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Carl August Nielsen (Danish: [kʰɑːl ˈnelsn̩]; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) is widely recognized as Denmark's greatest composer; he was also a skilled conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. While it was some time before his works were fully appreciated, even in his home country, Nielsen has now firmly entered the international repertoire. Especially in Europe and the United States, his music is ever more frequently performed, with interest growing in other countries too. Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and a considerable number of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage. While his early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, he soon started to develop his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time. For many years, he appeared on the Danish hundred-kroner banknote.

Life

Early years

Nielsen was the seventh of 12 children in a poor peasant family in Nørre Lyndelse near Sortelung south of Odense on the Danish island of Funen. His father, Niels Jørgensen, was a house painter and amateur musician who, with his abilities as a fiddler and cornet player, was in strong demand for local celebrations. All the children bore the surname Nielsen despite the regulations of the Ministry of Church Affairs which forbade the use of patronyms. Nielsen described his childhood in his autobiography Min Fynske Barndom (My Childhood in Funen). His mother, whom he recalls singing folk songs during his childhood, was the daughter of a well-to-do family of sea captains and his uncle was a composer and performer of popular music.

Nielsen gave an account of his introduction to music: "I had heard music before, heard father play the violin and cornet, heard mother singing, and, when in bed with the measles, I had tried myself out on the little violin". He learned the violin and piano as a child and wrote his earliest compositions at the age of eight or nine: a lullaby, now lost, and a polka which the composer mentioned in his autobiography. However, his parents apparently did not believe he had any future as a musician as they apprenticed him to a shopkeeper from a nearby village when he was 14. By midsummer the shopkeeper was bankrupt and Carl had to return to his parents' home. He learned how to play brass instruments, which provided him with a job as a bugler and alto trombonist in the 16th Battalion of the Danish Army at nearby Odense; he took up his new positions in the battalion on 1 November 1879.

While Nielsen did not give up the violin during his time with the battalion, he usually only played it when he went home to perform at dances with his father. In 1881, he began to take his violin playing more seriously, taking private lessons from Carl Larsen, the sexton at Odense Cathedral. It is not known how much Nielsen composed during this period, but from his autobiography, it can be deduced that he wrote some trios and quartets for brass instruments, and that he had difficulty in coming to terms with the fact that brass instruments were tuned in different keys. Following an introduction to Niels Gade, the director of the Royal Conservatory at Copenhagen, by whom he was well-received, Nielsen sought to ensure that he could be released at a short notice from the military band. In January 1884, he went to Copenhagen for further studies at the Conservatory.

He studied at the Conservatory from the beginning of 1884 until December 1886. Though not an outstanding student and composing little, he progressed well in violin under Valdemar Tofte and received a solid grounding in music theory from Orla Rosenhoff, who would remain a valued adviser during his early years as a professional composer. He also studied composition under Gade, whom he liked as a friend but not for his music. Contacts with fellow students and cultured families in Copenhagen, some of whom would become lifelong friends, became equally important. The patchy education resulting from his country background left Nielsen insatiably curious about the arts, philosophy and aesthetics. But, in the opinion of David Fanning, it also left him "with a highly personal, common man's point of view on those subjects".

By September 1889 Nielsen had progressed well enough on the violin to gain a position with the second violins in the prestigious Royal Danish Orchestra which played at Copenhagen's Royal Theater. Although the position sometimes caused Nielsen considerable frustration, he continued to play there until 1905. Between graduation and attaining this position, he gave violin lessons, made a modest income as a teacher and enjoyed continued support from patrons. Some of Nielsen's string chamber works were performed at this time, including a Quartet in F which he considered his official debut as a professional composer. However, a far greater impression was made by his Suite for Strings, which was performed at Tivoli Hall on 8 September 1888. Nielsen designated this work his Opus 1.

Marriage

After less than a year at the Royal Theater, Nielsen won a scholarship of 1,800 kroner, giving him the means to spend several months traveling in Europe. During this time he discovered and then turned against Richard Wagner's music dramas, heard many of Europe's leading orchestras and soloists and sharpened his opinions on both music and the visual arts. While revering the music of Bach and Mozart, he remained ambivalent about much 19th-century music. In Paris, he met the Danish sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen, who was also travelling on a scholarship. They toured Italy together and married in St Mark's English Church, Florence on 10 May 1891 before returning to Denmark.

