Symphony No. 6 (Langgaard)
| Symphony No. 6 | |
|---|---|
| The Heaven-rending | |
| by Rued Langgaard | |
Langgaard in 1918 | |
| Native name | Det himmelrivende |
| Catalogue | BVN 165 |
| Period | Modernism |
| Composed | 1919–1920 |
| Published | 1946 |
| Publisher | Edition Dania (Society for the Publication of Danish Music) |
| Duration | 20–21 minutes |
| Movements | 1 |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 15 January 1923 |
| Location | Fest-halle of Karlsruhe |
| Conductor | Rued Langgaard |
| Performers | Badisches Landestheater-Orchester |
The Symphony No. 6 (later subtitled "The Heaven-rending") is a symphony composed by Rued Langgaard between 1919 and 1920. It was successfully premiered in Karlsruhe on 15 January 1923, but the ensuing first performance in Denmark was a disaster. Written in a single movement subdivided in several sections, the work was inspired by Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, known as "The Inextinguishable". On later revisions, the work took different programmatic narratives, ending with religious struggle between Jesus and "spiritual wickedness in high places". Despite its poor initial reception in Denmark, the work was performed, recorded and broadcast multiple times afterwards.