Carl August Nielsen (9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
,
conductorConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
, and
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
ist from
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
. 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 YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry published by Condé Nast Publications...
, and rising young conductors such as
Gustavo DudamelGustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the Conductor and Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California.-Biography:...
and
Alan GilbertAlan Gilbert is an American violinist and conductor. He is currently the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, and made his debut performance as the orchestra's music director on September 16, 2009.-Early years:...
are now playing Nielsen's music in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six
symphoniesA symphony is an extended musical composition, scored almost always for orchestra. "Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form though most are composed according to the sonata principle...
and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet.
Carl Nielsen appears on the Danish hundred-kroner note.
Early years
Nielsen was the seventh of twelve children in a poor peasant family in
SortelungSortelung is a small village in on the Danish island of Funen. It is located near Nørre Lyndelse and south of the city of Odense.The village is known for being the birth place of composer and violinist Carl Nielsen....
(Nørre Lyndelse), south of the city of
OdenseThe city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark. The name Odense comes from the Norse god Odin.Odense city has a population of 158,678 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
. His father was a house painter and amateur musician. Carl first discovered music by experimenting with the sounds and pitches he heard when striking logs in a pile of firewood behind his home. Nielsen also considered the wistful songs his mother sang and the wedding parties and other festivities at which his father played violin and coronet as other formative musical experiences. Other inspirational sources for his music would become, as David Fanning writes in the
New Grove, "the underlying animating forces of nature and human character. They were to become sources of inspiration for his own music, as archetypal embodiments of oneness and conflict respectively."
Nielsen learned the
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
and
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
as a child and wrote his earliest compositions at the age of eight or nine—a lulaby, now lost, and a polka which the composer notated in his autobiography. He also learned how to play
brass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
s, which led to a job as a
buglerThe bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure, since the bugle has no other mechanism for controlling pitch. Consequently, the bugle is limited to notes within the harmonic series...
and
altoAlto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high", that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence, for...
trombonistThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
in the 16th Battalion at nearby
OdenseThe city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark. The name Odense comes from the Norse god Odin.Odense city has a population of 158,678 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
from the beginning of 1884 until December 1886. Though not an outstanding student there and composing little, he progressed well in violin under Valdemar Tofte and received a solid grounding in
music theoryMusic theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composers' techniques. In a grand sense, music theory distills and analyzes the parameters or elements of music – rhythm, harmony , melody,...
from Orla Rosenhoff, who would remain a valued adviser during Nielsen's early years as a professional composer. Contacts with fellow students and cultured families in Copenhagen, some of which would become lifelong friends, would become equally important. The patchy education resulting from his country background left Nielsen insatiably curious about the arts, philosophy and aesthetics; it also left him, Faning writes, "with a highly personal, common man's point of view on those subjects."
Nielsen progressed well enough on the violin to gain a position with the orchestra of the Royal Theater in Copenhagen in September 1889, three years after his graduation from the conservatory. This position would sometimes cause Nielsen considerable frustration but he continued to play there until 1905. In between graduation and attaining this position, he gave violin lessons, made a modest income as a teacher and enjoyed continued support from patrons. Some of Nielsen's string chamber works were performed at this time; these included a Quartet in F which the composer considered his official debut as a professional composer. However, the greatest impression was made by Nielsen's Suite for Strings, which was performed at Tivoli Hall on September 8, 1888. Nielsen would designate this work his Opus 1.
Marriage
After less than a year at the Royal Theater, Nielsen won a scholarship of 1800
kronerThe krone is the currency of Denmark, including the autonomous provinces of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The krone is pegged to the euro via the European Union's exchange rate mechanism. The plural form is "kroner" and one krone is divided into 100 øre, the singular form being the same as the...
, allowing him the means to travel several months in Europe. During this time he discovered and abandoned
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
's music dramas, heard many of the leading orchestras and soloists in Europe and sharpened his opinions on both music and the visual arts. While revering the music of
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
, he remained ambivalent about much 19th century music. In Paris he met the Danish sculptress Anna Marie Brodersen, who was also traveling on scholarship. They toured Italy together, marrying in
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
in March 10, 1891 before returning to Denmark.
"As well as being a love match," Fanning writes, "it was also a meeting of minds. Anne Marie was a gifted artist.... She was also a strong-willed and modern-minded woman, determined to forge her own career." This determination would strain the Nielsens' marriage, as Anne Marie would go for months on location during the 1890s and 1900s, leaving Carl to raise their three young children while fitting in his duties at the Royal Theater and time to compose. While Carl suggested divorce in March 1905, the Nielsens remained married for the remainder of the composer's life. Carl sublimated his anger and frustration over his marriage in a number of musical works, most notably between 1897 and 1904, a period to which he sometimes referred as his "psychological" period. Fanning writes, "At this time his interest in the driving forces behind human personality crystallized in the opera
Saul og David and the
Second Symphony ("De fire temperamenter")The Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments" is the second symphony by Danish composer Carl Nielsen written in 1901 to 1902 and dedicated to Ferruccio Busoni. It was first performed in 1 December 1902 for the Danish Concert Association, with Nielsen himself conducting...
and the cantatas
Hymnus amoris and
Søvnen.
