The composer and conductor Emil Reesen was a unique jack-of-all-trades in Danish music. He composed everything from film melodies to operettas and ballets for the Royal Theatre, and it was all typified by his masterly craftsmanship and great melodic talent. On this CD you can hear examples of his infectious, brilliant orchestral music, including the rhapsody Himmerland, the imposing Festival March and the fiery dances from the ballet Gaucho.

 

The rhapsody Himmerland is typical of Reesen’s compositional style. Here he pours out his orchestrating skills over a handful of simple folk tunes from North Jutland. There had long been a tradition of setting folk music in orchestral rhapsodies, and folk dance tunes arranged for orchestra regularly formed part of the broadcasts in the early years of Danish radio. Yet no folk music medley is as artistic as Reesen’s Himmerland Rhapsody, which stayed the longest in the Danish repertoire after his death. Another orchestral piece that Emil Reesen is well known for is his Festival March. It was written for the film “25 Years as King of Denmark” on the occasion of King Christian X’s Jubilee and is one of the most famous Danish marches of all time.

 

On this new release you can experience a thrilling recording with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra and conductor Bo Holten performing some of Emil Reesen’s most unforgettable orchestral pieces, contributing to the fight to keep the memory of one of Danish music’s most exciting and virile composers alive.