"As well as being a love match," Fanning writes, "it was also a meeting of minds. Anne Marie was a gifted artist...She was also a strong-willed and modern-minded woman, determined to forge her own career." This determination would strain the Nielsens' marriage, as Anne Marie would spend months away form home during the 1890s and 1900s, leaving Carl to raise their three young children in addition to composing and fulfilling his duties at the Royal Theater. While Carl suggested divorce in March 1905, the Nielsens remained married for the remainder of the composer's life. Carl sublimated his anger and frustration over his marriage in a number of musical works, most notably between 1897 and 1904, a period which he sometimes called his "psychological" period. Fanning writes, "At this time his interest in the driving forces behind human personality crystallized in the opera Saul and David and the Second Symphony (The Four Temparaments) and the cantatas Hymnus amoris and Søvnen".

Nielsen and his wife had two daughters and a son. Irmelin, his eldest daughter, studied music theory with her father. In December 1919, she married Eggert Møller (1893–1978), a medical doctor who became a professor at the University of Copenhagen and director of the polyclinic at Rigshospitalet, the national hospital. The younger daughter Anne Marie, who graduated from the Copenhagen Academy of Arts, married the Hungarian violinist Emil Telmányi (1892–1988) in 1918; he contributed to the promotion of Nielsen's music, both as a violinist and a conductor. Nielsen's son, Hans Børge, was handicapped as a result of meningitis and spent most of his life away from the family. He died near Kolding in 1956.

Mature composer

At first, Nielsen did not gain enough recognition for his works to be able to support himself. During the concert which saw the premiere of his First Symphony on 14 March 1894 conducted by Johan Svendsen, Nielsen played in the second violin section. The symphony was a great success when played in Berlin in 1896, contributing significantly to his reputation. Nielsen became increasingly in demand to write incidental music for the theatre as well as cantatas for special occasions, both of which provided a welcome source of additional income. "A reciprocal relationship grew up between his programmatic and symphonic works," Fanning writes; "sometimes he would find stageworthy ideas in his supposedly pure orchestral music; sometimes a text or scenario forced him to invent vivid musical imagery which he could later turn to more abstract use."

Beginning in 1901, Nielsen received a modest state pension—800 kroner at first, growing to 7,500 kroner by 1927—to augment his violinist's salary. This allowed him to stop taking private pupils and left him more time to compose. From 1903, he also had an annual retainer from his principal publisher, Wilhelm Hansen Edition. Between 1905 and 1914 he served as second conductor at the Royal Theatre. For his son-in-law, Emil Telmányi, Nielsen wrote his Violin Concerto, Op. 33 (1911). From 1914 to 1926, he conducted the orchestra of Musikforeningen (Music Society). In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and continued to work there until his death.

The strain of dual careers and constant separation from his wife led Nielsen to more than one extra-marital affair. When the last one, between Nielsen and his children's governess, came to light the result was an eight-year breach in his marriage. During much of this time Carl and Anne Marie lived apart. The period led to a creative crisis for Nielsen which, coinciding with World War I, would strongly influence his Fourth (1914-16) and Fifth Symphonies (1921-22), arguably his greatest works.

Nielsen's sixth and final symphony, Sinfonia semplice, was written in 1924-25. After suffering a serious heart attack in 1925, Nielsen was forced to curtail much of his activity, although he continued to compose until his death. He produced a short book of essays entitled Living Music (1925), and in 1927 My Childhood on Funen (Min Fynske Barndom), a memoir of his childhood. His final musical composition, the organ work Commotio, was premiered posthumously in 1931. Nielsen is buried in Vestre Cemetery.

Music

Nielsen is best known for his six symphonies. Other well-known pieces are the incidental music for Adam Oehlenschläger's drama Aladdin, the operas Saul og David and Maskarade, the three concertos for violin, flute and clarinet, the Wind Quintet, and the Helios Overture, which depicts the passage of the sun in the sky from dawn to nightfall. The music initially had a neo-classical sound but became increasingly modern as Nielsen developed his own approach to what Robert Simpson called progressive tonality, moving from one key to another. Typically, he would end on a different key, sometimes as the outcome of a struggle as in his symphonies. His frequently blended melodic passages inspired by folk music with more complicated stylings including counterpoint and modern variations.

Like his contemporary, the Finn Jean Sibelius, he studied Renaissance polyphony closely, which accounts for much of the melodic and harmonic content of his music. Nielsen's works are sometimes referred to by FS numbers, from the 1965 catalogue compiled by Dan Fog and Torben Schousboe.