Mature composer
At first, he did not gain enough recognition for his works to support him. During the concert which saw the premiere of his first
symphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition, scored almost always for orchestra. "Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form though most are composed according to the sonata principle...
on 14 March 1894 conducted by
Johan SvendsenJohan Severin Svendsen was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania , Norway, he lived most his life in Copenhagen, Denmark...
, Nielsen played in the second
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
section. However, the same symphony was a great success when played in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1896, and from then his fame grew. Nielsen became increasingly in demand to write
incidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack."...
for the theater and for
cantataA cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and often containing more than one movement.-Historical context:...
s to mark special occasions; these provided a welcome source of additional income. "A reciprocal relationship grew up between his programmatic and symphonic works," Fanning writes; "sometimes he would find stageworthy ideas in his supposedly pure orchestral music; sometimes a text or scenario forced him to invent vivid musical imagery which he could later turn to more abstract use."
Beginning in 1901, Nielsen received a modest state pension—800 kronen at first, growing to 7500 kronen by 1927—to augment his violinist's salary. This allowed him to stop taking private pupils and left more time to compose. From 1903 he also had an annual retainer from his principal publisher, Wilhelm Hansen Edition. Between 1905 and 1914 he served as second conductor at the Royal Theatre. From 1914-26, he conducted the orchestra of "Musikforeningen". In 1916 he took a post teaching at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and continued to work there until his death, in his last year as director of the institute.
Personally, the strain of dual careers and constant separation from his wife led to more than one extra-marital affair. When the last one came to light, between Nielsen and the governess of his children, the result was an eight-year breach in his marriage. During much of this time Carl and Anne Marie lived apart and the period lead to a creative crisis for Nielsen, bringing about a powerful reappraisal of himself as a composer. This, along with
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and professional developments in his life, would strongly influence his
FourthThe Symphony No. 4 Op. 29 FS 76, The Inextinguishable by Carl Nielsen, was completed in 1916. This symphony is among the most dramatic that Nielsen wrote, featuring a 'battle' between two sets of timpani.-Origin:...
and
Fifth SymphoniesThe Symphony No. 5 by Danish composer Carl Nielsen was completed on 15 January 1922 and first performed in Copenhagen on 24 January 1922 with the composer conducting...
, arguably his greatest works.
For his son-in-law, the Hungarian violinist Dr. Emil Telmanyi, Nielsen wrote his Violin Concerto op. 33 (1911).
Nielsen suffered a serious heart attack in 1925 and from that time on he was forced to curtail much of his activity, although he continued to compose until his death. Also during this period he wrote a delightful memoir of his childhood called
My Childhood on Funen (1927). He also produced a short book of essays entitled
Living Music (1925). Both have been translated into English. He died in Copenhagen in 1931.
Music
Nielsen is best known for his six
symphoniesA symphony is an extended musical composition, scored almost always for orchestra. "Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form though most are composed according to the sonata principle...
. Other well-known pieces are the
incidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack."...
for
Adam Oehlenschläger'sAdam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature.-Biography:He was born in Vesterbro, then a suburb of Copenhagen, on November 14, 1779...
drama
Aladdin, the
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s
Saul og DavidSaul og David is the first of the two operas by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen. The four-act libretto, by Einar Christiansen, tells the Biblical story of Saul's jealousy of the young David, taken from the Book of Samuel. The first performance was at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen on 28...
and
MaskaradeMaskarade is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg....
, the
concertiThe term Concerto is usually a three-part musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra...
for flute, violin, and
clarinetCarl Nielsen's Concerto for Clarinet and orchestra, op. 57 [D.F.129] was written for Danish clarinetist Aage Oxenvad in 1928. The concerto is presented in one long movement, with four distinct theme groups.- History :...
, the
wind quintetA wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players . The term also applies to a composition for such a group....
, and the
Helios Overture-Overview:Besides his well-known Six Symphonies, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote many short orchestral works, one of the most famous being Helios Overture...
, which depicts the passage of the sun in the sky from dawn to nightfall. The vast majority of
DanesDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
know and sing the numerous songs by various poets, set to music by Carl Nielsen.
Like his contemporary, the Finn
Jean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity....
, he studied Renaissance
polyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
closely, which accounts for much of the melodic and harmonic "feel" of his music.
