Anders Lauge Meldgaard

This offering from Danish composer Anders Lauge Meldgaard is more than intriguing, and unarguably accomplished from a musical perspective. An exploration of the work of avant-garde composer and artist Henning Christiansen, commissioned by the the Roskilde Museum of Contemporary Art, Meldgaard takes a trio piece by the muse, written in 1975, and uses this as source material on which to base something of a belated response. Made for extended chamber ensembles, the result are two bright and colourful tracks that owe as much to Medieval fairies as they do contemporary classical music. Expanding Christiansen's original three instruments into 12, hence the title, stepping back to appreciate the big picture can sometimes be overwhelming, as there's so much going on, but if we dive headfirst into the recorders, harpsichords, synths, organs, cellos and more, we realise the combination makes for radiant and inviting tracks that have lives of their own.