Symphonies

Nielsen is perhaps most closely associated with his six symphonies, which were written between 1892, when he was an aspiring young composer, to 1925, when he was already beginning to suffer from poor health. The works have much in common: they are all just over 30 minutes long, brass instruments are a key component of the orchestration, and they all exhibit unusual changes in tonality, which heightens the dramatic tension.

From its opening bars, Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1890–92), while reflecting the influence of Grieg and Brahms, shows Nielsen's individuality. In the Second Nielsen embarks on the development of human character. Inspiration came from a painting in an inn depicting the four temperaments (choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine).

The title of Sinfonia Espansiva is understood by Robert Simpson to refer to the "outward growth of the mind's scope". It fully exploits Nielsen's technique of confronting two keys at the same time and includes a peaceful section with soprano and baritone voices, singing a tune without words. Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable", written during the First World War is amongst the most prformed of the symphonies. In the last movement two sets of timpani are placed on opposite sides of the stage undertaking a sort of musical duel. Nielsen described the symphony as "the life force, the unquenchable will to live". Also popular is the Fifth Symphony, presenting another battle between the forces of order and chaos. A snare drummer is given the task of interrupting the orchestra, playing ad libitum and out of time, as if to destroy the music. Performed by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erik Tuxen at the 1950 Edinburgh International Festival, it caused a sensation, inspiring interest in Nielsen's music outside Scandinavia. In the Sixth Symphony, written 1924–25, and subtitled Sinfonia Semplice (Simple Symphony), the tonal language seems similar to Nielsen's other symphonies, but the symphony becomes a sequence of cameos, some sad, some grotesque, some humorous.

Operas and cantatas

Nielsen's two operas are in very different styles. The four-act Saul og David (Saul and David), written in 1902 to a libretto by Einar Christiansen tells the Biblical story of Saul's jealousy of the young David while Maskarade (Masquerade) is a comic opera in three acts written in 1906 to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg. While Saul og hby longer, less dynamic sequences. The much lighter Maskarade, on the other hand, is considered to be Denmark's national opera, and in its home country has a lasting success and popularity, attributable to its many strophic songs, its dances and its underlying "old Copenhagen" atmosphere.

Nielsen wrote a considerable number of choral works but most of them were composed for special occasions and were seldom reprised. Three fully-fledged cantatas for soloists, orchestra and choir have, however, entered the repertoire. Hymnus amoris (Hymn of Love) (1897) is inspired by Titian's painting "The Miracle of a Jealous Husband" which Nielsen saw on his honeymoon in Italy in 1891. On one of the copies, Nielsen wrote: "To my own Marie! These tones in praise of love are nothing compared to the real thing." Nielsen composed the work after studying the choral style of the old polyphonic masters. Its premiere at the Music Society in April 1897 was a great success. Søvnen (The Sleep), Nielsen's second major choral work, sets to music the various phases of sleep including the terror of a nightmare in its central movement which, with is unusual discords, came as a shock to the reviewers at its premiere in March 1905. Fynsk Foraar (Springtime on Funen), completed in 1922, has been cited as the most Danish of all Nielsen's compositions as it extols the beauty of Funen's countryside.

Concertos

Nielsen wrote three concertos: the Violin Concerto is a middle-period work, from 1911, which lies within the tradition of European classicism, whereas the Flute Concerto of 1926 and the Clarinet Concerto which followed in 1928 are late works, influenced by the modernism of the 1920s and the product of "an extremely experienced composer who knows how to avoid inessentials." Unlike Nielsen's later works, the Violin Concerto has a distinct, melody-oriented neo-classical structure. There are three movements. The calm "Praeludium" is followed by a catchy tune for the orchestra providing opportunities for violin virtuosity. The long, slow Adagio leads to the final Scherzo which, as Nielsen commented, "renounces everything that might dazzle or impress." The Flute Concerto, in two movements, was written for the flautist Holger Gilbert-Jespersen, a member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet who had performed in Nielsen's Wind Quintet (1922). In contrast to the rather traditional style of the Violin Concerto, it reflects the modernistic trends of the 1920s. The first movement, for example, switches between D minor, E flat minor and F major before the flute comes to the fore with a cantabile theme in E major. The Clarinet Concerto was specifically written for a member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet, the clarinetist Aage Oxenvad. Nielsen stretches the capacities of instrument and player to the utmost; the Concerto has just one continuous movement and contains a struggle between the soloist and the orchestra and between the two principal competing keys, F major and E major.

