HMR Project: History of Music & Modern Recording

Carl Nielsen

On this page we transition from the romantic period to introduce the modern period of classical music. Born on 9 June 1865 on the Danish island of Funen, Carl August Nielsen is a secondary though well-regarded composer who had a house painter for a father. Best known for his orchestral works, he completed only two operas, though nearly 300 songs and hymns. Albeit a steadily prolific composer, Carl wasn't so popular as others touching his span, his modernistic composing in particular more appreciated now than then, it also taking some time to acquire international recognition beyond Denmark.

A romantic-modern bridge figure, Nielsen played piano and violin as a child, producing a lullaby and a polka at about age eight or nine. Nielsen is catalogued via three systems: Opus by Nielsen, the CNW and the FS. The "CNW" [search] lists 419 works per the 'Catalogue of Carl Nielsen's Works' first published online by the Danish Royal Library in 2015. The CNW is organized by genre. The "FS" is largely chronological per Dan Fog and Torben Schousboe in 'Kompositioner' (Busck 1965), updated in 1998 for CD. Nielsen's FS 1 is CNW 44 [CNW], that a juvenile work at about age nine which Nielsen denied an Opus number called 'Polka' [IMSLP] in A major for violin as of 1874. Nielsen's FS 2 is another juvenile work not permitted an Opus number, that assigned to 'Skomagerens Brudevals' ('Cobbler's Bridal Waltz') for piano with a date of 1878. This work, however, is denied a CNW number, as composition by Nielsen is dubious.

'Skomagerens Brudevals' ('Cobbler's Bridal Waltz') WoO FS 2 Carl Nielsen (?)

Comp 1878

Piano: Claus Jørgensen

Nielsen's FS 3 is divided into early unpublished pieces with dates estimated from 1879 through 1887 as FS 3a through FS 3u. FS 3d, for example, is assigned to 'String Quartet' [IMSLP] in D minor as of 1883 also listed as CNW 49 [CNW]. FS 3g is assigned to 'Vuggevise' ('Lullaby' aka 'Cradle') for solo voice with a date of 1880 also catalogued as CNW 390 [CNW], reflecting the chronological FS versus the CNW organized by genre.

Nielsen began studies in violin and composition at the 'Royal Danish Academy of Music [Wikipedia] in 1884, there to attend until December 1886. His 'String Quartet' in F major was completed in 1888, catalogued as unpublished per FS 3k corresponding to CNW 50. Nielsen finally documented his Opus 1 (CNW 32 FS 6) per 'Suite for String Orchestra' consisting of 3 pieces first performed at the Tivoli in Copenhagen on 8 September 1888. All references to the Carl Nielsen Udgaven on this page, where commentary on works, fascimiles and scores may be found, translate to the Carl Nielsen Edition.

'Suite for Strings' Op 1 CNW 32 FS 6 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1892 Premiere 14 March 1894 in Copenhagen

Piano: Giulio Giurato Violin: Roberto Noferini

Carl Nielsen Udgaven IMSLP Wayne Reisig Wikipedia

From 1889 to 1905 Nielsen was second violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra [Wikipedia] at the Royal Theatre. During that time he toured Europe on scholarship and met Danish sculptress, Anne Marie Brodersen, also touring on scholarship, whom he married on 10 May of 1891. Anne Marie would bear three of Nielsen's five children, two of which were illegitimate, he already having a son when he married Anne Marie.

They are largely his symphonies and concertos for which Nielsen is known, his 'Symphony No.1' Op 7 CNW 25 FS 16 premiering in Copenhagen on 14 March 1894 with Johan Svendsen conducting the Kongelige Kape (Royal Cape) Orchestra.

'Symphony No.1' Op 7 CNW 16 FS 16 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1892 Premiere 14 March 1894 in Copenhagen

Dedicated to Anne Marie Brodersen (wife)

San Francisco Symphony / Herbert Blomstedt

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Joseph Stevenson Wikipedia

Written in 1895-96 were Nielsen's 'Six Songs' Op 10 set to texts by Ludvig Holstein published sometime in 1897. Nielsen's cantata, 'Hymnus Amoris' Op 12, saw its initial performance on 27 April 1897 in Copenhagen.

