The British music magazine Gramophone has just officially announced the winners of this year’s prestigious Gramophone Classical Music Awards. Among the winners is the recording by the Vienna Philharmonic of Langgaard’s Symphonies 2 and 6 and Jacob Gade's Tango Jalousie, which was released last year.

Langgaard in the public eye

Rued Langgaard (1893-1952) did not gain great recognition in Denmark during his lifetime. The Danish music world took a biased view of Langgaard – a lonely and eccentric person – who, as the only Danish composer, consistently cultivated late-Romanticism in his compositions.

Over the past few decades, both Denmark and the world at large have, however, become much more aware of Rued Langgaard’s music, which is now being performed in concert halls worldwide. In 2017 and 2018, Langgaard really caught the public eye when one of the world’s leading orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic, included two of his symphonies at a total of three concerts.

The orchestra, under the leadership of conductor Sakari Oramo, subsequently recorded the symphonies, and it is this recording that has now won a Gramophone Award as This Year’s Orchestral Recording. The recording also won the Danish P2 Prize for 'The Album of the Year' earlier this year.

The ‘Oscar’ of classical music

Gramophone Classical Music Awards have existed since 1977 and are made each year to the 10 best classical music releases of the previous year. The award is regarded as being one of the most important marks of recognition in the classical record industry – and it is often referred to as the Oscars of classical music

This year, the awards will officially be made at a large-scale festival concert on 16 October in London – an event that will be broadcast live on Medici TV.

Langgaard has won before!

This is not the first time that a Dacapo release has received the prestigious Gramophone Award.

In 2015, Per Nørgård’s Symphony no. 1 and Symphony no. 8 – also recorded by the Vienna Philharmonic under Sakari Oramo – won the award in the category – BEST CONTEMPORARY RECORDING.

In 2014, the Danish Nightingale String Quartet, as the first Danish artists ever, were given the Gramophone Award’s ‘Young Artist of the Year’ award for its recording of Rued Langgaard’s complete string quartets.