The concerti present many examples of what Nielsen called "objektivering" ('objectification'). By this term he meant an aesthetic approach wherein instrumentalists are given leave to "assert their individual intentions", within the bounds set out by the composer.

Orchestral music

One of Nielsen's earliest works for orchestra is the immediately successful Suite for Strings (1888), which evokes Scandinavian Romanticism as expressed by Grieg and Svendsen. In the Finale Nielsen reintroduces the opening theme. The work marked an important milestone in Nielsen's career as it was not only his first real success but it was also the first of his pieces he conducted himself when it was played in Odense a month later.

The Helios Overture (1903) stems from Nielsen's stay in Athens which gave him the inspiration of a work depicting the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea. The score is a showpiece for orchestra, and has been amongst Nielsen's most popular works. Saga-Drøm (Saga Dream), sometimes known as Gunnar's Dream, is a tone poem for orchestra based on the Icelandic Njal's Saga. In Nielsen's words: "There are among other things four cadenzas for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and flute which run quite freely alongside one another, with no harmonic connection, and without my marking time. They are just like four streams of thought, each going its own way — differently and randomly for each performance — until they meet in a point of rest, as if flowing into a lock where they are united."

At the Bier of a Young Artist (Ved en ung Kunstners Baare) for string orchestra was written for the funeral of the Danish painter Oluf Hartmann in January 1910. The four-minute piece in E flat minor was first performed by the Gade Quartet at Oluf Hartmann’s funeral on 21 January in the chapel at Holmen’s Cemetery in Copenhagen and was also played at Nielsen's own funeral. Pan and Syrinx (Pan og Syrinx), a vigorous nine-minute symphonic poem inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, was particularly well received at its premiere in 1911, Charles Kjerulf of Politken commenting: "For each note that was added it became more and more sublime."

The Rhapsodic Overture, An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands (En Fantasirejse til Færøerne), is an occasional work which depicts a sea voyage from Denmark to the Islands. It draws on Faroese folk tunes but also contains freely composed sections.

Among Nielsen's orchestral works for the stage are Aladdin (1919) and Moderen, Opus 41 (1920). Aladdin was written to accompany a production of Adam Oehlenschläger’s fairy tale at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. The complete score, lasting over 80 minutes, is Nielsen's longest work apart from his operas but is now often performed as the shorter orchestral suite consisting of the Oriental March, Hindu Dance and Negro Dance. Moderen, written to celebrate the reunification of Southern Jutland with Denmark, was first performed on 30 January 1921 at the Royal Danish Theatre where it was well received. The text was basically a collection of generally patriotic verses written by Helge Rode for the occasion.

Chamber music

Nielsen composed a number of chamber music works, some of them still high on the international repertoire. The Wind Quintet, one of his most popular pieces, was composed in 1922 specifically for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet. Robert Simpson writes, "Nielsen’s fondness of wind instruments is closely related to his love of nature, his fascination for living, breathing things. ... He was also intensely interested in human character, and in the Wind Quintet composed deliberately for five friends; each part is cunningly made to suit the individuality of each player."

The Fantasy Pieces for Oboe and Piano (Fantasistykker for obo og klavier) consists of two pieces which were first performed at the Royal Orchestra Soirée in Copenhagen on 16 March 1891. The oboist was Olivo Krause (to whom they are dedicated) and the pianist Victor Bendix. Transcriptions by Hans Sitt for violin and piano and for violin and orchestra have also remained popular. Nielsen's four string quartets are all part of the current repertoire. The First String Quartet No. 1 in G minor (1889) was innovative in the "Résumé" section which Nielsen included in the finale, bringing together themes from the first, third and fourth movements. The Second String Quartet No. 2 in F minor (1890) provides evidence of Nielsen's early experiments with tonality. The Third String Quartet in E flat major (1898) has remained one of Nielsen's more popular works, particularly in Denmark. The Fourth String Quartet in F major (1904) was initially criticised by the reviewers but is now recognised for its innovative approach.

