Two new releases shed fresh light on Kuhlau
Duo Åstrand/Salo complete their work on Friedrich Kuhlau’s violin sonatas with both a new CD release and an edition of the scores, while Copenhagen Piano Quartet combine Kuhlau’s third and last piano quartet with Otto Malling’s sole piano quartet. Both albums will he released on 3 May, and this will be celebrated with a concert and a reception on 5 May in Bakkehuset.
The Danish/German composer Friedrich Kuhlau has particularly gone down in history as a as a composer for the flute, but with these two new releases the picture is completed of Kuhlau as one of the masters of the Danish ‘Golden Age’ with his violin sonatas and piano quartets.
Violin sonatas brought out into the light and re-edited
With the new release Violin Sonatas, vol. 2, Duo Åstrand/Salo follow up on extremely well reviewed first issue of violin sonatas by Kuhlau. At the same time as the new album is released by Edition·S, a completely new version of Kuhlau’s scores of the music is also being published, carried out by Per Salo and Christina Åstrand. The two musicians talk about their work on the violin sonatas:
“When we first began to take an interest in Kuhlau’s music, the first challenge was the actual sheet music. Kuhlau’s own manuscripts exist only for very few of his works, as a large part of his music collection was lost in a fire that ravaged his house in Lyngby in 1829. We have therefore had to use the few printed editions that appeared in his time. We have found material at, i.a., The Royal Library and the Music Museum in Copenhagen.”
Kuhlau combined with Malling
In 2015, Copenhagen Piano Quartet released the two first piano quartets, which attracted considerable international attention, and on Friday the third and final piano quartet will appear, which Kuhlau himself referred to as ‘my best to date’. On the CD, Kuhlau is coupled with the Danish composer Otto Malling, whose only piano quartet from 1903 is his last chamber composition as well as a good example of his modern musical style.
Celebration in the Golden Age Salon at Bakkehuset
Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) was one of the most important composers of the Golden Age, and so the two new releases are fittingly being celebrated in some of the most important rooms of the age, namely Bakkehuset in Frederiksberg. Here Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek held salons during the first half of the 19th century, and Bakkehuset was one of the cultural venues of the period, where Hans Christian Andersen, Adam Oehlenschläger, H.C. Ørsted and many other prominent personalities used to meet.
On Sunday, 5 May, the music journalist Jens Cornelius will present Kuhlau’s music in the Bakkehuset setting, after which Christina Åstrand and Per Salo will play a selection of Kuhlau’s violin sonatas. This will be followed by a reception and a celebration of the two new releases.