Peter Heise was one of Denmark's most popular and loved composers, but after his death, his six string quartets were packed away and remained almost entirely unknow for more than 170 years.

The Nordic String Quartet is now completing their acclaimed series with world premiere recordings of Heise's elegant string quartets. Releasing in a complete 3 CD release on 22 May. 

A humble composer

Peter Heise (1830-1879) was primarily known as a vocal composer, especially for his many Romantic songs and the Danish national opera Drot og Marsk (King and Marshall), which was very succesful.

But in Copenhagen at Heise's time and milieu, string quartets were a genre mainly performed in private homes and salons. Heise wrote six quartets between 1852 and 1857, but none of them  became part of the public music scene.

After his death the works were packed away and since then, the music succumbed to a quite exceptional oblivion. Until the string quartets were published in 2018, they have reimaned almost entirely unknown. Peter Heise was a deeply self-critical and humble man who  made no effort to promote his string quartets, despite of their undeniable quality. But after a long period of dormancy, the music  can now finally be played, heard and enjoyed!

A convincing rediscovery

When Nordic String Quartet in 2023 released the first instalment in the series containing the string quartets nos. 1-3, it became clear that it is charming and elegant music with all the poetry and fantasy we associate with Peter Heise.

The new release collects all six string quartets, including world premiere recordings of the quartets nos. 4-6. Here one can follow Heise's development within the string quartet genre, as he  experiments with longer and more complex structures. He achieves total mastery of the quartet genre with ambitious formats that demonstrates that he was not only a master of song.

The first volume in the series was very well received in Denmark and abroad. The Strad recommended the release with the words "a neglected Dane is compellingly revived" and Dagbladet Information wrote that it is "more than welcome to have Heise's quartets awakened from their slumber, and in such precise, well-formed and sonorous performances".