Keyboard works

Although Nielsen came to compose mainly at the piano, he only composed directly for it occasionally over a period of 40 years, creating five major works and several others, often with a distinctive style which slowed their international acceptance. One of his most successful compositions for piano is Chaconne, Opus 32, which Nielsen qualified as "a really big piece, and I think effective". It was premiered by Alexander Stoffregen on 13 April 1917 and was generally well received by its reviewers. On 11 February 1918, Christian Christiansen received an ovation when he played the piece during a concert of Nielsen’s orchestral works. Charles Kjerulf described the work as "a genuine Carl Nielsen piano-experiment".

All Nielsen's organ works were late compositions. Danish organist Finn Viderø suggests that this reflects the relative neglect of the organ during most of his life. This situation changed with the Orgeltagung (Organ Meeting) in Hamburg organised by Hans Henny Jahnn in 1925, which was a major stimulus for the Orgelbewegung (Organ reform movement), and the renewal of the front pipes of the Schnitger organ in the St. Jacobi Church by Karl Kemper from 1928–1930. Nielsen's last major work, Commotio, Opus 58, a 22-minute piece for organ, was composed between June 1930 and February 1931. The composer considered it to be one of his most important works.

Songs and hymns

Over the years, Nielsen wrote the music for over 290 songs and hymns, most of them for poems written by well-known Danish authors such as N. F. S. Grundtvig, B. S. Ingemann, Poul Martin Møller, Adam Oehlenschläger and Jeppe Aakjær. In Denmark, many of them are still popular today both with adults and children, and in that country they are regarded as "the most representative part of the country's most representative composer's output". Among the more popular ones are Farvel min velsignede Fødeby! (1914), Havet omkring Danmark (1907), Hvem sidder der bag Skjærmen (Jens Vejmand) (1907), Jeg ved en Lærkerede (c. 1924), Op al den Ting, som Gud har gjort' (c. 1914), Som en rejselysten Flaade (1921), Spurven sidder stum bag Kvist (1914) and Vi Sletternes Sønner har Drømme i Sind (1908).

Reception

Unlike his contemporary, the Finn Jean Sibelius, Nielsen's reputation abroad did not start to evolve until after World War II. For some time, international interest was largely directed towards his symphonies while his other works, many of them highly popular in Denmark, have only recently started to become part of the world repertoire.

Within two months of its successful premiere at the Odd Fellows Concert Hall in Copenhagen on 28 February 1912, the Third Symphony was in the repertoire of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and by 1913 it had seen performances in Stuttgart, Stockholm and Helsinki. The symphony was the most popular of all Nielsen's works during his lifetime and was also played in Berlin, Hamburg, London and Gothenburg.

An international breakthrough came in 1962 when Leonard Bernstein recorded the Fifth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for CBS. This recording helped Nielsen's music to achieve appreciation beyond his home country, and is considered one of the finest recorded accounts of the symphony.

Writing in the New York Times on the occasion of Nielsen's 125th anniversary in 1990, Andrew Pincus explained that 25 years earlier Leonard Bernstein had believed the world was ready to accept the Dane as the equal of Sibelius. He had spoken highly of "his rough charm, his swing, his drive, his rhythmic surprises, his strange power of harmonic and tonal relationships — and especially his constant unpredictability." But even in 1990, despite sporadic performances of his works, this "constant unpredictability" was still a bit too much for foreign tastes.

In the United Kingdom, the symphonies are now well accepted. Paul Driver commented enthusiastically on the Colin Davis and London Symphony Orchestra performance of the Inextinguishable in May 2010: "Movement boundaries have become fluid; the expressive raison d’être is an evolving structure articulated by its emotional necessities rather than an externally valid architecture; and the journey from harmonic ambiguity at the opening to a stable key at the end is no mere vehicle for carrying ideas, but the whole point of the piece."

Legacy

Historical recordings

Nielsen did not record any of his works as he did not believe in the medium. However, three younger contemporary conductors who had worked with him, Thomas Jensen, Launy Grøndahl, and Erik Tuxen, did record his symphonies and other orchestral works with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Jensen recorded Symphonies nos. 1 (1952 (Decca)), 2 (1947 (EMI)), and 6 (1952 on the Danish label Tono); Tuxen recorded Symphonies nos. 3 (1946 (Decca)) and 5 (1950 (EMI)); and Grøndahl Symphony no. 4 (1951 (EMI)). Jensen also made the first LP recording of Symphony no. 5 (1954 (Decca)).. However the work carried out during the recent complete Carl Nielsen Edition has revealed that the scores used in these recordings often differs from the composer's original intentions - "friends and colleagues had made changes in the music did not always reflect, in every detail, the intended meaning of the preceding manuscript sources" - and thus the supposed 'authenticity' of these recordings is now debatable.

