The Nielsen Nexus

Started by BachQ, April 12, 2007, 10:10:00 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Mirror Image

Quote from: 71 dB on April 25, 2017, 11:26:50 AM
Well, it's better to be a "Naxos guy" than nobody.  ;)

I do have 5 non-Naxos Nielsen discs:

Chamber Music 1 - Dacapo
Chamber Music 2 - Dacapo
Orchestral Music - Dacapo
Theatre Music - BIS
Choral Works - Chandos


Consider me a nobody, then. :) But in actuality, I'm probably more of the BIS guy around here since I own so much from their catalog.

Mirror Image

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on April 25, 2017, 07:09:21 AM
Now now. I haven't heard that one. In any case there is enough cheap bargain priced Nielsen out there with major conductors and major orchestras. What an embarassment of riches !

Yep, so much to choose from.

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on April 25, 2017, 07:09:21 AMHmmm I am surprised you don't particularly like Schumann's 4th Symphony then. It has a unifying theme and is the same "attaca" structure as Nielsen's 4th.

Yeah, I've never been a big fan of Schumann's orchestral music. I mean his symphonies are 'okay' and I can kind of understand their appeal, but compared to his contemporaries, his orchestral music doesn't come across as interesting enough for me. His chamber music is much more to my liking.

Turner

(((
Quote from: Mirror Image on April 25, 2017, 07:24:25 PM
Yeah, I've never been a big fan of Schumann's orchestral music. I mean his symphonies are 'okay' and I can kind of understand their appeal, but compared to his contemporaries, his orchestral music doesn't come across as interesting enough for me. His chamber music is much more to my liking.

and of course the Manfred Ouverture ... )))

71 dB

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 25, 2017, 06:17:03 PM
Consider me a nobody, then. :) But in actuality, I'm probably more of the BIS guy around here since I own so much from their catalog.

I have collected Suzuki's Bach Cantatas on BIS and it has been an expensive hobby.  ;D I am still missing volumes 51-54 and some of the secular cantatas discs. There's about 20 other BIS discs too including that Nielsen Theatre Music disc. So, I have about 75 BIS discs (around 500 Naxos CDs).
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

Mirror Image

Quote from: 71 dB on April 26, 2017, 12:42:27 AM
I have collected Suzuki's Bach Cantatas on BIS and it has been an expensive hobby.  ;D I am still missing volumes 51-54 and some of the secular cantatas discs. There's about 20 other BIS discs too including that Nielsen Theatre Music disc. So, I have about 75 BIS discs (around 500 Naxos CDs).

I couldn't even tell you how many BIS recordings I own.

PerfectWagnerite

Quote from: 71 dB on April 26, 2017, 12:42:27 AM
I have collected Suzuki's Bach Cantatas on BIS and it has been an expensive hobby.  ;D I am still missing volumes 51-54 and some of the secular cantatas discs. There's about 20 other BIS discs too including that Nielsen Theatre Music disc. So, I have about 75 BIS discs (around 500 Naxos CDs).
Someone bought Volume II (10cds) of that BACH cantata cycle from me for $250 :-*

It was in shrinkwrap and not opened. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have brand new cds but the urge not to open them?

Mirror Image

#786
Getting back to Nielsen, I'd love to hear all of you guys thoughts on his Sinfonia semplice. What do you think this symphony means? What do you think Nielsen is trying to get across to the listener?

I'll get the ball rolling with something I wrote in my review from a few days ago:

"Symphony No. 6, Sinfonia semplice" - The oddball of Nielsen's symphony cycle, but it's actually not so odd if you actually sit down and listen to it. When I finally understood this symphony, I was so happy that I persevered and continued trying to wrap my mind around it. This work contains some gnarly dissonances and is possibly the most forward-looking of all of his symphonies. There are many sporadic episodes here and there and sometimes you may wonder what relevance do any of them have in connection with each other, but you soon realize that the nature of this symphony, or, at least in my opinion, is that life as Nielsen knew it was coming to an end (he was quite in ill health whenever he wrote what would be his final symphony) and these episodes reveal a troubled mind, but also someone who was continuing to question the existence of all things. In this regard, this is actually the most tragic of all his symphonies and it reminds one of how our time is indeed quite limited.

TheGSMoeller

The past year I've listened mostly to the 2nd and 6th symphonies, primarily growing a new fondness for the 6th, which I may even find more brilliantly composed than the 3 that came before it. I don't ever think about the meaning of the 6th, or what Nielsen is trying to communicate, but rather just enjoy getting lost in the music. It's like a Jackson Pollock painting that uses every possible color, you can see, or hear, the various textures and colors, but the meaning can be interpreted differently for each viewer.


Mirror Image

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on April 27, 2017, 03:40:05 AM
The past year I've listened mostly to the 2nd and 6th symphonies, primarily growing a new fondness for the 6th, which I may even find more brilliantly composed than the 3 that came before it. I don't ever think about the meaning of the 6th, or what Nielsen is trying to communicate, but rather just enjoy getting lost in the music. It's like a Jackson Pollock painting that uses every possible color, you can see, or hear, the various textures and colors, but the meaning can be interpreted differently for each viewer.

