Symphony No.9 (1945, first performance 2014) ♫ YouTube

I. Allegro (9'26)
II. Requiem. Andante (12'40) for Soprano, alto, chorus
III. Allegro molto vivace (9'25)
IV. Andante. “Estne haec vitae discrepantia sempiterna” (16'47) for Soprano, alto, tenor, bass, chorus
V. Allegro (Tempo di marcia, vivace) (10'23)
VI. Adagio (10'04)
VII. Misericordia. Sehr leidenschaftlich bewegt (1'27) Chorus
VIII. Ruhige Viertel. “Stella lucet per coelum” (18'37) for Soprano, alto, tenor, bass, chorus

Paul von Klenau’s (1883-1946) grandiose Ninth Symphony in eight movements was composed in Copenhagen 1945 as his last major work; an extraordinary fusion of a Requiem with Latin text and a traditional symphony for orchestra, choir and four soloists. The manuscript then lay unknown for more than fifty years until it appeared in the 2001 discovery of a large collection of Klenau manuscripts in Vienna, and not until March 2014 – after a thorough editing by The Royal Library in Copenhagen – did it receive its first performance by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Schønwandt. This world premiere recording presents the full symphony; a magnificent opus of both tonal, atonal and even twelve-tone passages, very far removed from the style that predominated in the post-Nielsen Danish music of the 1940s.