Born in Copenhagen, Rued Langgaard was the only son of composer and Royal Chamber musician Siegfried Langgaard (1852–1914) and Emma Langgaard (née Foss, 1861–1926), both of whom were pianists. At the age of five Rued began taking piano lessons with his mother, and later with his father and a private teacher. His talent emerged quickly, and at seven he was able to play Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze and Chopin’s mazurkas. By then he had begun to compose short pieces for the piano and play the organ. At 10 he began to study the organ under Gustav Helsted, organist at the Jesuskirken in Valby, and the violin under Chr. Petersen, formerly of the Royal Orchestra.
At the age of 11 he made his first public appearance as an organist and improviser on the organ at a concert at the Frederikskirken (Marmorkirken) in Copenhagen. When he was 12, he started to study music theory under C. F. E. Horneman and, later, Vilhelm Rosenberg.
Langgaard’s first compositions, 2 piano pieces and 2 songs, were published when he was 13, and around that time he was taught counterpoint by the celebrated composer Carl Nielsen for about a month. A year later, his choral work Musae triumphantes was performed at a concert in Copenhagen, marking his public debut as a composer. During his teen years he continued composing and travelled with his parents around Christmas and New Year’s Eve, meeting conductors Arthur Nikisch and Max Fiedler.
At 18, Langgaard served as assistant organist at the Frederikskirken (Marmorkirken) in Copenhagen. The following year (1913) his Symphony No. 1 "Mountain Pastorals" received its first performance at a concert in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Max Fiedler.
His father died in 1914, and from 1915 to 1917 he was assistant organist at the Garnisons Kirke in Copenhagen. From 1917 onward he applied without success for the post of organist at a large number of churches in Copenhagen. In 1922 a young woman named Valborg Constance Olivia Tetens (she was known as Constance) moved in with Rued Langgaard and his mother in Copenhagen. A year after his mother died in 1926, Langgaard married Constance Tetens.
Although Langgaard was given a state grant from the age of 30, his works and job applications were almost continually rejected by the establishment. Only at the age of 46 did he manage to obtain a permanent job, as the organist at the cathedral in Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark, situated in southwest Jutland. Just shy of his 59th birthday, Rued Langgaard died in Ribe, still unrecognized as a composer.
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 642315
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
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for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
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for: Soprano and Tenor Voice, Horn, Trumpet and String Quartet
Score
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for: Piano
Music score
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for: SSAATTBB
Choir score
Item no.: 1173339
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1552444
Hjemad!
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1173344
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 838634
for: Organ
Music score
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for: Choir
Piano reduction
Item no.: 838578
for: Voice (soprano), 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 641653
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
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Endelig Version
for: Opera
Piano reduction
Item no.: 642281
Klassik
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Music score
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Klassik
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Music score
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for: Violin, orchestra
Score
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for: Symphonic orchestra
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Music score
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Choir score
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Choir score
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Music score
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Music score
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Music score
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Choir score
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Opera I Én Akt
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Piano reduction
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for: Violin
Sheet music
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Music score
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Music score
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Music score
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for: Symphonic orchestra
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Music score
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for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Piano reduction
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Music score
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for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
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for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
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for: Voice, piano
Single edition
Item no.: 837569
for: Symphonic orchestra
Piano reduction
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for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
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En Sonate
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1645058
Allegorisk Opera, Orig. Version
for: Opera
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1645054
for: Violin
Sheet music
Item no.: 1645045