The Nielsen Nexus

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

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DieNacht

#280
QuoteChung is very good in Symphonies 2 & 3, my preferred recordings of those.

In 2, there is of course also Morton Gould 8) but the slow movement with Chung for instance is great.
In 3, I like the monumental broadness of Chung.

Mirror Image

This recording looks interesting and it's one I've been looking at for years:

[asin]B000EHQ8BO[/asin]

But the question is: how are the performances?

DieNacht

Both are really great and unusually passionate, quite unmissable, but one needs broader versions of the works as well (especially the 1st movement of the 4th Symphony and the slow of the 2nd, IMO).

madaboutmahler

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 15, 2012, 02:57:51 PM
I liked the Salonen, disliked the Vanska. I can't remember the specifics of why I disliked the Vanska, but it seemed to me the performances weren't that energetic at all. The sound quality was also not as good as some of BIS' other productions, which, to me, was pretty surprising and disappointing.

Sounds the complete opposite to what I have heard of his Sibelius cycle then! Thanks for the feedback, John. :)

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 15, 2012, 02:59:04 PM
Looks like the Gilbert Nielsen cycle is in full-swing now:

[asin]B007VH6HHU[/asin]

Heard about this cycle last summer, looks exciting!

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 15, 2012, 03:02:32 PM
Like Erato mentioned, you might as well buy the Dacapo Nielsen box set now. You'll not only have this Dausgaard recording, but also Schonwandt's fine Nielsen symphony cycle (on 3 CDs and 2 DVDs). If I had known Dacapo was coming out with this box set, I would have bought it instead of buying all the recordings individually. Now, you have the advantage of buying the box set.

I would love to own that set, as I also want those Schonwandt symphony recordings. As it's a little more expensive, I might have to wait a little longer.....

"Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy"
— Ludwig van Beethoven

madaboutmahler

Quote from: Mirror Image on May 16, 2012, 07:42:28 AM
Yeah, I remember Symphony No. 1 being very good for a first symphony. I think Nielsen was 22 or 23 years old when he composed it. I'm getting a kick out of Nielsen's non-symphonic works too like Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands, Helios Overture, Pan and Syrinx, the concerti, and Saga-drom. What cool works. When my Chung set arrives, I'm definitely going to be in a Nielsen phase.

I have always loved the 1st symphony too, an extremely enjoyable piece.

Oh, I love those non-symphonic pieces you mention too. They show exactly how imaginative a composer Nielsen was. :)
"Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy"
— Ludwig van Beethoven

71 dB

I haven't listened to Nielsen much lately, in fact I think it has been years since I listened to the symphonies.  ??? I did listen to his String Quartets some time ago.

Nothing wrong with Carl Nielsen (one of my favorite composers). There is just so much music to listen to and so little time for it. Tangerine Dream, King Crimson and Carly Simon have "robbed" a lot listening time from other music!

Nielsen's violin, clarinet and flute concertos could be nice works to re-visit in the near future...
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eyeresist

Quote from: karlhenning on May 16, 2012, 04:33:21 AMBut on the lines of Benedick's Postulate (Doth not the appetite alter?) . . . at some point, try not by assaying the whole box, but with, say, the Clarinet Concerto (a piece to which I hardly think the descriptors dull or soulless gain any purchase), whcih is particularly good in the Bostock box.

I certainly will return to Nielsen at some point, but in the meantime - there's Hartmann!

So I'll see you fellows in a couple of years....


* Receding footsteps. Door opens and shuts. Silence. *

DieNacht

#287
QuoteChung is very good in Symphonies 2 & 3, my preferred recordings of those.

Re-heard the Nielsen 2nd with Chung and Morton Gould. I must say that Gould is now my favourite, but that the "Andante Malincolico" should be slower at times, IMO. 

Chung in the 3rd "Espansiva" however remains my favourite, a monumental and broad reading, yet with plenty of drive and sense of line, with great sound and playing. He has also recorded a very good "Aladdin"-suite and a great Clarinet Concerto with Schill.




Karl Henning

Quote from: eyeresist on May 16, 2012, 07:25:14 PM
I certainly will return to Nielsen at some point, but in the meantime - there's Hartmann!

Hartmann? I'm in!
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

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: DieNacht on May 17, 2012, 12:09:26 AM
Chung in the 3rd "Espansiva" however remains my favourite, a monumental and broad reading, yet with plenty of drive and sense of line, with great sound and playing. He has also recorded a very good "Aladdin"-suite and a great Clarinet Concerto with Schill.

I'll have to give Chung a listen...it's been a few years.

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"

Karl Henning

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

DieNacht

#291
I might be wrong, but there hasn´t been much discussion of the piano works here, has there ?

The "Chaconne" for instance is a fine work, and performances are very different from each other; the "Symphonic Suite", "Theme and Variations", and "Humoresque Bagatelles" are likewise fine, whereas I haven´t digged much into the late "3 Piano Pieces" yet, apparently some of his most experimental works ...


not edward

Quote from: DieNacht on June 02, 2012, 01:40:41 AM
I might be wrong, but there hasn´t been much discussion of the piano works here, has there ?

