Hilda Sehested, Nancy Dalberg and Tekla Griebel Wandall each succeeded in gaining public recognition as composers during a time of intense debate over the role of women in society. They were among the first to make their artistic voices heard publicly – and consequently, they were also among the first to face widespread criticism and prejudice.

This album collects selected chamber works, including the first recordings of Tekla Griebel Wandall's music ever, and allows the three composers to emerge as original and distinctive voices on the threshold between late Romanticism and Modernism. Available on streaming and download on 27 June. Pre-save the album here and listen to a single below here while you read.

"Not overly sentimental or feminine"

Despite sharing their fate, the three composers Sehested, Dalberg and Griebel Wandall are strikingly different. A century later, we finally have the opportunity to get to know them more fully.

Both Nancy Dalberg and Hilda Sehested grew up in affluent families on manors in southern Funen, where there weres both the means and the support for them to develop musically. Hilda Sehested studied privately with C.F.E. Horneman and gradually composition became her full-time occupation. This album presents Sehested as an essential Danish composer at the crossroads of Romanticism and Modernism. The works showcase her remarkable stylistic range from the late-Romantic and lyrical to more radical and modern pieces.

Nancy Dalberg studied with Johan Svendsen, Fini Henriques and Carl Nielsen, the latter with whom she developed a close professional relationship with. Contemporary critics called her music "quite well done" and (despite her gender) "not overly sentimental or feminine". On this album we meet a composer capable of creating intimate and evocative music from the very beginning.

Music reborn as living art

Although Tekla Griebel Wandall gained significant recognition in the 1890s, she faded into obscurity during her own lifetime – far more so than Sehested and Dalberg. She was born into a poor family and her German father worked as a music teacher and barroom musician. Griebel Wandall had to build her career from the ground up and she was among the few offered a scholarship for the Royal Danish Academy of Music. This album includes three early works and offer a glimpse into her music, where the melodies are clear and refined with a rich narrative power.

Thanks to Ensemble MidtVest’s interpretations, the three voices from Danish music history can now be reborn as living art. The recording is the result of a major project at the publishing house Edition·S in which Sehested, Dalberg and Griebel Wandall has been published for the first time in scholarly, performance-ready editions.