This encyclopaedic survey represents Bo Holten and Musica Ficta’s 25-year odyssey to collate and record the magnificent wealth of Danish part-songs. The project began in 1996 to much acclaim – Gramophone wrote: ‘Musica Ficta cannot put a foot wrong’ – and since then they have continued to earn admiration as one of the finest vocal ensembles in Europe. Stretching back to the glories of the Middle Ages and forwards to today’s leading Danish composers, these recordings encompass the Romantic era as well as traditional songs, motets, folk songs, Christmas hymns and carols, children’s songs and the great contributions of Carl Nielsen and Thomas Laub, to form a cornerstone collection of Danish song.

Bo Holten established his reputation as a conductor of early music vocal groups, first with Ars Nova which he formed in 1979 and later with Musica Ficta. He has composed over 100 works including symphonies, solo concertos, and works for chorus and orchestra, operas and musicals.

On its initial release in 1999 Gramophone wrote of A Danish Christmas (8554627), ‘This is a lovely disc, of music largely unknown outside of Scandinavia yet which ought to have the broadest possible appeal, especially when performed with such style’.

Musica Ficta and Bo Holten have also recorded much else for Naxos including the Early Music discs by Ockeghem which are ‘rich-textured, and beautifully balanced… superbly sung’ (Penguin Guide on 8554260).

Bo Holten has an international reputation as a leading specialist in early music and vocal polyphony. Musica Ficta have proved to be a dominant force in Danish musical life and one of the finest vocal ensembles in Europe, having given over 750 concerts and theatre performances and released multiple recordings. He has been a guest conductor with a wide range of orchestras, ensembles and choirs in Scandinavia and abroad, and after 16 years as guest conductor of the BBC Singers, he was appointed chief conductor of the Flemish Radio Choir in 2007.

Contents:
CD 1 Songs by Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse
CD 2 Songs from the Romantic Era
CD 3 Carl Nielsen - Songs and Motets
CD 4 Folk High School Songs
CD 5 Songs from the 20th Century
CD 6 Danish Hymns
CD 7 Traditional Songs
CD 8 Children’s Songs
CD 9 Danish Christmas Hymns and Carols, Vol.1
CD 10 Danish Christmas Hymns and Carols, Vol.2
CD 11 Songs with Texts by Hans Christian Andersen
CD 12 The Canon of Danish Song
CD 13 Songs with Texts by Jens Peter Jacobsen
CD 14 The New Carl Nielsen
CD 15 Danish Songs by Carl Nielsen and Thomas Laub, 1915
CD 16 Danish Songs by Carl Nielsen and Thomas Laub, 1917
CD 17 New Danish Songs
CD 18 Songs from the Borderlands