The "Chaconne" for instance is a fine work, and performances are very different from each other; the "Symphonic Suite", "Theme and Variations", and "Humoresque Bagatelles" are likewise fine, whereas I haven´t digged much into the late "3 Piano Pieces" yet, apparently some of his most experimental works ...
The Andsnes disc of solo piano works is essential listening as far as I'm concerned (particularly for the "Lucifer-Suite" and the late Three Piano Pieces). Also on this disc are the Chaconne and some early works. I'm in the dark as to the best recording of the Theme and Variations, though (I've been at least vaguely interested by Roscoe on Hyperion and the reiussed Koppel in the new DaCapo box set). I don't think the Naxos recordings with Peter Seivewright can be regarded as competitive, though.
"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

Karl Henning

Hm, I know I've got a disc of piano works at home, not sure who the pianist is.

Nor have I yet gotten to the piano discs in The Masterworks, Vol. 2 box — a stunner so far (I inhaled the vn-&-pf and vn solo disc, and just started in on the string quartets).

When I pre-ordered Vol. 2, the price was $28.82, which had been perfectly fair.  In the event, I was charged $14.50 for the box — and since the pre-order price qualified for the free shipping, Amazon honored that.

What the performances in this box demonstrate, is that Nielsen was an artist somewhat in the technical mold of Brahms — I mean, that even his earliest works (allowing for the fact that the first quartet [FS4] underwent some revision a decade after originally composed, and was subsequently published as his Op.13 [the second quartet had been published as Op.5]) show not merely assurance, but mastery.  It is exciting to hear the players treat this music as 'seriously' as the later oeuvre.
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

Leon

#294
Quote from: edward on June 03, 2012, 07:42:29 AM
The Andsnes disc of solo piano works is essential listening as far as I'm concerned (particularly for the "Lucifer-Suite" and the late Three Piano Pieces). Also on this disc are the Chaconne and some early works. I'm in the dark as to the best recording of the Theme and Variations, though (I've been at least vaguely interested by Roscoe on Hyperion and the reiussed Koppel in the new DaCapo box set). I don't think the Naxos recordings with Peter Seivewright can be regarded as competitive, though.

There are several complete recordings of the piano music on Spotify - one by Christina Bjorkoe, another one by Elizabeth Westenholz, a third by Anne Oland, and the one  by Herman Koppel.

I plan on listening to works from these four sets.

:)

nico1616

As much as I would like to be enthousiastic about Nielsen, I can not find the key to his music. I have tried some movements of his symphonies (Blomstedt's 5th and 6th on Decca), but I can not get a grip on the overall structure. The music seems so fragmented, and I can not find any big tune nor an attractive melodic figure.
Loving the symphonies of Sibelius, I had always thought Nielson could be something for me. Or are there no similarities whatsoever between the two composers?

Any recommendation where I should start, my preference would be a symphony. Which of them is the most accessible for a newbie?

Thanks in advance,
Nico
The first half of life is spent in longing for the second, the second half in regretting the first.

Mirror Image

Quote from: nico1616 on June 04, 2012, 02:01:22 PM
As much as I would like to be enthousiastic about Nielsen, I can not find the key to his music. I have tried some movements of his symphonies (Blomstedt's 5th and 6th on Decca), but I can not get a grip on the overall structure. The music seems so fragmented, and I can not find any big tune nor an attractive melodic figure.
Loving the symphonies of Sibelius, I had always thought Nielson could be something for me. Or are there no similarities whatsoever between the two composers?

Any recommendation where I should start, my preference would be a symphony. Which of them is the most accessible for a newbie?

Thanks in advance,
Nico

I don't think Nielsen is all too difficult to understand. I guess it's all a matter of if you're in-tune with his overall aesthetic or not. I would start with Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments" or Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable". I like all of Nielsen's symphonies, but these seem like approachable works for the newcomer. Also, the Violin Concerto and Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands are great places to start. I don't think Nielsen and Sibelius share that many similarities, but then again these are the same people lump Bruckner with Mahler or Debussy with Ravel. These composers couldn't be any more different from the other.

Karl Henning

Nico, you've got me a bit confused: I find attractive melody a-plenty in all of Nielsen's work!

But in a sense you are certainly right:  he isn't a Big Tune guy in the way that either Sibelius or Rakhmaninov is; he is more a Motive-and-Unfolding-Development composer, more like Beethoven or (better) Brahms.

Have you tried the Fourh Symphony, Det uudslukkelige?
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

Karl Henning

Quote from: edward on June 03, 2012, 07:42:29 AM
The Andsnes disc of solo piano works is essential listening as far as I'm concerned (particularly for the "Lucifer-Suite" and the late Three Piano Pieces). Also on this disc are the Chaconne and some early works.

My disc at home is Enid Katahn:



A bit annoying that the CD is just six tracks: one big track for (e.g.) the Theme & Variations, Op.40.

Andsnes is certainly a ready temptation . . . .
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

71 dB

Quote from: nico1616 on June 04, 2012, 02:01:22 PM
Loving the symphonies of Sibelius, I had always thought Nielson could be something for me. Or are there no similarities whatsoever between the two composers?

To me Nielsen and Sibelius are quite different composers. Nielsen's Helios Overture, Op. 17 is perhaps a bit Sibelius-like...

Quote from: nico1616 on June 04, 2012, 02:01:22 PMAny recommendation where I should start, my preference would be a symphony. Which of them is the most accessible for a newbie?

Hard to know what you find accessible but number 4 is my favorite of Nielsen's symphonies and the first one I heard. My jaw dropped on the floor when I heard it.

Number 2 recommended by Mirror Image is a good starting point too but number 4 is a better symphony.
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"