Sure, but you feel something for the music or, otherwise, you'd have no reason to return to it. :)

Mirror Image

I'd also add that there's quite a sardonic edge to Nielsen's Sinfonia semplice that makes it highly attractive to me.

Mirror Image

Not sure if I posted this before, but I'd love to see this Nielsen documentary digitally restored and available for purchase as it has some insightful commentary throughout:

https://www.youtube.com/v/r0a1CPcTDEA

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 27, 2017, 07:06:15 AM
I'd also add that there's quite a sardonic edge to Nielsen's Sinfonia semplice that makes it highly attractive to me.

I agree with this. There's also an air of mystery with the work, it's never obvious with its direction, which I love. Even when I revisit the 6th after many listens I still continue to find, or hear, new things. Its a constant discovery, which might be why I'm starting to find this to be the most intriguing of Nielsen's symphonies.

Karl Henning

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on April 30, 2017, 03:29:24 AM
I agree with this. There's also an air of mystery with the work, it's never obvious with its direction, which I love. Even when I revisit the 6th after many listens I still continue to find, or hear, new things. Its a constant discovery, which might be why I'm starting to find this to be the most intriguing of Nielsen's symphonies.

The delicate ambiguity of the work, in contrast to the many bold, clear statements of the earlier symphonies, "beguiles my sad fancy into smiling."
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 30, 2017, 03:31:39 AM
The delicate ambiguity of the work, in contrast to the many bold, clear statements of the earlier symphonies, "beguiles my sad fancy into smiling."

+1 Cheers, Karl:)

Madiel

I can't recall whether I've shared this article on the 3rd symphony before.  Them's some fighting words about interpretations...

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/the-gramophone-blog/re-thinking-nielsen%E2%80%99s-centennial-symphony
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Mirror Image

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 30, 2017, 03:31:39 AMThe delicate ambiguity of the work, in contrast to the many bold, clear statements of the earlier symphonies, "beguiles my sad fancy into smiling."

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on April 30, 2017, 03:29:24 AMI agree with this. There's also an air of mystery with the work, it's never obvious with its direction, which I love. Even when I revisit the 6th after many listens I still continue to find, or hear, new things. Its a constant discovery, which might be why I'm starting to find this to be the most intriguing of Nielsen's symphonies.

Thanks for your feedback, gentlemen. I almost felt like a person yelling on top of a mountain and there's not a soul in sight. :)

Mirror Image

#796
Quote from: ørfeo on April 30, 2017, 05:22:01 AM
I can't recall whether I've shared this article on the 3rd symphony before.  Them's some fighting words about interpretations...

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/the-gramophone-blog/re-thinking-nielsen%E2%80%99s-centennial-symphony

I agree with the writer about Blomstedt's San Francisco Espansiva. It's not too good. I haven't heard his earlier Danish account. One thing the writer did not talk about much was which performances he preferred other than a mention of the Horenstein, Salonen, and Schønwandt performances. Of course, I don't agree with his choices here either. :)

PerfectWagnerite

Regarding the 6th, it is certainly a bit peculiar. Even in its orchestration where the orchestral force is rather modest, except Nielsen called for a variety of percussion instruments. There are moments where it always sounds like Stravinsky wrote it (especially the second mvt) but I can't recall off the top of my head what Stravinsky has written around 1920-1925 that is of this style.

I think part of the reason it is less popular with audiences is that it closes with a theme and variations mvt and not with a bang like most symphonies. I can only think of Brahm's 4th that closes with such a form but Brahms does certainly close it out with a bang. It is the same reason Sibelius 1st has been at times been criticized because the finale isn't as high octaned as we have grown to expect in a symphony. It is also a bit different from Nielsen's other symphonies where there is always something tugging at one another, one musical idea fighting another. Here they more or less co-exist and become inseparable.

Anyway I think it is a great work, not nearly as simple as the name suggests.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: ørfeo on April 30, 2017, 05:22:01 AM
I can't recall whether I've shared this article on the 3rd symphony before.  Them's some fighting words about interpretations...

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/the-gramophone-blog/re-thinking-nielsen%E2%80%99s-centennial-symphony
Quote from: Mirror Image on April 30, 2017, 06:11:06 AM
I agree with the writer about Blomstedt's San Francisco Espansiva. It's not too good.

Thanks for the link, ørfeo. I agree with the critic about Blomstedt. I have 16 Nielsen Thirds; Blomstedt's is the one I really dislike (which I've mentioned many times in the past). The first movement seems robotic: metronome driven as though no human conductor is involved. There is no feeling of catharsis in the development's climactic waltz.

My favorites (especially the first four): Bernstein, Oramo, Kuchar, Schmidt, Rozhdestvensky, Salonen, Bostock, and the historical Frandsen.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Turner

#799
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxMcjkWRChw

Nielsen: 4th Symphony - Juanjo Mena, DRSO (2015)

Holy moly. This is quite good.
Unfortunately no CD release.

Mena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanjo_Mena