidence - that Esrum-Hellerup was to collaborate with Bruckner on a ballet has been conclusively disproved. |
