Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
The Six Symphonies (3CD)
Unicorn-Kanchana
3 Discs
FLAC


London Symphony Orchestra
Ole Schmidt - conductor

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Carl August Nielsen (9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a composer, conductor, and violinist from Denmark. His works have long been well known in Denmark and they have been "a mainstay throughout the Nordic countries and, to a lesser extent, in Britain," noted the critic Alex Ross in 2008 in The New Yorker, and rising young conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel and Alan Gilbert are now playing Nielsen's music in the United States.

Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six symphonies and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet.

Carl Nielsen appears on the Danish hundred-kroner note.

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Symphonies

Nielsen's approach to sonata form, as seen in his six symphonies, is one of gradual abandonment. In considering the first movements of each symphony in turn, the first two reveal Nielsen working fairly comfortably within the confines of sonata form as later 19th century composers saw it; the middle two include certain high-level references to sonata form but little of the detail, and the last two inhabit a completely new world of Nielsen's own devising, wherein the structure of the movement can only be understood within the context of the material he is working with. By that point in his output there are no more parallels with any other forms or past traditions of musical construction. The subtitles Nielsen used are only very general signposts of intent, not indicating specific story-telling qualities.

Symphony No. 1

    Nielsen's early Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1890-92) already shows his individuality and hints at what Robert Simpson calls "progressive tonality", by which he refers to Nielsen's habit of beginning a work in one key and ending in another. It was written at the same time as, and shares some qualities with, the Holstein songs of Op. 10.

Symphony No. 2

    A painting Nielsen saw at an inn, depicting the four temperaments (choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine), inspired him to write Symphony No. 2, "The Four Temperaments" (1901-02). It is in four movements, each illuminating one of the temperaments, but despite this apparent tendency toward being a suite of tone poems, it is a fully integrated symphony. It is not true "program music" but rather a group of general character sketches, and one need not know which temperament Nielsen is considering in order to appreciate the work as a whole.

Symphony No. 3

    Symphony No. 3, "Espansiva" (1910-11) was premiered in the same concert as the Violin Concerto. The second movement contains wordless solos for soprano and baritone voices (which can be played by clarinet and trombone if voices are not available).

Symphony No. 4

    Perhaps the best known of Nielsen's symphonies is Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable"
(1914-16). It is in four connected movements and is the most dramatic Nielsen had written to date. In the last movement two sets of timpani are placed on opposite sides of the stage as a sort of musical duel.

Symphony No. 5

    Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 (1921-22) is the second of two of Nielsen's symphonies that lack a subtitle. Like Symphony no. 4, it has very dramatic use of percussion: at the climax of the first movement – which itself consists of two large structures joined to one another – the snare drummer is instructed to improvise "as if at all costs to stop the progress of the orchestra." The second of the two large movements rises out of the ashes of the first, like a train ride into a better, post-World-War-I future. This symphony is the one by which Nielsen's music made its first significant post-war impact outside Scandinavia, when the Danish Radio Symphony, conducted by Erik Tuxen, performed it at the 1950 Edinburgh International Festival, where it caused a sensation.

Symphony No. 6

    Even Robert Simpson was at first confused by Nielsen's Symphony No. 6, "Semplice" (1924-25). It is not as obviously dramatic as the previous two and in some ways it strikes listeners as strange. After an anything but "simple", in fact tragic first movement, the second is only scored for nine instruments of the orchestra (piccolo, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, "sneering" trombone, and percussion) and represents Nielsen's commentary on trends in modern musical composition at the time (the mid-1920s). It is by far the most elusive of his symphonies to grasp, yet its very subtle architectural structure coupled with its enigmatic emotional tone make it a challenging, fascinating, and ultimately rewarding listening experience.

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CD1
Symphony No.3 "Sinfonia Espansiva"
Symphony No.2 "The Four Temperaments"

CD2
Symphony No.4 "L'Inestinguibile"
Symphony No.1

CD3
Symphony No.5
Symphony No.6 "Sinfonia Semplice"

Jill Gomez - soprano (Sym No.3)
Brian Rayner Cook - baritone (Sym No.3)



Recorded: December 1973 & January 1974, Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London

Unicorn-Kanchana UK CD 2000/1/2 (3CD) (1987) Made in the UK

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