Now! Denmark

Now! Denmark may be an appropriate title for about half of this disc's contents: the first piece suggests that "Then and Now" might be more accurate. Vagn Holmboe's Piano Trio, Op. 64 (1954), is already something of a classic among Danish piano trios, and its neo-Classical form, modified tonality, and quasi-Impressionistic colors mark it as a mid-twentieth century work. But even though it has taken time to be recognized and performed regularly, Holmboe's Trio is not exactly new music. The remaining pieces, however, are more ... Read More

Now! Denmark may be an appropriate title for about half of this disc's contents: the first piece suggests that "Then and Now" might be more accurate. Vagn Holmboe's Piano Trio, Op. 64 (1954), is already something of a classic among Danish piano trios, and its neo-Classical form, modified tonality, and quasi-Impressionistic colors mark it as a mid-twentieth century work. But even though it has taken time to be recognized and performed regularly, Holmboe's Trio is not exactly new music. The remaining pieces, however, are more contemporary, and their composers more plainly schooled in the avant-garde of the 1970-1980s and, in the last work, the neo-Romanticism of the 1990s. The varied styles of Anders Nordentoft's Doruntine (1994), Per Nørgård's Spell (in Thomas Agerfeldt Olsen's arrangement of the original 1973 version for clarinet, cello, and piano), Michael Nyvang's ...Erosion -- forvitring (1995), and Anders Koppel's Piano Trio No. 1 (1992-1994) reflect the proliferation of styles that has made the... Read Less