Nielsen: Wind Quintet (played by its dedicatees, 1936)

Nielsen: Quintet for winds, Op. 43 (1922)
Wind Quintet of the Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen:
Gilbert Jespersen, flute
Svend Christian Felumb, oboe and English horn
Aage Oxenvad, clarinet
Knud Lassen, bassoon
Hans Sørensen, French horn
Recorded on January 24, 1936, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Gramophone Company 78-rpm matrices 2CS 291 through 2CS 297. Issued as HMV DB 5200 through DB 5203, the first issue in the 12-inch Scandinavian Red Label series. The Quintet takes seven sides; the filler, recorded one week later, is "Taagen letter" (The Fog is Lifting) from Nielsen's incidental music for Helge Rode's play "Moderen" (The Mother), Op. 41 (1920), played by Gilbert Jespersen (flute) and Fru [Mrs.] Valborg Paulsen (harp). This has been uploaded separately.
Nielsen's Wind Quintet is in three movements, the last a prelude, theme and variations:
(00:07) 1. Allegro ben moderato
(06:14) 2. Menuet
(10:37) 3. Praeludium: Adagio
(13:10) Tema: Un poco andantino
(13:58) Var. 1 (horn and bassoon)
(14:42) Var. 2: Un poco di più
(15:12) Var. 3: Meno mosso
(15:59) Var. 4: Più vivo
(16:26) Var. 5: Tempo giusto (clarinet and bassoon)
(17:01) Var. 6: Andantino con moto
(17:57) Var. 7: Un poco di più (bassoon solo)
(18:58) Var. 8: Poco meno
(19:52) Var. 9: Tempo giusto (horn solo)
(20:37) Var. 10: Allegretto
(21:36) Var. 11: Tempo di marcia
(22:37) Coda: Andantino festivo
With the exception of Gilbert Jespersen, who replaced Paul Hagemann as the flutist in this ensemble in 1929, these are the players the Quintet was written for and dedicated to. Felumb plays English horn on Side 4 (the Praeludium and Tema).

[@lucamedioli4710]

Thank you so much for uploading this! a truly relic of such an ( almost...) overly-played piece. As expected, many things make much more sense in this historical recording than many modern "interpretation" ...

[@ingeliseschmidt5810]

I'm old enough to remember the shellac 78 rpm era. I didn't discover this music until 1958! Very, very interesting - noticeably slower than modern practice (particularly Variations 6, 7, 8, 10 and the second playing of the chorale). Since the work was a kind of portrait of the players it would be interesting to play it as near as can be approximated (given the limitations of the original). A sidelight is that you had to recreate the music in your mind in those days. I found myself still able to do it.

[@WilfriedBerk]

HISTORICAL ! 16:26 Aage Oxenvad, clarinet - Knud Lassen, bassoon