Danish conductor Erik Tuxen with Brahms

Three conductors stand out in Danish musical life during the years after the Second World War: Launy Grøndahl (1886-1960), Thomas Jensen (1898-1963) and

Erik Tuxen (1902-1957). All three were closely associated with the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra, then one of Europe's leading orchestras, and all three played an important part in bringing Carl Nielsen's music to an international audience through concerts, foreign tours and pioneering gramophone recordings. In recent years Danacord has issued extensive retrospective editions devoted to Launy Grøndahl and Thomas Jensen. With the present release, comprising previously unpublished Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra performances of Brahms's four symphonies from 1949 and 1951, Danacord turns it's attention to Erik Tuxen. Of the three conductors, Tuxen was the only one to establish an international career as a conductor. Whereas Grøndahl's commercial recordings were confined almost exclusively to Danish music, and Thomas Jensen's recordings of non-Nordic repertoire were made for the Danish label Tono primarily for the Danish market, Tuxen recorded Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Marche slave and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 4 for Decca, indicating that the record company regarded him not merely as an ambassador for Danish music, but as a conductor of broad artistic authority. He also appeared as guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra and other orchestras across the Americas, and guest conducted in several European countries.