Students

From 1915, Nielsen taught at the Royal Conservatory where he became director in 1931, shortly before his death. He also had a number of private students in his earlier days in order to supplement his income. As a result of his teaching, Nielsen has exerted considerable influence on classical music in Denmark. Among his most successful pupils were the composers Thorvald Aagaard,, Harald Agersnap, Jørgen Bentzon, Knud Jeppesen, Herman Koppel, Poul Schierbeck, Emilius Bangert and Nancy Dalberg; the violinist Henry Holst; the conductor and choirmaster Mogens Wöldike; and Rudolph Simonsen, who became chairman of the Conservatory after Nielsen's death.

Performances

The Carl Nielsen Society maintains a listing of performances of Nielsen's works, classified by region (Denmark, Scandinavia, Europe apart from Scandinavia and outside Europe) which demonstrates that his music is regularly performed throughout the world. The concerti and symphonies feature frequently in these listings.

Other

The Carl Nielsen Museum, in Odense, is "dedicated to the composer Carl Nielsen and to his wife, the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen".

The composer featured on the 100 kroner note issued by the Danish National Bank from 1997 to 2010.

150th anniversary celebrations

A number of special events have been scheduled on or around 9 June 2015 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Carl Nielsen. In Copenhagen, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra will present a programme at the DR Concert Hall featuring Hymnus amoris, the Clarinet Concerto and Symphony No. 4. In the UK, the BBC Philharmonic will be presenting a concert series on Nielsen beginning on 9 June in Manchester.

References

Notes

Citations

1. "Funen Childhood". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
2. Gutsche-Miller, Sarah (August 2003). "The Reception of Carl Nielsen as a Danish National Composer". Montreal: McGill University. Retrieved 20 April 2015. Cite error: The named reference "Gutsche-Miller" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
3. Nielsen 1953, p. 23.
4. ^ "Military musician in Odense". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
5. ^ Fanning 2001, p. 888.
6. Lawson 1997, p. 58.
7. ^ Fanning 2001, p. 889.
8. "Family life". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
9. Fanning 2001, p. 890.
10. Gibbs (1963), p. 208.
11. Ashley, Ray (2000). "Carl Nielsen Danish Composer (1865–1931)". rayashley.com. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
12. ^ "Carl Nielsen – Composer". BBC. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
13. Simpson 1979, p. 25.
14. "LSO celebrates Nielsen". Embassy of Denmark, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011.
15. Ross, Alex (25 February 2008). "Inextinguishable: The fiery rhythms of Carl Nielsen". New Yorker. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
16. "Symphony No.5, Op.50 – The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra Erik Tuxen conductor – (recorded 29 August 1950, Edinburgh Festival)". Guildmusic.com. Retrieved 17 November 2010. Review.
17. Simpson 1979, p. 113.
18. "Saul and David". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. xi–xxx. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
19. "Maskarade (Masquerade)". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. xi–xxxvii. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
20. Schepelern 1987, pp. 344–345.
21. Schepelern 1987, pp. 346–351.
22. "Hymnus amoris". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 1–80. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
23. "Symphonist and opera composer". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
24. "Sleep". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 81–132. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
25. "Springtime on Funen". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 135–202. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
26. Wise, Brian. "Fynsk foraar (Springtime on Funen), for soloists, chorus & orchestra, FS 96 (Op. 42)". Answers.com. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
27. Rosenberg 1966, p. 49.
28. "Carl Nielsen: Violin Concerto, FS61, Op.33". Classical Archives. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
29. "Concerto ..." Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. xi–xlvii. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
30. "Art and consciousness". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
31. "Carl Nielsen: Flute Concerto, FS119". Classical Archives. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
32. Reisig, Wayne. "Clarinet concerto, Op. 57 (FS 129)". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
33. "High note of career". Nelson Mail. New Zealand. Fairfax NZ News. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
34. Lawson, Jack. Nielsen String Quartets Volume 1. Chandos Records.
35. "Suite for String Orchestra ..." (PDF). Carl Nielsen Edition. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
36. "Helios ..." (PDF). Carl Nielsen Edition. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
37. Hodgetts, Jonathan. "Helios Overture". Salisbury Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
38. "Saga Dream ..." Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 1–22. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
39. "At the Bier of a Young Artist". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 23–26. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
40. "Pan and Syrinx". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 39–66. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
41. "Rhapsody Overture. A Fantasy Voyage to the Faroe Islands". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 67–102. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
42. "Aladdin" (PDF). Carl Nielsen Edition. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
43. "The Mother". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. xi–xxviii. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
44. "Carl Nielsen: Quintet for Wind Instruments, Op.43 (1922)". Program Notes. Sierra Chamber Society. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
45. "Fantasy Pieces ..." Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 81–90. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
46. "Symphonic Suite ..." Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 12–35. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
47. "Carl Nielsen: String Quartet No.2 in f minor, Op.5". Edition Silvertrust. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
48. "Preludio e presto ..." Carl Nielsen Edition. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
49. Skjold-Rasmussen 1966, p. 57.
50. "Chaconne". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 52–68. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
51. ^ Viderø 1966, p. 69.
52. ^ "Der Orgelbauer: Näheres zur Geschichte der Restaurierung der Jacobi-Orgel in Hamburg" (in German). hans-henny-jahnn.de. Retrieved 17 October 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
53. "Hamburg, Jacobikirche". arpschnitger.nl. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
54. "Commotio". Carl Nielsen Edition. pp. 203–237. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
55. "Register over Carl Nielsens 324 sange". Carl Nielsen Edition (in Danish). Det Kongelige Bibliotek. Retrieved 30 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help) Most titles with English translations.
56. Krabbe, Niels. Preface. In Reynolds (2010). Harvc error: no target: CITEREFReynolds2010 (help)
57. "Performances". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
58. "Symphony No. 3" (PDF). Carl Nielsen Edition. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
59. Fanning 1997, p. 92.
60. Burton, Anthony (4 November 2006). "Nielsen: Symphony No.5, Op.50". CD Review: Building a Library Recommendations. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
61. Pincus, Andrew L (10 June 1990). "A Composer Whose Time Never Seems to Come". New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
62. Driver, Paul (16 May 2010). "Let there be life". London: Sunday Times. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
63. Krebs (2012), pp. 6-7.
64. "Thomas Aagaard" (in Danish). Gravested.dk. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
65. "Performances", Carl Nielsen Society website, accessed 22 April 2015.
66. "The Carl Nielsen Museum". Museum.odense.dk. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
67. "Gallaconcert: Carl Nielsen 150 år" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
68. "Nielsen Symphony Cycle I". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2015.

Sources

• Fanning, David (1997). Nielsen: Symphony No. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44088-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fanning, David (2001). "Nielsen, Carl (August)". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 17 (Second ed.). London: Macmillan. pp. 888–890. ISBN 0-333-60800-3. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gibbs, Alan (1963). "Carl Nielsen's 'Commotio'", (subscription required), in Musical Times, vol. 104 no. 1441, pp. 208-209.
• Jensen, Anne Ørbæk (1995). "Two Great Danish Editions in Progress: Niels W. Gade and Carl Nielsen",(subscription required) in Fontes Artes Musicae, vol. 42 no. 1 (Jan-March 1995), pp. 85-90.
• Krabbe, Niels (2007). "A Survey of the Written Reception of Carl Nielsen, 1931-2006", (subscription required), in Notes, 2nd Series, vol. 64 no. 1 (Jan.-March 2012), pp. 1-13.
• Krabbe, Niels (20127). "The Carl nielsen Edition - Brought to Completion", (subscription required), in Fontes Artis Musicae, vol. 59 no. 1 (sep. 2007), pp. 43-56.
• Lawson, Jack (22 May 1997). Carl Nielsen. Phaidon. ISBN 978-0-7148-3507-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Meyer, Torben; Petersen, Frede Schandorf (1947). Carl Nielsen Kunstneren og Mennesket Bind 1 (in Danish). Copenhagen: Nyt Nordisk Forlag. Arnold Busck. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Nielsen, Carl (1953). My Childhood. Transl. from the Danish by Reginald Spink. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rosenberg, Herbert (1966). "The Concertos". Carl Nielsen Centenary Essays (Balzer 1966a) harv error: no target: CITEREFBalzer1966a (help). pp. 47–56. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Schepelern, Gerhard (1987). Operabogen 1 (in Danish) (10th ed.). Copenhagen: Nordisk Forlag. ISBN 87-00-19464-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Simpson, Robert (1979). Carl Nielsen, Symphonist (Second ed.). London: Kahn & Averill. ISBN 0-900707-46-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Skjold-Rasmussen, Arne (1966). "The Piano Works". Carl Nielsen Centenary Essays (Balzer 1966a) harv error: no target: CITEREFBalzer1966a (help). pp. 57–68. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Viderø, Finn (1966). "The Organ Works". Carl Nielsen Centenary Essays (Balzer 1966a) harv error: no target: CITEREFBalzer1966a (help). pp. 69–74. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• The Carl Nielsen Edition – index page to introductory information on many of Nielsen's works from the Royal Danish Library
• Carl Nielsen at AllMusic
• Carl Nielsen bibliography 1985–2005 at Det Kongelige Bibliotek Template:En icon.
• The Danish Carl Nielsen Society – provides lots of detailed information on the composer and his works, including an overview of upcoming concerts
• The Carl Nielsen Museum, Odense – "is a museum dedicated to the composer Carl Nielsen and to his wife, the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen".
• Article about Nielsen's late music
• Carl Nielsen International Music Competition & Festival – an annual music event in Odense, celebrating the composer. Organised by the Odense Symphony Orchestra
• List of works
• Free scores by Carl Nielsen at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Free scores by Carl Nielsen in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• "Discovering Carl Nielsen". BBC Radio 3.
• Carl Nielsen discography at MusicBrainz
• The Mutopia Project has compositions by Carl Nielsen
• Carl Nielsen String Quartet Nos.1–4, sound-bites and discussion of works
• Listen to a free MP3 recording of Förunderligt och märkligt with Umeå Akademiska Kör
• Carl Nielsen at Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
• European Archive Copyright free sound files of Carl Nielsen LPs at the European Archive (for non-American users only)

v t e Carl Nielsen
List of compositions Discography of symphony cycles
Symphonies	Symphony No. 1 (1892) Symphony No. 2, The Four Temperaments (1902) Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia espansiva (1911) Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable (1916) Symphony No. 5 (1922) Symphony No. 6, Sinfonia semplice (1925)
Concertante	Violin Concerto (1911) Flute Concerto (1926) Clarinet Concerto (1928)
Opera	Saul and David (1902) Maskarade (1906)
Stage	Aladdin (1919) The Mother (1920)
Chorus & orchestra	Hymnus amoris (1896) The Sleep (1905) Springtime on Funen (1921)
Other orchestral	Little Suite for Strings (1888) Helios Overture (1903) Saga Dream (1908) At the Bier of a Young Artist (1910) Pan and Syrinx (1918) An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands (1927)
Chamber	String Quartet No. 1 (1889) Fantasy Pieces for Oboe and Piano (1890) String Quartet No. 2 (1890) String Quartet No. 3 (1898) String Quartet No. 4 (1906) Serenata in vano (1914) Wind Quintet (1922)
Miscellaneous	Chaconne (1917) Three Piano Pieces (1928) Three Motets (1929) Commotio (1931) Songs (list)
Family & friends	Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (wife) Anne Marie Telmányi (daughter) Emil Telmányi (son-in-law) Victor Bendix Ferruccio Busoni
Teachers	Niels Gade J. P. E. Hartmann Orla Rosenhoff Valdemar Tofte Royal Danish Academy of Music
Pupils	Thorvald Aagaard Harald Agersnap Emilius Bangert Jørgen Bentzon Nancy Dalberg Knud Jeppesen Herman Koppel Poul Schierbeck Rudolph Simonsen Mogens Wöldike
Select interpreters	Herbert Blomstedt Douglas Bostock Launy Grøndahl Thomas Jensen Tor Mann Gennady Rozhdestvensky Esa-Pekka Salonen Ole Schmidt Michael Schønwandt Edward Serov [ru] Bryden Thomson Erik Tuxen
Related articles	Carl, My Childhood Symphony Carl Nielsen International Music Competition Carl Nielsen Edition Carl Nielsen Monument Carl Nielsen Museum Danish National Symphony Orchestra David Fanning (biographer) My Childhood on Funen (autobiography) Robert Simpson (biographer) Royal Danish Orchestra
Category

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• Use dmy dates from September 2010
• Carl Nielsen
• 1865 births
• 1931 deaths
• 19th-century classical composers
• 20th-century classical composers
• Academics of the Royal Danish Academy of Music
• Composers for piano
• Composers for pipe organ
• Danish composers
• Opera composers
• People from Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality
• Pupils of Niels Gade
• Royal Danish Academy of Music alumni