Until recently I had never heard the name of Frederik Magle before, a grave oversight on my part. Of course, I do have a bad tendency to remember the music, but not the name of the composer or performer.

Frederik Magle is a Danish contemporary classical music composer who began composing at the young age of 5, took piano lessons at the age of 6, and made his first public performance of his music when he was 8 years old. I can’t even recall what I was doing when I was 8, but I assure you it was hardly as astounding as this! Now, it is my understanding that Magle is primarily known for his pieces for the Danish royal family, for whom he even composed a piece for the christening of Prince Nikolai in ‘99, and his symphonic poem Cantabile which is based on the works of the Prince Consort and was first performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

Magle’s musical style is generally characterized as melodic and containing some elements of atonality, where the main foundation of the work is not comprised of pitches that focus on a single central.

Magle has a music downloads page on his website where you will find links to download some of his pieces, be they excerpts or full versions. I recommend listening to Rising of a New Day, Phoenix and the Intermezzo for Brass Quintet, which were my personal favorites. There are a few broken links on the page, such as the download link for The Shadow which actually just kicks you back to the top of the page. There are, however, more than enough pieces up for you to sample and get a feel for Magle’s work.

Rising of a New Day is, without a doubt, my favorite out of all of the works. The opening chords have a very majestic feel to them that bring to mind images of a noble knight astride his stead, returning triumphantly from the battlefield. You cannot help but to feel a bit of hope as the song continues on. It invokes a sense of, rightness in me, a feeling as though everything will be alright and the worst has passed. The upbeat portion fades down to a calm and soothing melody that brings you off of the emotional high before returning to a repeat and variation upon the initial theme.

The Intermezzo for Brass Quintet certainly would not be out of place at the courts of old, it is a regal and majestic piece full of pomp and circumstance and yet playful at the same time. A definite delight to the ears.

The phoenix is a mythical fire bird said to build a nest of cinnamon twigs at the end of it’s life-cycle and burst into radiant flames. When the bird and nest have been reduced to ashes a new baby phoenix is reborn from the ashes. That said, I expected Magle’s Phoenix to bring the bird’s fiery life and demise to mind while listening to this piece. I’m not quite sure he succeeded in that aspect, however he did create a work that was melodious, echanting, and above all haunting. Words can not express the wonderment I felt while listening to this piece. I really recommend you download this work and listen to it!

While all of his listed works are exceptional, I truly enjoyed the aforementioned works. I’d also recommend that you download and listen to Far Away and Journey in Time as well, especially Far Away which is quite different from his other works.

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