The Forgotten Danish Pianist Arne Skjold Rasmussen

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
1. Allegro assai
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro ma non troppo

Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”
4. Allegro con brio
5. Introduzione. Adagio molto
6. Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo

Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1
7. Allegro
8. Allegretto
9. Rondo. (Allegro comodo)

Frédéric Chopin
10. Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2
11. Étude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3

Johannes Brahms
12. Capriccio in G minor, Op. 116, No. 3
13. Intermezzo in E Major, Op. 116, No. 4
14. Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2
15. Rhapsody in E flat Major, Op. 119, No. 4

Carl Nielsen
Suite for Piano, Op. 45
1. Allegretto un pochettino
2. Poco moderato
3. Molto adagio e patetico
4. Allegretto innocente
5. Allegretto vivo
6. Allegro non troppo ma vigoroso

7. Theme and Variations, Op. 40

Three Piano Pieces, Op. 59
8. Impromptu. Allegro fluente
9. Molto adagio
10. Allegro non troppo

Franz Schubert
11. Marche Militaire No. 1 in D Major
with Inger Skjold Rasmussen

12. Impromptu in A flat Major, Op. 142, No. 3
13. Moment Musical in A flat Major, Op. 94, No. 2

Robert Schumann
14. Romance in F sharp Major, Op. 28, No. 2

Felix Mendelssohn
15. “Spring Song” in A Major, Op. 62, No. 6

Edvard Grieg
16. Weddingday at Troldhaugen, Op. 65, No. 6
17. To Spring Op. 43, No. 6

Christian Sinding
18. Rustle of Spring, Op. 32, No. 3

Arne Skjold Rasmussen ©
By Jonas Barlyng

The 1953 Waldstein recording, though slightly less relentless than the Appassionata, has similar qualities, and it could be argued that Skjold Rasmussen’s characteristic blend of no-nonsense objectivity, tonal sensitivity and subtle nuancing works even better in this, more Apollonian, piece of music. The first movement is a brisk and concise affair with sparse but masterly applied rubato. The Molto adagio is heartfelt and sublimely beautiful without a hint of sentimentality or mannerism, and with a magical transition into the finale, which is not at all hasty, but a true Allegretto moderato as Beethoven asked for.

The Sonata No.9 in E Op.14 No.1, taped in 1956, is cut from the same cloth as the Waldstein, and Skjold Rasmussen works wonders with his delicate touch and supple handling of tempo, the quiet melancholy of the Allegretto being particularly moving.

Equally fine is Skjold Rasmussen’s intimate and profound rendition of four of Brahms’s late piano pieces, recorded at the same session as the Beethoven E major Sonata. Skjold Rasmussen was very much at home with the music of Brahms, as he seems instinctively to have sensed the composer’s guarded feelings of longing and resignation; and his playing style – with its weighty, rounded sonority, delicate shading, and gentle flow – lends itself to the Brahms idiom.

Skjold Rasmussen’s Chopin seems to have been more of a mixed bag, judged by the two pieces presented here. The Nocturne Op.9 No.2 exists in a beautiful recording with Skjold Rasmussen’s teacher, Johanne Stockmarr (DACOCD 442-443), and one would have hoped he had followed in her footsteps. This is, alas, not the case. To be sure, Skjold Rasmussen’s performance offers occasional instances of the pianist’s inimitable touch in the softer passages, but the pacing is stiff and unyielding, and the overall effect is disappointingly detached and flat-footed. Luckily, his performance of the Tristesse Etude Op.10 No.3 is anything but that. With its tender phrasing, richly faceted tone, and a rubato applied with the utmost delicacy, the performance could scarcely be more sincere and affectionate.