The Nielsen Nexus

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

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not edward

I find the 6th symphony and the clarinet concerto both to be superlative works, and somewhat of a piece. They're great examples of how a comparatively conservative composer can turn an ambivalent attitude towards more modern styles and techniques into something just as radical as those, merely differently so. And of how the symphonic/chamber music dichotomy can be utterly transcended.

One of these days I'll get the Frost recording--the reviews have been too consistently ecstatic for me to pass it up forever, though the original Cahuzac is a remarkable document in itself.

FWIW, if I absolutely had to choose a favourite symphony, I'd probably choose 5>6>4>3; the first movement of the 5th is an absolutely phenomenal creation--and extremely radical in its own way as well. In fact, my biggest issue with the 5th is a sense that performances of it have to solve the same issue as those of Mahler's 9th--how do you balance the weights of the first and last movements? Good as Bernstein and Tuxen (my favourite recordings thus far) are, I don't feel that the last movement answers all the questions posed in the first. But maybe that's part of the point? The sidestepping of the argument of the first movement of the 6th symphony certainly is.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

vandermolen

I like the 6th Symphony and regard it as one of the greatest of the cycle (with 5 and 4).  In spirit it reminds me of Shostakovich's 15th Symphony - there is a kind of gallows humour in both works.  I think that the opening movement of the 6th Symphony is genuinely tragic. I also love the Faroes Islands piece, Helios and Saga Drom.  there is a fine old Unicorn LP/CD with Horenstein conducting Symphony No 5 (with a great/manic side-drummer) coupled with Saga Drom. I like the Alexander Gibson recordings of Nielsen.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Vesteralen

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 21, 2011, 08:29:21 AM
I prefer the Dausgaard performance to Blomstedt's. I have not heard Chung's performance (yet). Do you own this recording?

I highly recommend it. Some very enthusiastic, authentic performances of some of Nielsen's other orchestral works.

I saw this recording recommended earlier on this thread, but I don't have it.  Yet;)

By the way, just a word of thanks for all the posts, old and new, on this thread.  I have to say that reading this thread (and a related link) has been the most enjoyable experience I've had yet on a classical music forum.  I know that not everybody loves Nielsen, or even gets him, but it's nice to know so many do.

I listened to the 'Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands' from the Blomstedt disc, and I'm sort of ashamed to say I didn't recognize it.  I guess I must have overlooked it in the past, for some odd reason.  Very nice.  I'm interested in hearing the version you recommended.

Vesteralen

Quote from: vandermolen on August 21, 2011, 01:46:01 PM
there is a fine old Unicorn LP/CD with Horenstein conducting Symphony No 5 (with a great/manic side-drummer) coupled with Saga Drom. I like the Alexander Gibson recordings of Nielsen.

Is this the same record that was released in the US in the late sixties or early seventies on the Nonesuch (LP) label?  If so, it was the very first Nielsen work I listened to.  I don't know why it took me another twenty years or so to look into more of his works.

I've seen Horenstein's Fifth recommended earlier on this thread.  I'm guessing there was only the one recording, but I'm not sure.

vandermolen

I have the studio recording (Unicorn) but there's also a live version on BBC Legends which I don't know (with Mahler Symphony 6).
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

eyeresist

I have yet to take to Nielsen, but I notice here there seems to be a consensus for the 5th as possibly the greatest of the cycle.  I have Jensen (rereleased on Eloquence) and the earlier Blomstedt, neither of which has sold me. Anyone want to play duelling recommendations? ;)

Mirror Image

Quote from: Vesteralen on August 21, 2011, 01:52:46 PM
I saw this recording recommended earlier on this thread, but I don't have it.  Yet;)

By the way, just a word of thanks for all the posts, old and new, on this thread.  I have to say that reading this thread (and a related link) has been the most enjoyable experience I've had yet on a classical music forum.  I know that not everybody loves Nielsen, or even gets him, but it's nice to know so many do.

I listened to the 'Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands' from the Blomstedt disc, and I'm sort of ashamed to say I didn't recognize it.  I guess I must have overlooked it in the past, for some odd reason.  Very nice.  I'm interested in hearing the version you recommended.

Nielsen's music is highly accessible to me. He is always direct and his music has purpose. Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands is a recent discovery of mine. I, too, have overlooked this work, but I'm glad I wised up and gave it a thorough listen, because it's become one of my favorite Nielsen pieces.

Lisztianwagner

Carl Nielsen was one of my main discoveries in 2011 and he quickly became one of my favourite composers :) His music sounds rather particular, with a style influenced both by the Russian tradition and the German atonality, but it is also incredibly powerful and passionate, showing a chromatic and expressive harmony, really very beautiful; it certainly touches my heart!
The symphonies, especially No.3 and No.4, are my favourite Nielsen's works, but other compositions I love are the Aladdin Suite, the Violin Concerto and the Maskarade Overture.
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

DieNacht

#208
QuoteI have yet to take to Nielsen, but I notice here there seems to be a consensus for the 5th as possibly the greatest of the cycle.  I have Jensen (rereleased on Eloquence) and the earlier Blomstedt, neither of which has sold me. Anyone want to play duelling recommendations?