Nielsen's works are sometimes referred to by FS numbers, from the 1965 catalog compiled by Dan Fog and Torben Schousboe.
Symphonies
Nielsen's approach to
sonata formSonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical period. While it is typically used in the first movement of multimovement pieces, it is sometimes employed in subsequent movements as well...
, 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 minorThe Symphony No. 1 in G minor is the first orchestral symphony of Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Written between 1891 and 1892, it was dedicated to his wife, Anne Marie Nielsen. The work's première, on 14 March, 1894 was performed by Johan Svendsen conducting the Chapel Royal Orchestra , with...
(1890-92) already shows his individuality and hints at what
Robert SimpsonRobert Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster....
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 temperamentsFour Temperaments is a theory of psychology that stems from the ancient medical concept of humorism, or "humours" in UK English.- History and development :Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient four humors theory...
(choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine), inspired him to write
Symphony No. 2, "The Four Temperaments"The Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments" is the second symphony by Danish composer Carl Nielsen written in 1901 to 1902 and dedicated to Ferruccio Busoni. It was first performed in 1 December 1902 for the Danish Concert Association, with Nielsen himself conducting...
(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"Symphony No. 3 by Carl Nielsen was written between 1910 and 1911. It typically lasts around 33 minutes.It followed Nielsen's tenure as bandmaster at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen...
(1910-11) was premiered in the same concert as the
Violin Concerto. The second movement contains wordless solos for
sopranoA soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
and
baritoneBaritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
voices (which can be played by
clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
and
tromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
if voices are not available).
Symphony No. 4 : Perhaps the best known of Nielsen's symphonies is
Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable"The Symphony No. 4 Op. 29 FS 76, The Inextinguishable by Carl Nielsen, was completed in 1916. This symphony is among the most dramatic that Nielsen wrote, featuring a 'battle' between two sets of timpani.-Origin:...
(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
timpaniTimpani are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper, and more recently, constructed of more lightweight fiberglass. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick...
are placed on opposite sides of the stage as a sort of musical duel.
Symphony No. 5 :
Symphony No. 5The Symphony No. 5 by Danish composer Carl Nielsen was completed on 15 January 1922 and first performed in Copenhagen on 24 January 1922 with the composer conducting...
, 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
percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration...
: 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 FestivalThe Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
, where it caused a sensation.
Symphony No. 6 : Even Robert Simpson was at first confused by Nielsen's
Symphony No. 6, "Semplice"In August 1924 Carl Nielsen began working on a Sixth Symphony, which turned out to be his last one. By the end of October he wrote to Carl Johan Michaelsen:...
(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.
Historical Recordings
Nielsen did not record any of his works (he did not believe in the
medium). However, three younger contemporary conductors,
Thomas JensenThomas Jensen was a Danish orchestra conductor.Born in Copenhagen, Jensen led several Danish ensembles, including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra ....
,
Launy GrøndahlLauny Grøndahl was a Danish composer and conductor. Grøndahl studied the violin from the age of eight. His first work as a professional musician was as a violinist was with the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen when he was aged just thirteen.He was also for a long period of time the...
, and
Erik TuxenErik Olaf Tuxen was a German-born orchestra conductor, composer and arranger, who worked for most of his life in Denmark....
, who had worked with him, did record his symphonies and other orchestral works, and their recordings are therefore considered to be the most 'authentic' Nielsen available.
- Symphony No. 1: Thomas Jensen - 1952 (Decca
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades...
)
- Symphony No. 2: Thomas Jensen - 1947 (EMI
The EMI Group is a British music company. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major publishing arm- EMI Music Publishing- based in New York City...
)
- Symphony No. 3: Erik Tuxen - 1946 (Decca)
- Symphony No. 4: Launy Grøndahl - 1951 (EMI)
- Symphony No. 5: Erik Tuxen - 1950 (EMI); Thomas Jensen - 1954 (Decca - first LP recording)
- Symphony No. 6: Thomas Jensen - 1952 (Tono, a Danish label)
These recordings are all by the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra, and all have been re-released on CD by Dutton Records (GB), except No. 6 which was transferred to CD by the Danish DANACORD Records.
"Objektivering"
By this term Nielsen meant an aesthetic approach wherein the instruments, or the players operating them, are given leave to assert their individual intentions, as interpreted by the composer. At the time Nielsen was writing the Fifth Symphony, with its sometimes violent disruption by the snare drum, he also produced the Wind Quintet, Op. 43 for a group of wind players whom he knew well personally. He resolved to write a concerto for each man, but completed only the ones for flute and clarinet. The latter (1928) immortalizes a clarinetist known for being irascible, and uses this character as a means of commenting on the anxious world condition at the time.
Media
External links