Frederik Magle, The Secret Garden Review
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Danish composer Frederik Magle is an active and creative composer that is creating modern classical music that pushes the genre and fuses classical music with other genres. Magle has had several commissions by the Danish royal family, as well as collaborations across genres, such as the platinum winning album Elektra by hip-hop group Suspekt, featuring compositions for symphony orchestra by Magle. His compositions have been performed by soloists and ensembles all over the world, including the London Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the violinist Nikolaj Znaider, and many others. Magle is also an accomplished concert pianist and organist. Magle is now releasing a composition that was commissioned by Rigshospitalet (Danish National Hospital) for use in the radiation therapy section. Magle composed and scored the piece for symphony orchestra, with the cancer patients in mind, but meaningful for non-patients too. The composition is titled, “The Secret Garden” and is an uplifting, but also reflective and contemplative musical statement. Recorded on March 1st, 2019, by the Serbian symphony orchestra: Orkestar Fakulteta umetnosti, Niš conducted by Milena Injac.
Positives:
Magle has a musical language that utilizes traditional classical techniques and forms, but also uses harmonies, techniques and rhythms associated with other genres as well.
Bottom Line:
“The Secret Garden” (Den Hemmelige Have) was composed by Frederik Magle for an art installation of the same name, created as a “gesamtkunstwerk” by Maria Dubin (colours, glass, floor design), Kim Borch (light), and Frederik Magle (music), in the radiation therapy/radiotherapy section (Afsnit for stråleterapi) at Rigshospitalet (The National Hospital) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The corresponding video shows the sensitivity of conductor Milena Injac as he directs the Orkestar Fakulteta umetnosti, Niš (Symphony Orchestra Faculty of Arts, University of Niš, Serbia). Magle says this about “The Secret Garden,” “I decided from the beginning not to create a “soundscape.” Such music has its place and can be of great quality whilst having a calming and meditative effect, but for The Secret Garden I wanted to compose a work through which I better could tell a story. A magic story which takes the listener on a journey through the garden.” Magle’s music is uplifting and addresses the need for hope and lightheartedness when dealing with such a serious matter as serious illness. A triumphant composition for a triumphant cause! That’s the short of it!