Gade Ossian Overtude Danish State RSO

GADE. Overture : Ossian.Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Frandsen. 1958 recording. Neils Gade (1817-1890), remembered now only as the writer of a few pieces used by piano teachers, was a violinist who in 1840 won the prize of the Copenhagen Musical Society (for which Spohr was one of the judges) with this overture whose full title is Echoes of Ossian. Although called Op. 1, it was not quite his first composition ; but through this success he received assistance to go to Leipzig, where he became a, protégé and friend of Mendelssohn, made quite a reputation for himself, and later returned to Denmark, where he became director of the Society which had given him his first big opportunity. The overture is, as one might expect from its subject, warmly romantic, and is most attractively and colourfully scored.