Nielsen 5 / Bernstein, NYPO. One of the essential 10 discs of symphonies from the 20th century, IMO. By far the most dramatic version, incredible string and wind playing, I haven´t heard the finale that good elsewhere. Blomstedt has stated that he strived for the string effects in Bernstein´s recording, but couldn´t succeed. Blomstedt´s 4th/decca is very good, though.

jlaurson

Quote from: eyeresist on August 21, 2011, 05:20:37 PM
I have yet to take to Nielsen, but I notice here there seems to be a consensus for the 5th as possibly the greatest of the cycle.  I have Jensen (rereleased on Eloquence) and the earlier Blomstedt, neither of which has sold me. Anyone want to play duelling recommendations? ;)

I like Kubelik / Danish RSO / EMI, but am not sure if that'd be the version to 'wow' someone who doesn't already 'believe' in the symphony. And I've much enjoyed the recent LSO Live recording of it with Colin Davis.

I don't really know of an equivalent recording of the Fifth that parallels the one of the 2nd & 4th of Gould & Martinon (RCA)...



Sergeant Rock

Quote from: eyeresist on August 21, 2011, 05:20:37 PM
I have yet to take to Nielsen, but I notice here there seems to be a consensus for the 5th as possibly the greatest of the cycle.  I have Jensen (rereleased on Eloquence) and the earlier Blomstedt, neither of which has sold me. Anyone want to play duelling recommendations? ;)

Bernstein's is the best Fifth.

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"

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Vesteralen on August 21, 2011, 01:58:23 PM
Is this the same record that was released in the US in the late sixties or early seventies on the Nonesuch (LP) label?

Yes. Horenstein's Nonesuch and Unicorn performances are one and the same.

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"

not edward

Quote from: jlaurson on January 18, 2012, 10:37:22 PM
I like Kubelik / Danish RSO / EMI, but am not sure if that'd be the version to 'wow' someone who doesn't already 'believe' in the symphony. And I've much enjoyed the recent LSO Live recording of it with Colin Davis.

I don't really know of an equivalent recording of the Fifth that parallels the one of the 2nd & 4th of Gould & Martinon (RCA)...
Agree with those who're big admirers of Bernstein in the 5th, though I think the famous Tuxen live recording in Edinburgh may be even more electric. I don't find that either defines my view of the work in the way the CSO/Martinon Inextinguishable does, so I'm still looking for something different in the work--the Kubelik and Horenstein both intrigue me. (I've ended up not buying the Kubelik thus far because I have everything else on the 2-CD set.)

Revisited the Bryden Thomson recording of the 6th last night; I find the coupled 4th to be a bit of a turkey, but this 6th has to be one of the most underrated Nielsen recordings out there--the mix of innocence, nightmarish horror and bizarre humour is superbly projected here. Definitely my favourite reading of this--perhaps my favourite Nielsen symphony--thus far.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

Scion7

Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2011, 04:40:07 AM
And, love Nielsen's music though I do, he's a composer now faded practically into antiquity.
Apparently not in Denmark, at least.

I've recently been giving his chamber pieces a spin again.  Some of them are quite good (and often a bit experimental.)
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

lescamil

Saw Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto performed last night in the reduction for clarinet and piano in a brilliant performance by a few of my peers at my university. I am normally not a fan of reductions at all, but this gave a brand new perspective on the piece. The interplay between clarinet and piano was excellent and was more exciting than the version with orchestra we all know and love. I still like the orchestral version more (that's how it should be), but I have a new appreciation for what Nielsen did in that piece. Almost makes me wish he wrote a piano concerto.
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Karl Henning

Yes, I've played it in that reduction. Great piece!
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

calyptorhynchus

Quote from: eyeresist on August 21, 2011, 05:20:37 PM
I have yet to take to Nielsen, but I notice here there seems to be a consensus for the 5th as possibly the greatest of the cycle.  I have Jensen (rereleased on Eloquence) and the earlier Blomstedt, neither of which has sold me. Anyone want to play duelling recommendations? ;)

The one I have in my collection is the Horenstein, which I think is very great. However, I had an LP recoridng from EMI Classics backs in the 80s with Paavo Berglund and the Bornemouth Symphony Orchestra that sold me on the symphony (and Nielsen) (+Robert Simpson's Radio Three talks). I assume it was released on disk at some stage.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

71 dB

#217
Quote from: eyeresist on August 21, 2011, 05:20:37 PM
I have yet to take to Nielsen, but I notice here there seems to be a consensus for the 5th as possibly the greatest of the cycle. 

I'm not part of that consensus. For me Nielsen's fourth is the greatest of his symphonies.

From my point of view symphonies #2 and especially #3 are generally undervalued and symphony #5 is a bit overvalued if that is even possible with a symphonist as fine as Nielsen.

I have only one cycle (Leaper on Naxos). Other cycles might put these works in different light and even change the order. 
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calyptorhynchus

Just listening to Maskarade, and remembering what a wonderful opera that is. I was listening to it late at night and unfortunately fell asleep at the end of Act 2 (a comment on my tiredness, not the music). Have to listen to Act 3 tonight.

:)
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

Scion7

The best thing from Denmark since the cheese dessert!
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."