Gottfred Matthison-Hansen (1832-1909)
Concert for Organ, Op. 15 (1874)
1. Allegro moderato
2. Andantino – Andante
3. Finale fugato – Maestoso
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
4. Commotio, opus 58 (1930-31)
Played at the organ of Holmens Church, Copenhagen
Matthison-Hansen: Concert for organ Ā©
by Svend Ravnkilde
Gottfred Matthison-Hansen ( 1832-I 909) was a figure of importance in Danish musical life over a period of five decades. He came to public attention as a concert organist in the second half of the I 850s, just as the so-called Golden Age (1800-1850, approximately) had come to an end as a unique era in Danish social and cultural life. By the time he resigned as Director of the Copenhagen Conservatoire in 1905, a modem and very different Denmark had already begun to emerge. In music, for instance, Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) had become the big name, now that Niels Gade (1 8 17-1890) and J.P.E. Hartmann (1805-1900) had passed away. As composers, and the Nation’s foremost music teachers too. these champions had handed on the Goiden-Age legacy in a moderate, Romantic spirit; Matthison-Hansen, however, had quickly become a Wagnerite, and he was the first Danish organist to include the music of Franck. Guilmant and Widor in his recitals.
Matthison-Hansen enjoyed a fine reputation as an organist both at home and abroad, and he was highly esteemed as a teacher. During a concert tour in 1 884 he struck up a friendship with Liszt in Weimar. When, in 1841, Liszt visited Copenhagen. he had taken time to visit the Cathedral (Our Lady’s Church) in order to pay a call on C.E.F. Weyse (1774-1842), the Cathedral organist and indeed the composer who more than anyone else represented the Classical side of Danish Golden-Age music.
RELEASE DATE: August 1997
CATALOGUE NUMBER.: DACOCD 447
EAN: 5709499447000