'I Aften' ('This Evening') Op 10 No.5 CNW 126 FS 18 F major Carl Nielsen

From 'Seks Sange' ('Six Songs')

Lyrics: Ludvig Holstein

Comp 1896 Pub 1897

Baritone: Morten Ernst Lassen Piano: Ulrich Staerk

Carl Nielsen Udgaven IMSLP

'Hymnus Amoris' ('Hymn of Love') Op 12 CNW 100 FS 21 A major Carl Nielsen

Comp 1895-96 Pub 1897

Text: Axel Olrik

New York Metamorphoses Orchestra / Eugene Sirotkine

Elm City Girls Choir Hudson Valley Singers Laughing Children Opera Chorus Hudson Valley Singers

Baritone: Robert Garner Bass: Emmanuel Mendez-Chumaceiro

Tenor: David Guzman Soprano: Eleni Calenos

22 June 2013 at the Teatro Del Museo Del Barrio in NYC

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Wikipedia

Nielsen received a state pension in 1901 to supplement his income as a violinist, permitting him to cease teaching and more concentrate on composing. The first of Nielsen's operas toward the end of his early period is 'Saul og David' CNW 1 FS 25, debuted the Kongelige Teater in Copenhagen on 28 November 1902 with a libretto by Einar Christiansen. This is the Biblical account of King Saul's antipathy toward David in the first book of Samuel as the kingdom faces threat from the Philistines. Toward the end Saul dies and David becomes king.

'Saul og David' WoO CNW 1 FS 25 Opera by Carl Nielsen

Comp 1899-1900 Premiere 28 Nov 1902 in Copenhagen

Libretto: Einar Christiansen

Royal Danish Opera / Sixten Ehrling

David: Kjell Magnus Sandve Jonathan: Stig Fogh Andersen

Samuel: Jorgen Klint Saul: Leif Roar

22 June 2013 at the Teatro Del Museo Del Barrio in NYC

Bachtrack CNW IMSLP Score Wikipedia

Carl Nielsen Udgaven: Part 1 Part 2

Three days after premiering 'Saul og David' Nielsen conducted the first performance of 'Symphony No.2' ('The Four Temperaments') OP 16 FS 29 on 1 December. 'Symphony No.2' is particularly identified with Nielsen's so-called "psychological" period of 1897 to 1904 during troublesome times in his marriage to Anne Marie.

'Symphony No.2' ('The Four Temperaments') Op 16 CNW 26 FS 29 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1901-02 Premiere 1 Dec 1902

Estonian Festival Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

14 July 2015 at the Pärnu Concert Hall in Estonia

Alex Burns Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Wikipedia

Nielsen's 'Helias Overture' Op 17 appeared at the Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen on 8 October 1903, with Johan Svendsen conducting the Royal Danish Orchestra. That had been inspired by the sun over the Aegean Sea on a trip to Greece, Turkey and Italy earlier that year. Nielsen spent 1905 to 1914 as second conductor at the Royal Theatre. His cantata, 'Søvnen' ('Sleep') Op 18 CNW 101 FS 33, was finished in November the next year.

'Helias Overture' Op 17 CNW 34 FS 32 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1901-02 Premiere 1 Dec 1902

Estonian Festival Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

14 July 2015 at the Pärnu Concert Hall in Estonia

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Wikipedia

'Søvnen' ('Sleep') Op 18 CNW 101 FS 33 Carl Nielsen

Comp completed Nov 1904 Premiere 21 March 1905 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Estonian Festival Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

Danish National Radio Choir / Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Leif Segerstam

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Score Wikipedia

Nielsen's second and last opera was 'Mascarada' of 1906. There is many a masquerade ball in opera. This one concerns Leander and Leonora with whom things get confusing until a happy ending upon clarification of identities.

Overture to 'Maskarade' WoO CNW 2 FS 39 Comic Opera by Carl Nielsen

Comp 1904-06 Premiere 11 Nov 1905 at the Kongelige Teater in Copenhagen

Libretto: Vilhelm Andersen after the play by Ludvig Holberg

BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo

CNW IMSLP John Mangum Opera Today Rundel Aksel Tollåli Wikipedia

Carl Nielsen Udgaven: Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Commentary

Nielsen's 'Symphony No. 3' ('Sinfonia Espansiva') Op 27 FS 60 witnessed its debut performance on 28 February 1912. In 'The "Arcadian" Flute' Beth Chandler discusses 'Symphony No. 3' at the delineation of Nielsen's career into two periods of first and last. She otherwise finds him in four periods, the first to 1903 ending with 'Symphony No. 2' and the 'Helias Overture', his second from 1903 to 1912 citing his cantata, 'Søvnen' ('Sleep') Op 18 at its beginning, his third from 1912 to 1922 ending with his 'Symphony No.5' and 'Wind Quintet' Op 43, and his fourth thereafter to 1931.

