The Nielsen Nexus

[Mirror Image]

I have the Bernstein too - it is excellent. It is in a Sony set featuring Ormandy's recording of Symphony 6 which is IMHO the greatest one I know of that symphony. My brother likes No.6 best of all and 5 least of all. 5,6,4 are my favourites.

Upon your recommendation, I bought Ormandy's 6th. I'm really looking forward to hearing it. Your brother likes the 5th the least? Wow...I'd imagine we'd have some spirited arguments about this symphony (if I were to speak with him).

[vandermolen]

Upon your recommendation, I bought Ormandy's 6th. I'm really looking forward to hearing it. Your brother likes the 5th the least? Wow...I'd imagine we'd have some spirited arguments about this symphony (if I were to speak with him).

Am sure you'll love the Ormandy. Yes, my brother thinks that No.6 is the greatest of all. That first movement is wonderful - it tries to be cheerful but this is undermined by tragedy - a truly poignant and tragic work. Let us know what you think of the Ormandy. I have it with the Bernstein version of No.5 in the Sony Essential Classics set.

[Mirror Image]

Am sure you'll love the Ormandy. Yes, my brother thinks that No.6 is the greatest of all. That first movement is wonderful - it tries to be cheerful but this is undermined by tragedy - a truly poignant and tragic work. Let us know what you think of the Ormandy. I have it with the Bernstein version of No.5 in the Sony Essential Classics set.

Thanks, Jeffrey. I'm sure I will. The 6th was a work that came quite easily to me whereas for many listeners I've spoken with it remains a bit of an enigma. I think the undercurrents of this music, which, to me, sound menacing and almost apocalyptic, are masked by this outwardly strange, but good-natured exterior. It's almost like he's hiding and doesn't want to fully acknowledge what could possibly be his true intent. With the 5th, I think it's perfectly clear what we hear: this is a war symphony, but the 6th has this odd ongoing narrative that doesn't always let the listener in, but, like I mentioned, I had no problems with it and it should be just as well known as the middle symphonies IMHO.

[vandermolen]

Thanks, Jeffrey. I'm sure I will. The 6th was a work that came quite easily to me whereas for many listeners I've spoken with it remains a bit of an enigma. I think the undercurrents of this music, which, to me, sound menacing and almost apocalyptic, are masked by this outwardly strange, but good-natured exterior. It's almost like he's hiding and doesn't want to fully acknowledge what could possibly be his true intent. With the 5th, I think it's perfectly clear what we hear: this is a war symphony, but the 6th has this odd ongoing narrative that doesn't always let the listener in, but, like I mentioned, I had no problems with it and it should be just as well known as the middle symphonies IMHO.

Excellent analysis John - I agree with what you say although you expressed it much better. 

[Mirror Image]

Excellent analysis John - I agree with what you say although you expressed it much better. 

Thanks. Obviously words can't do the music any kind of justice, but we can certainly try!

[Karl Henning]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[Mirror Image]

Hah! I was about to post this! Yes, Happy Birthday, Mr. Carl August Nielsen!

[bhodges]

How nice! Maybe I'll go get a bottle of aquavit in his honor. :-)

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

How nice! Maybe I'll go get a bottle of aquavit in his honor. :-)

--Bruce

Bottoms up!

[Madiel]

I'm fairly amazed to discover that scores of all of Nielsen's works are available for free download:

http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/dcm/cnu/download.html

Instead of fighting madly to keep things in copyright forever, they're throwing it out there. Yes, they are also selling the kinds of versions you might need for performance in some cases, but fundamentally they're keen to get the music as wide a distribution as possible.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I use this site (for example the 4th symphony):

http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.4,_Op.29_(Nielsen,_Carl)

But pretty much everything else is available too...

[Madiel]

Yes, but IMSLP is a generic site, and occasionally it runs into trouble. This is rather different.

[vandermolen]

I attended a wonderful performance of Symphony 5 in London on Monday (Storgards, BBC Philharmonic) at the Proms. So great to hear this work live. My daughter asked me to take her to a classical concert and she and my niece thoroughly enjoyed it, including the modernist opening work for glass harmonica by Jorg Widmann (born 1973). Also included was The Tempest Prelude by Sibelius and the Violin Concerto by Schumann.

[Karl Henning]

I attended a wonderful performance of Symphony 5 in London on Monday (Storgards, BBC Philharmonic) at the Proms. So great to hear this work live. My daughter asked me to take her to a classical concert and she and my niece thoroughly enjoyed it, including the modernist opening work for glass harmonica by Jorg Widmann (born 1973). Also included was The Tempest Prelude by Sibelius and the Violin Concerto by Schumann.

Cool! (If only it had been the Schuman Violin Concerto )

[Mirror Image]

I attended a wonderful performance of Symphony 5 in London on Monday (Storgards, BBC Philharmonic) at the Proms. So great to hear this work live. My daughter asked me to take her to a classical concert and she and my niece thoroughly enjoyed it, including the modernist opening work for glass harmonica by Jorg Widmann (born 1973). Also included was The Tempest Prelude by Sibelius and the Violin Concerto by Schumann.

Very nice, Jeffrey. If only they would have performed Nielsen's "Violin Concerto" instead of Schumann's. Who was the violinist by the way?

[PerfectWagnerite]

Cool! (If only it had been the Schuman Violin Concerto )

You like that piece? It seems rather meandering and long, anyway not surprised it is so infrequently performed.

[calyptorhynchus]

...And I've always thought that Nielsen's Violin Concerto is inexplicably poor compared to his other works.

[CRCulver]

...And I've always thought that Nielsen's Violin Concerto is inexplicably poor compared to his other works.

Well, the Violin Concerto is fairly early, so for those dazzled by the style that Nielsen had developed by the late concertos, going back to this one can be a disappointment.

[TheGSMoeller]

At the moment, my favorite Nielsen disc is this one from Gilbert/NYP. For starters, this is the first performance of the 2nd where I've actually felt it to be a stronger, or at least as strong, a symphony as No.4 and No.5. Gilbert finds the right tempi and balance for the movements, and really emphasizes some of the brilliant and sometimes quirky orchestrations from Nielsen. I especially love the presence of the horns, listen to way they slide into their notes in the finale at 0:30 when they reintroduce the opening theme, and again in the coda at 7:08. The horns then display their ability to impress by not being too overbearing at the climax of the 3rd mvt Andante at 6:52, which Gilbert offers at a very relaxed andante. The 3rd "Sinfonia Espansiva" is also excellent, with again Gilbert finding a great balance between mvts, with a finale coda that builds just the right amount of steam for its closing statement. Only complaint, and it's minor, is the soprano uses a little more vibrato than I prefer. Minor.

By the way, how great compositionally is the Allegro collerico? I feel it could be a stand alone piece, perhaps even a single Tone Poem. It seems to run the gamut of emotions and dynamics in such a short amount of time, almost as if it's telling a story. Great stuff.

[asin]B007VH6HHU[/asin]

I know we have a lot of Nielsen fans here, what disc are you all currently listening to the most of??

[Mirror Image]

Huge Nielsen fan here obviously. I've come to really enjoy Gilbert's Nielsen, too, Greg. Gilbert and Oramo have two of the best cycles in recent years. I prefer both of them to Schonwandt who just sounds underpowered to my ears.

The Nielsen recording I probably have listened to the most lately is Vilde Frang's performance of the Violin Concerto, which is a fine work and deserves more attention then it seems to get.



But my most listened to Nielsen recording of all-time is this classic one from Bernstein: