Great Composers: Carl Nielsen

A look at Denmark's greatest symphonist.
This was a viewer request from KZbinr Timothy holman. See the current request queue at lentovivace.com....
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Classical Nerd is a weekly video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- Carl Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57, performed by Staff Sgt. Patrick Morgan and the Marine Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maj. Michelle Rakers and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/yd...
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, Op. 1 No. 2, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
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Contact Information:
Questions and comments can be directed to:
nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.

[@whatsyourglitch]

I hear lots of Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky in his music. So much beautiful music!

[@sactownviolist2668]

Thanks for talking about Nielsen! His "Inextinguishable" is probably now my favorite symphony. But he's a an even more interesting character than even this video mentions. I like to bring up his irreverence... at a time when posing for photos was serious business, he practically invented mugging for the camera. And his second symphony was inspired by a grotesquely bad painting he saw when he stopped for a beer at a country inn. IIRC, he played in the second violin section in the premieres of his first three symphonies... that must have made rehearsals interesting.

[@kenm.3512]

Nielsen is one of my favorite composers. I have recordings of his symphonies, concerto's, orchestral works, opera's, piano music and a few chamber works. I always find his music to be interesting. He and Sibelius had a healthy mutual respect for each other. His music shows a progression of style from romantic to modernistic that is notably impressive. I think he was akin to Sibelius and Mahler by the way his style evolved. Thanks for this. PS, I love Alberic Magnard's music. Have you considered doing a video clip about him? Just curious !!!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@anjajohansen4607]

Thanks so much for uploading this analysis, I really enjoyed it - very interesting and insightful. I just have two observations to your analysis, which are simply additional information to complete the picture of Nielsen and his work. I think you push the argument a bit far when describing how Nielsen was "a very troubled man" and how he "explored themes of death". OK, don't we all from time to time? What you completely leave out is that Nielsen was also a great prankster with an irrepressable sense of humour, to the extent that he called several of his smaller pieces 'Humoreske'. His sense of humour comes out very clearly in his concerto for flute and in the quintet for wind instruments (opus 43), where the instruments literally engage in 'silly' arguments against each other. In the middle of 'Spingtime on Funen' (opus 42) there is a cow moohing loudly, and elsewhere in the same piece the choir has to sing very fast: "mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mimrer" - I guess for the sheer joy of seeing a large choir making this synchronised mouth movement (the word 'mimre' means to move the mouth in small, very fast movements like as rabbits do or as toothless old people do, which is indeed the context in which the word appears here). One of his two operas 'Maskerade' is a firework of musical silliness - and I don't mean 'silliness' in a pejorative way, his music is just very playful and builds on the comical aspects of the text. The irrepressible homour in his music may not be that obvious if you listen only to his orchestral music, but is very clear in his vocal music, which of course is not really known beyond Scandinavia, for obvious reasons. This leads me to my second comment, which is that "he is not considered the greatest of melodists" (ca. 9.55). Without making an argument about ranking "great melodist", this is another area where the exclusive focus on his orchestral music misses out some important aspects. Nielsen, as you rightly point out, was no collector of folk music and not much interested in nationalist endeavours to find a unique 'Danish tone'. However, Nielsen and three of his pupils (Thomas Laub, Oluf Ring, Thorvald Aagaard) wrote hundreds of tunes, not to maintain some folk tradition, but to renew. Nielsen considered that many Danish song and religious hymns deserved better tunes than the ones traditionally used. The result was tunes intended for communal singing, so they are not technically difficult, but highly melodic in their simplicity - and I have to add, much loved by Danes, even by people who have no interest at all in the rest of his musical production. Nielsen actually used a tune he had written for the hymn 'Min Jesus, lad mit hjerte få', as the main theme for the final movement of his Wind Quintet (opus 43). The hynm is played in its original form right at the beginning of the movement and repeated at the end.

[@TheUtke]

There is a photo hanging in the Royal Danish Opera from the time he was playing there. Two musicians don’t have a mustache or beard: young Carl and the harpist (female)

[@nikispaniki]

Good analysis of one of my favorite.

[@valeriaalbarran9025]

My dear, i really enjoy your videos (althought is a little complex, i´m spanish speaker) Thanks a lot for sharing. I wonder if you have made an analysis to string quartets, it would be very interesting thing to see.

[@murrayaronson3753]

No mention of his two operas Masquerade and Saul & Jonathan. The Masquerade Overture is played somewhat often.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Can't ever mention everything!

[@TheUtke]

Saul & David, that is.

[@abocas]

I keep coming back to this post for the following reason which I just have to get off my chest: The overture of Masquerade was played at First Night of the Proms in 2015. I see from other Nielsen videos that this fact didn't go unnoticed :-) And a ballet piece from the opera, Dance of the Cockerel, is just such joyful listen, I think)

[@D800Lover]

Is Nielsen the most psychological complex composer of all time?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I'm not sure there's a way to definitively rank that, but no matter how you slice it, he's near the top of the list.

[@ericrakestraw664]

Mahler also used progressive tonality in his symphonies. Was Nielson influenced by Mahler in this regard?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Nielsen's First Symphony premiered in 1892, predating Mahler's Second by three years ... so in this case, I'd say that-if anything-Mahler was influenced by Nielsen. However, a lot of composers were beginning to experiment with similar abandonments of tonal rules in different ways, so it's just as likely that their use of progressive tonality was independent of the other.

[@robt0007]

Excellent

[@Kass686]

Nota Errata: In the video you said he was of Danish descent (which I believe is true), but in the description it says "Finland's greatest symphonist" Still though, great video!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Whoops-I was somehow thinking of Sibelius when I wrote the description. Thanks for pointing it out!

[@abocas]

Not of Danish descent but very Danish 🤓

[@bingbongtoysKY]

Carl Nielsen kind of looks like Klaus Kinski

[@ap8211]

This show has a ton of potential, just need some visuals and to back away from the camera and it could be great

[@ClassicalNerd]

I have absolutely no more room behind me _to_ back away on account of my bookshelf being relatively small. (Sitting on the floor to shoot these things it's too pleasant either.)

[@dianamcdougall9251]

No he wasn't. Denmarks geatest symphonist was Vagn Holmboe.

[@jazzstandardman]

I find much of Vagn Holmboe's music to be lackluster. With Nielsen, there's an easily recognizable harmonic style that is consistent in his various works, and yet he progressed in complexity over the years. I can't find this in Vagn Holmboe's music.

[@TheUtke]

How about Rued Langgaard?

[@gasgazman9698]

who?

[@beng7716]

Denmark's greatest symphonist? No that would be Rued Langgaard.

[@jazzstandardman]

Langgaard is a mixed bag.

[@abocas]

Matter of taste .....