Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent. Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and lasts until Christmas Eve. In the northern hemisphere, it is the darkest time of the year, and in Denmark, we have a tradition of making an Advent wreath and lighting the first candle in the Advent wreath on the 1st Sunday of Advent. Sometimes, you also receive a small Advent gift 😊.

On November 22nd, the Danish composer Axel Borup-Jørgensen would have turned 100 years old. This milestone is being commemorated throughout the country this month with various concerts. Dacapo, which has previously released several albums featuring Axel Borup-Jørgensen's music, is launching a digital album where the guitar ensemble Cras performs his works.

Over the past 10 years, OUR Recordings has released 8 albums of Axel's music, and to mark this birthday, we are releasing an album of Axel Borup-Jørgensen's chamber music performed by the wonderful Esbjerg Ensemble and pianist Kristoffer Hyldig. The recording, produced by Mette Due, took place at the beautiful Endrupholm Manor House near Bramming, close to Esbjerg.

Today, OUR Recordings celebrates its 18th birthday! In Denmark, we have a tradition for birthdays, especially children’s birthdays: we order a special pastry from the bakery called a “cake man” or “cake woman.” For the occasion, I’ve ordered a fantastic "cake man" from my favorite bakery, Van Hauen, which has been in the same building on Gl. Kongevej in Frederiksberg since 1876, just 50 meters from my home. (A tempting neighbor! 😊)

In Denmark, an 18th birthday is something very special—it’s the day you earn the right to vote, and you are officially considered an adult!

Congratulations to Henrik Dam Thomsen!
Henrik's recording has received top ratings everywhere, and in this month's edition of Gramophone, it has been chosen as Editor's Choice.

It is with great pleasure that OUR Recordings today can release the album ESPANSIVA for 4 Hand piano with Rikke Sandberg and Kristoffer Hyldig. The arrangement was written by Carl Nielsen and has never been recorded before.
So, why a four-hand arrangement of an orchestral score you may ask? In the days before mechanical recordings, four hand arrangements were both a delightful social activity and an invaluable means of making large-scale works available for a larger audience as well as promote them to conductors and concert programmers.

It is with great pleasure that OUR Recordings today can release a single with the beautiful 3rd movement from Carl Nielsen’s 3rd Symphony ESPANSIVA Op. 27 for 4 Hand piano with Rikke Sandberg and Kristoffer Hyldig on various streaming platforms. The arrangement was written by Carl Nielsen and has never been recorded before.

It is with great pleasure that OUR Recordings today releases the entire SIX SUITES FOR CELLO SOLO by J.S. Bach’s featuring the Danish cello virtuoso Henrik Dam Thomsen. Henrik has been working with Bach’s cello suites since he was a child, and this recording is a very personal and powerful rendition that builds both on the common tradition and perception of these masterpieces, as well as a deep knowledge of historical performance practice (HIP).

It is with great pleasure that OUR Recordings today will release the second single from the album with J.S. Bach’s iconic SIX SUITES FOR CELLO SOLO featuring the Danish cello virtuoso Henrik Dam Thomsen. For the second single we have chosen the lively and danceable GIGUE from the third Suite in C Major.

Henrik has been working with Bach’s cello suites since he was a child, and this recording is a very personal and powerful rendition that builds both on the common tradition and perception of these masterpieces, as well as a deep knowledge of historical performance practice (HIP).

It is with great pleasure that OUR Recordings today will release a single with J.S. Bach’s iconic Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 1 featuring the Danish cello virtuoso Henrik Dam Thomsen. Henrik has been working with Bach’s cello suites since he was a child, and this recording is a very personal and powerful rendition that builds both on the common tradition and perception of these masterpieces, as well as a deep knowledge of historical performance practice (HIP).

It is a great pleasure for OUR Recordings to send out a newsletter with information about this album for 4-hand piano featuring two of Denmark's top pianists, Rikke Sandberg and Kristoffer Hyldig, both of whom have previously released albums with OUR Recordings.

The release is scheduled to have the worldwide release on September 6th.

In music, we can find peace, a place to recharge.
Music is a place where we can immerse ourselves—be self-forgetting. In music, we can find help to explore our own minds, preparing ourselves to comprehend the incomprehensible and unfathomable.
In music, we can find a community that enriches us.
Music can challenge, surprise, heal, and provoke, - taking us out of our usual ways of thinking and opening our minds to new possibilities.
Music also provides unique physical well-being and happiness through dance.

The past months have been busy for OUR Recordings with recordings, preparation for recordings, marketing, and music industry conferences. I attended the annual IAMA Conference in Bruges and Classical Next in Berlin. Both conferences were very exciting and rewarding. I met old friends, colleagues, and new wonderful people, and the topics chosen for sessions and panel discussions were both relevant and informative, and the speakers were highly competent. At both conferences, Artificial Intelligence (AI) had a significant and justified presence. If we, as the music industry, do not engage in providing content for training the robots, the Tech giants will decide, and we will be sidelined.

The symphonic rock music of the 1960s and 1970s aspired to great things and often drew upon classical tropes, particularly those suggesting the gravitas of J.S. Bach, sometimes using direct Bach quote, while at others, as in Penny Lane by The Beatles, suggesting the sound of the Baroque masters.

About the album
The symphonic rock music of the 1960s and 1970s aspired to great things and often drew upon classical tropes, particularly those suggesting the gravitas of J.S. Bach, sometimes using direct Bach quote, while at others, as in Penny Lane by The Beatles, suggesting the sound of the Baroque masters.

Today OUR Recordings have 2 new releases.

The Digital EP KYIV
The single Stairway to Heaven
From the album Stairway to Bach

This digital single HOPE is the first movement of the work KYIV in 4 movements written by the Danish composer and multi-instrumentalist Morten Jessen.