Free MP3 excerpts from the first performance of the symphonic suite Cantabile's 2nd and 3rd movements on June 10th (2009) in the Copenhagen Concert Hall at the
royal gala concert celebrating the 75th birthday of H.R.H. Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark.
(Thomas Dausgaard and Ina Kringlebotn)
First, excerpts from the second symphonic poem (2nd movement) from Cantabile; The »Cortège & Danse Macabre« (Procession and Dance of Death - or in this case perhaps more appropriately "Dance of the Dead". See the text below). Dark music, yet with glimpses of tragic humor. The music depicts a procession of the dead - dancing. But they don't know they are dead, they don't know where, or even who, they are. And yet they are dancing, dancing towards the inevitable, their grave, the eternal.
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Download a large excerpt from »Cortège & Danse Macabre«
(bar 100-280, 6:26 min., 11.8 MB, 256 kbps MP3 format)
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Download 3 smaller additional excerpts from the beginning of »Cortège & Danse Macabre«
(2:32 min., 3.5 MB, 192 kbps MP3 format)
Secondly, an excerpt from the third and final symphonic poem (3rd movement) from the Cantabile suite; The «Carillon«. A "bell-like" theme is heard throughout the movement. «Carillon« begins with conflicting emotions; the luring - sometimes joyous, sometimes sentimental - yet simple hymnic melody of "L'Angelus" is contrasted with the brutality and complexity of reality (read the poem below).
The second half, which is heard in the excerpt, is based on the poem "Lacrymae mundi" (Tears of the world), and concludes the whole work, returning to the theme of the first movement
"Souffle le vent" at the very end.
42 seconds into the excerpt a passage begins in which you can hear the basses of the choir descent to the A
below the bass-clef, one of the deepest notes ever written in work for choir and orchestra.
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Download an excerpt from »Carillon«
(4:09 min., 7.6 MB, 256 kbps MP3 format)
(This 80-years old Giraffe Bone can be heard at 1:17 in the
larger excerpt of the Danse Macabre. I am not aware of any
other orchestral works, or any kind of work for that matter,
where the use of a real thigh bone is required in the score 
.
I've blogged about the quest for the bone here)
The music is performed by The
Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DR SymfoniOrkestret) and
Choir, conducted by
Thomas Dausgaard.
Soloists are:
Ina Kringlebotn, soprano (»Carillon«)
Erlend Tyrmi, baritone (»Danse Macabre« and »Carillon«)
Frederik Magle, piano (»Carillon«)
»Souffle le vent«, the first movement of the »Cantabile« suite was given its premiere performance in 2004. MP3 Excerpts of
»Souffle le vent« are available for download here.
(Ina Kringlebotn)
(Erlend Tyrmi)
The orchestration/instrumentation of the Cantabile Suite:
3 flutes (3rd: Piccolo),
2 oboes (2nd: English Horn)
3 Clarinets
1 Bass Clarinet
2 Bassoons
1 Contra-Bassoon
4 Horns
3 Trumpets
3 Trombones
1 Contrabass Tuba
Timpani
3 Percussionists
Harp
Piano (3rd movement; »Carillon«)
Organ (2nd and 3rd movements; »Danse Macabre« and »Carillon«)
Soprano Soloist (1st and 3rd movements; »Souffle le vent« and »Carillon«)
Bass-Baritone Soloist
Mixed Choir/Chorus (S,S,A,A,T,T,B,B)
Strings
If you would like to hear the work in full, please let me know by private message or
email.
(Frederik Magle)
The »Cortège & Danse Macabre« and »Carillon« from the symphonic suite »Cantabile« is copyright © Frederik Magle and may not be altered or redistributed in any way without express permission. You are allowed to link freely to this page. You are not allowed to link directly to the MP3 files (hotlinking) without clearly stating the credits and copyright and linking to this page as well. The music has been uploaded to this site for free download with the consent of the copyright holders and in accordance with Danish and international copyright law.
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Frederik Magle