Fridays
September 4, 2026
Tickets can be purchased via the link under the concert/event description.
Subject to change without notice
10.00 - 11.30 am
Swedish folk music in Rued Langgaard's music
Ribe Cathedral School
Lectures, musical examples and dance.
Get close to the rich Swedish folk music tradition that Rued Langgaard got to know during his frequent visits to Sweden.
The lecture begins with two choir songs:
Rued Langgaard: Vel må jeg kysse Dig, Hjertenskær from Rosengaardsviser (Thor Lange) BVN 164 (1919)
And a song by Elfrieda Andrée or Ture Rangström.
Cast:
- Dybfølt with Lena Jonsson, violin.
- Youth Choir Aarhus U
- Students from Ribe Katedralskole
- Conductor: Jonas Rasmussen
Free access
At 13.00
Langgaard's piano and a legend by Selma Lagerlöf I
Café Rued
In Sonata No. 3, composed in Ribe in the summer of 1941, Rued Langgaard reminisces about his childhood and teenage visits to Kullen in Sweden and to a café in Copenhagen.
Reading of The Flight to Egypt from Selma Lagerlöf's Christ Legends (1904) by Bodil Sixhøj Hyldahl from LæseSelskabet, Ribe.
Music:
Rued Langgaard: Sonata no. 3 Minder fra Høstens Tid" BVN 268 (1941) (30')
- Introduzione - Fra Kullen!
- From the hill
- Cornfields
- At Hotel "The King of Denmark"
- On the hill again!
Cast:
Benjamin Skydsgaard, piano
15:00
Langgaard's Swedish organs are a recurring theme
Sct. Catharinæ Church
Rued Langgaard loved the organ, and in this concert we will hear some of his most atmospheric works, which Langgaard performed on organs in Sweden, Copenhagen, and Ribe. The concert concludes with Organ Symphony No. 2, in which Elfrida Andrée reveals her most expressive and romantic side.
Introduction by Philip Schmidt-Madsen and Esben Tange on the concert’s music and Rued Langgaard’s work in Sweden at Kyrkhult Church in Blekinge and Brunnby Church in Kullen.
Rued Langgaard: 7 Preludes, BVN 52 (1912–13)
- I Will Sing of Your Praise (4’)
- Prelude for Christmas Day (Chorale Prelude to “Af Højheden oprunden er”) ( 4’)
Rued Langgaard: The Rapture. Fantasy on the Chorale “Zion’s Watchmen Raise Their Voices” BVN 226 (1934) (5’)
Rued Langgaard: A Man’s Days Are Like Grass, BVN 229 (1935) (3’)
Rued Langgaard: Berengaria Ribe—Funeral March BVN 366 (1948) (6’) (arr. Mogens Andresen)
Pause
Rued Langgaard: Hymn (Fantasy) on “Dejlig er Jorden” BVN 157 a (1918) Organ with trumpet and trombone
Rued Langgaard: Fantasy on “Queen Dagmar Lies Ill in Ribe” BVN 280 b (1942) Organ, trumpet (cornet), and trombone.
Elfrida Andrée: Organ Symphony No. 2 for organ and brass in E-flat major (1894) (20’)
- Allegro moderato
- Andante cantabile
- Allegro maestoso
Cast:
- Philip Schmidt-Madsen, organ
- DKDM Brass
- Conductor: Jesper Juul Windahl
At 18:00
Communal dining
Ribe Warehouse
Located in the café and cultural center within the former freight yard, Ribe Pakhus offers a buffet and desserts made with local ingredients, inspired by the 17 favorite dishes that Rued Langgaard noted down in the 1940s.
Purchase dining tickets directly from Ribe Pakhus
At 19.30
Langgaard Festival Band I
Cathedral Square
Music and dance
Rued Langgaard and Swedish folk music.
Cast:
Esbjerg Culture School led by Dybfølt with Lena Jonsson
Free of charge
20.00
Rock pastorals
Ribe Cathedral
Symphony orchestra, choir and soloists
In Ture Rangström's King Erik's Songs, we meet the Swedish King Erik XIV, who looks back on the love of his life and the demons that have plagued him. The concert begins with an excerpt from Elfrida Andrée's opera Fritiofs Saga, where we meet the king's daughter Ingeborg, grief-stricken and longing after being married off against her will.
After the intermission, Rued Langgaard's Symphony No. 1 Rock Pastorals takes us on a journey that begins in the surf, where storm waves crash on the rocks of Kullen, and ends at the top, where the view of a magnificent sunrise gives new courage to live. With its extraordinary scope and inspiration from Wagner's mythological operas, the symphony is unique in Denmark.
Music:
Elfrida Andrée: Ingeborgs Klage (1898/1909) (4') from Fritiof Suite (from the opera Fritiofs Saga)
Ture Rangström: King Erik's Songs (Gustav Fröding) (1918) (14')
- A song about when I was funny with Welam Welamsson at Uppsala House and Archbishop Lars and Dr. Bengt were waiting outside
- A song about me and Hercules the fool
- A song for Karin after dancing
- A song for Karin from prison
- King Erik's last song
Pause
Rued Langgaard: Symphony No. 1 Rock Pastorals BVN 32 (1911) (60')
- Burns and Sunbursts
- Mountain flowers
- Legends
- Up the Mountain
- Courage to live
Cast:
- David Risberg, baritone
- The South Jutland Symphony Orchestra,
expanded to include students from the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus
- Conductor: Thomas Dausgaard
- Visual staging: Lene Juhl
10:30 p.m.
Langgaard Lounge
Café Rued
Listen to Denisa Irina Pirvulescu— last year’s winner of the Rued Langgaard Competition—perform *Summer Vacation in Blekinge*, where memories of the summer of 1913 remain vividly clear. And meet a number of today’s artists while we enjoy a Rued Langgaard porter from Ribe Bryghus.
Music:
Rued Langgaard: Summer vacation in Blekinge BVN 123 (1916) (18')
- Meeting (fragment)
- Sunday on Kirkebakken
- Cob cellars in Granskoven
- Coffee Reps and Resignation
- Swedish
- Pea flowers
- On the road
- Farewell
- Evening with Dance
Cast:
Denisa Irina Pirvulescu, piano.
Artists and musicians at the festival.
Hosted by Karen Bendix
Day program 2026
Rued Langgard Festival in Ribe, September 3-6 (public early May 2026)
Thursday
Fridays
SATURDAY
Sunday
Venues
Cast and crew
What's new
The festival is supported by
Generous Foundations, Sponsors and Cultural Institutions