'Symphony No.3' ('Sinfonia Espansiva') Op 27 CNW 27 FS 60 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1911 Premiere 28 Feb 1912 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra / Herbert Blomstedt

Baritone: Daniel Ochoa Soprano: Katja Stuber

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW Jeff Counts

IMSLP Stephen Johnson Wikipedia WQXR

Nielsen's middle period of mature works included his neoclassical 'Violin Concerto' Op 33 CNW 41 FS 61 written for violin virtuoso, Emil Telmányi in 1911. Later Neoclassicism of Nielsen's time was a reactionary movement to latter Romanticism. Bringing up old classical forms again, Neoclassicism was antithetical to the Modernism for which Nielsen is considerably more famous. Nielsen premiered this concerto on the same date as 'Symphony No.3' above.

'Violin Concerto' Op 33 CNW 41 FS 61 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1911 Premiere 28 Feb 1912 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Christian Øland

Violin: Vera Panitch

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW Margaret Godfrey IMSLP Wikipedia

Nielsen began conducting the orchestra of the Copenhagen Musikforeningen (Music Society) in 1914 (World War I beginning in July that year), then started teaching at the Royal Danish Academy in 1916. Among Nielsen's works most often performed is his 'Symphony No.4' Op 29 premiering on 19 January 1916, reflecting the war in its "battle" of timpani. The debut of this symphony arrived only five days after he finished composing it in delay on the 14th. This was a pattern with Nielsen, often pressured to complete a work only days before its scheduled premiere. Nielsen followed his fourth symphony a couple years later with his pastoral 'Pan og Syrinx' finished in 1918. His incidental music for 'Aladdin' arrived to the Royal Theatre in February 1919.

'Symphony No.4' Op 29 CNW 28 FS 76 Carl Nielsen

Comp completed 14 Jan 1916 Premiere 18 Jan 1916 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW Roger Dettmer Orrin Howard

IMSLP Tom Service Marianne Williams Tobias Wikipedia

'Pan og Syrinx' Op 49 CNW 38 FS 87 Pastoral by Carl Nielsen

Comp 1918 Premiere 11 Feb 1918

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

Maureen Buja Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Wikipedia

'Aladdin' Op 34 CNW 17 FS 89 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1918-19 Premiere 19 Feb 1919 in Copenhagen

Orchestra Now / JoAnn Falletta

18 Dec 2016 at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Wikipedia

As like his fourth symphony, Nielsen is also well-known for 'Symphony No.5' Op 50 FS 97 which appeared for a Music Society concert on 24 January 1922. Regarded as a masterpiece, it incorporates multiple modernistic devises toward an overall exercise of contrasts. Nielsen followed that with his 'Wind Quintet' Op 43 finished in April of 1922 with a score for flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon.

'Symphony No.5' Op 50 CNW 29 FS 97 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1920-22 Premiere 24 Jan 1922 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu

27 Sep 2019 at the Musiikkitalo in Helsinki

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW IMSLP Wikipedia Brian Wise

'Wind Quintet' Op 43 CNW 70 FS 100 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1922 Premiere 30 April 1922 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet:

Bassoon: Marion Reinhard Clarinet: Walter Seyfarth

Flute: Michael Hasel Horn: Fergus McWilliam Oboe: Andreas Wittmann

5 Oct 2012 at the Samobor Music Festival in Croatia

Ray Ashley Dennis Bade Sarah M. Burn Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW Facsimile

IMSLP Marcia Louise Spence University of Sussex Wikipedia Brian Wise

Nielsen's 'Symphony No.6' ('Simple Symphony'), his last, was another to employ modernistic techniques, he conducting that in Copenhagen on 11 December 1925 only six days after completing it on the 5th of December. This is the least performed of Nielson's six symphonies.

'Symphony No.6' ('Simple Symphony') WoO CNW 30 FS 116 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1924-25 Premiere 11 Dec 1925 at the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

9 Dec 2011 at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt

Carl Nielsen Udgaven CNW Margaret Godfrey

IMSLP Score Wikipedia Danish Wikipedia English

Another departure from the romantic via the neoclassical was 'Flute Concerto' CNW 42 FS 119 premiering in Paris on 21 October 1926 with Holger Gilbert-Jespersen at flute.

'Flute Concerto' WoO CNW 42 FS 119 Carl Nielsen

Comp 1926 Premiere 21 Oct 1926 in Paris

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Kees Bakels

Flute: Gareth Davies

Adam Binks Jeff Counts Carl Nielsen Udgaven

CNW IMSLP Georg Predota Score

Score Redwood Symhony Wikipedia Brian Wise

Nielsen's last principal orchestral work was 'Clarinet Concerto' Op 57 CNW 43 FS 129, another study in contrasting elements first performed on 11 October 1928 in Copenhagen.