Nielsen: Where to Start?

[NumberSix]

It's time for me to try some Nielsen symphonies. Who do you recommend?

Also, what other pieces does he have that you think would be good for somebody new to his music?

Thanks in advance.

[Daverz]

I love all the symphonies, and you could just go in order, if you want to ease into them, but if I were having only one it would be No. 5.

Other works:

Violin Concerto
Clarinet Concerto
Helios Overture
Wind Quintet

Playlist here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaiVOCZFBU4&list=PLRRFnribyIbL4aMTeMFKi0E9mHoLJA5qP

[NumberSix]

I love all the symphonies, and you could just go in order, if you want to ease into them, but if I were having only one it would be No. 5.

Other works:

Violin Concerto
Clarinet Concerto
Helios Overture
Wind Quintet

Ta muchly! And you like Oramo? I am usually confident in trying Bis recordings blind.

[NumberSix]

Other works:

Violin Concerto
Clarinet Concerto
Helios Overture
Wind Quintet

Found a Blomstedt release (Danish Radio Symphony) with all those pieces! Convenient.

[Daverz]

Found a Blomstedt release (Danish Radio Symphony) with all those pieces! Convenient.

Yes, love that recording of the Violin Concerto with Arve Tellefsen.

[Symphonic Addict]

The colourful Aladdin Suite is a perfect gateway to his style and this recording is particularly exceptional, not only in terms of sound quality and commited performances, but also because it gathers together several of his orchestral works that are not symphonies, i.e. tone poems and overtures.

[NumberSix]

The colourful Aladdin Suite is a perfect gateway to his style and this recording is particularly exceptional, not only in terms of sound quality and commited performances, but also because it gathers together several of his orchestral works that are not symphonies, i.e. tone poems and overtures.

Looks good! Yay for streaming subscriptions, is all I am saying.

[AnotherSpin]

I like the recordings of Nielsen's cycle of symphonies conducted by Ole Schmidt, the 4th and 5th the most. Also, you can scroll through the Nielsen thread here on the forum.

[Wanderer]

For starters, I'd recommend Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 and the Violin Concerto. You can branch out from there. 

The Aladdin Suite and Helios Overture are also recommended. If you like opera, he wrote two and they're both excellent: Saul & David and Maskarade.

[ritter]

But steer clear of Springtime in Funen...   

[DavidW]

It's time for me to try some Nielsen symphonies. Who do you recommend?

Also, what other pieces does he have that you think would be good for somebody new to his music?

Thanks in advance.

Symphony #5 is what sold me on Nielsen.  My favorites are Schonwandt, Blomstedt, and Oramo.

The other great entry point IMO is the clarinet concerto.  Check out this recording that also includes the great Aho clarinet concerto:

[NumberSix]

But steer clear of Springtime in Funen...   

Haha! Why?

[NumberSix]

Symphony #5 is what sold me on Nielsen.  My favorites are Schonwandt, Blomstedt, and Oramo.

The other great entry point IMO is the clarinet concerto.  Check out this recording that also includes the great Aho clarinet concerto:

My clarinet concerto knowledge in general is woefully inadequate, particularly from the 20th century and newer. Sounds like a good one to grab.

[Karl Henning]

My clarinet concerto knowledge in general is woefully inadequate, particularly from the 20th century and newer. Sounds like a good one to grab.

I'm a clarinetist, so the Concerto was my entrée to Nielsen!

[DaveF]

Haha! Why?

Steer clear of Springtime on Funen, that is.  Actually, as an avid Nielsenian myself, I would tend to disagree.  It's probably Nielsen's most "populist" work, a hymn of praise to the island of his birth, and is full of lovely tunes, although perhaps occasionally falling into tweeness (the children's choruses and solos are not to everyone's taste).  The song Den milde Dag invariably brings a tear to my eye.

And as for the Clarinet Concerto - Dr Henning and I share a great love of this piece (it's on my Desert Island list), but it's harsh, grim, uncompromising... To my mind, the only less approachable Nielsen piece is Commotio, the great organ fantasia that became his swansong.  Of course, I don't know your tastes, and you may indeed be someone that likes to dive in at the "difficult" end, but for a gentler concerto that doesn't quite grab you by the throat and give you a good shaking, the one for flute is lovely - and also contains a great joke.

- although you did say Nielsen symphonies - keeping a GMG thread on topic - herding cats...

[Jo498]

4th and 5th symphony, maybe the 3rd as well. Or even the 1st or second. 
The "problem" with the concerti is that the more interesting woodwind ones are a bit thorny and the violin concerto is not as characteristic and interesting. Admittedly, I don't remember enough of the tone poems or Aladdin. The symphonies are all characteristic and all but the 6th fairly accessible, I think.
If you like woodwinds also the quintet; the next chamber music would probably be the 2nd violin sonata but that's also a bit tough.

[NumberSix]

Steer clear of Springtime on Funen, that is.  Actually, as an avid Nielsenian myself, I would tend to disagree.  It's probably Nielsen's most "populist" work, a hymn of praise to the island of his birth, and is full of lovely tunes, although perhaps occasionally falling into tweeness (the children's choruses and solos are not to everyone's taste).  The song Den milde Dag invariably brings a tear to my eye.

And as for the Clarinet Concerto - Dr Henning and I share a great love of this piece (it's on my Desert Island list), but it's harsh, grim, uncompromising... To my mind, the only less approachable Nielsen piece is Commotio, the great organ fantasia that became his swansong.  Of course, I don't know your tastes, and you may indeed be someone that likes to dive in at the "difficult" end, but for a gentler concerto that doesn't quite grab you by the throat and give you a good shaking, the one for flute is lovely - and also contains a great joke.

- although you did say Nielsen symphonies - keeping a GMG thread on topic - herding cats...

I started my request with symphonies, but I also mentioned that I would like recommendations for other essential pieces. So your excellent comment is perfectly on topic.

[71 dB]

I recommend the 4th Symphony, Op. 29 for Nielsen newbies.

As for other works, Wind Quintet, Op. 43 is great chamber music.

If those works don't work for you it is possible Nielsen just isn't your cup of tea. If those works get you excited, continue and enjoy your Nielsen exploration!

[(poco) Sforzando]

First, 4 with its thrilling timpani battle - Martinon/CSO
Then, 3 and 5 with the Royal Danish - Bernstein/Sony

[DaveF]

The only steering clear that I would counsel, sadly, is of the symphony cycle by the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Theodore Kuchar.  In many ways it's a good one, offering clear, unfussy and sometimes very good performances - and it has my all-time favourite timpani roll with birch-twigs (yes, really) in the slow movement of no.2.  And it's cheap, and has attracted some enthusiastic comments on this forum.  But... it's plagued by wrong notes which, given that the performances are not, AFAIK, live, is difficult to understand.  There's even a wrong one in the solo, unaccompanied bassoon theme in the finale of no.6 - that's the sort of thing that sends me scurrying to the New Nielsen edition scores at www.kb.dk to check that people haven't been playing it wrong for years.

For the record, favourite cycles of mine: Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Michael Schønwandt, now on Naxos, and the LSO / Colin Davis.