Tír Na HiFi

Already? That went quick!

Let me start by saying I am very much a novice when it comes to classical music. The fact that I have a degree (primary teaching from Denmark) has not "forced" me to become a specialist in the classical field. I am a musician in the sense I play guitar and have done so from the age of 12 - but without actually learning a huge amount of theory.

I have chosen Carl Nielsen for the fact that he grew up a few miles outside my hometown of Odense and as such has been an ever-present influence on culture where I grew up. "Lets have a little one of Carl Nielsens" is a commonly heard saying when requests are made to anyone to sing or play a song.

I am going to start out with some brief historic facts that I have borrowed from the net:

The Fifth Symphony has a non-customary structure, comprising two movements instead of the common three or four. Written in a modern musical language, it draws on the theme of contrast and opposition. The post-World War I composition is also described to contain elements of war.

A Swedish performance on 20 January 1924, under the baton of Georg Schnéevoigt, caused quite a scandal; the Berlingske Tidende reported that some in the audience could not take the modernism of the work:
Midway through the first part with its rattling drums and 'cacophonous' effects a genuine panic broke out. Around a quarter of the audience rushed for the exits with confusion and anger written over their faces, and those who remained tried to hiss down the 'spectacle', while the conductor Georg Schnéevoigt drove the orchestra to extremes of volume. This whole intermezzo underlined the humoristic-burlesque element in the symphony in such a way that Carl Nielsen could certainly never have dreamed of. His representation of modern life with its confusion, brutality and struggle, all the uncontrolled shouts of pain and ignorance—and behind it all the side drum's harsh rhythm as the only disciplining force—as the public fled, made a touch of almost diabolic humour.[41]

The reason for choosing this piece was that I thought it would be interesting to discover one of his more difficult and modern pieces. In Denmark the Helios Overture is very widely known - it is the first audio heard in the new year on Danish Radio - and also widely taught as part of the music curriculum in collages etc.

I hope the next month will prove interesting for everyone and I hope you will contribute with whatever you feel to this thread as we go along.

I will be using the following two recordings.

Hi Claus,

First of all I want to say that I am a big fan of Carl Nielsen and of Denmark. I did not realized before that this is where you are from so I was very happy to read that.

Carl Nielsen is a very special composer to me and even if I am a fan of his music, there are still a lot of his pieces that I have never heard before. His first 3 symphonies are all amazing and are among my favorite in the symphonic genre. I have a bit of a harder time with his 4th but I am trying to discover it further.

As for his 5th and 6th well...I have never listened to them before which makes your post very special to me as it will give me the occasion to discover it. I will try to get a hold on a copy and would like to take the time to discover it during august.

Thank you for your post and for the informations that you gave so far.

Matt from Canada.

Claus wrote:Already? That went quick!

I know, perhaps it's the damp, dreary, autumnal weather we've had since April!

Let me start by saying I am very much a novice when it comes to classical music. The fact that I have a degree (primary teaching from Denmark) has not "forced" me to become a specialist in the classical field. I am a musician in the sense I play guitar and have done so from the age of 12 - but without actually learning a huge amount of theory.

I have chosen Carl Nielsen for the fact that he grew up a few miles outside my hometown of Odense and as such has been an ever-present influence on culture where I grew up. "Lets have a little one of Carl Nielsens" is a commonly heard saying when requests are made to anyone to sing or play a song.

I am going to start out with some brief historic facts that I have borrowed from the net:

The Fifth Symphony has a non-customary structure, comprising two movements instead of the common three or four. Written in a modern musical language, it draws on the theme of contrast and opposition. The post-World War I composition is also described to contain elements of war.

I love the Fifth Symphony and the Blomstedt/SFSO 4 CD set is a really great cycle.

A lovely start to August's feature Claus, well done.

I have been looking forward to this thread for a while now as it will force me to relisten to what I find to be a rather difficult piec of music to get to grips with. I look forward to learning lots on new things in the process and hopefully getting some help in the interpretation of this work.

I don't know this music at all, so I'll be starting completely from scratch. Should be interesting!

I don't have a single Nielsen recording in my collection so this will be all new for me too.

Edit: Actually I might have some on vinyl but I'd have to ask Ciaran if I have! (Must really get around to cataloguing it)

DaveF wrote:I don't have a single Nielsen recording in my collection so this will be all new for me too.

Edit: Actually I might have some on vinyl but I'd have to ask Ciaran if I have! (Must really get around to cataloguing it)

You have 4 and 5 with SFSO/Blomstedt (frequently top choices for these), which must have been among the last LPs issued by Decca!

You also have Ole Schmidt and the LSO doing Nielsen 1 and 2, from the first complete studio cycle: excellent performances (not without faults) now available in a dirt-cheap box on Regis.

I think that's it!

Nielsen 1 is not one of the well-known ones, but I think it's very distinctive. Have a blast of the Schmidt disc and see if you don't love it. I found it kept coming back through my head unbidden for years after the first listen, but in a good way, not like an earworm!

Ciaran wrote:

DaveF wrote:I don't have a single Nielsen recording in my collection so this will be all new for me too.

Edit: Actually I might have some on vinyl but I'd have to ask Ciaran if I have! (Must really get around to cataloguing it)

You have 4 and 5 with SFSO/Blomstedt (frequently top choices for these), which must have been among the last LPs issued by Decca!

You also have Ole Schmidt and the LSO doing Nielsen 1 and 2, from the first complete studio cycle: excellent performances (not without faults) now available in a dirt-cheap box on Regis.

I think that's it!

Nielsen 1 is not one of the well-known ones, but I think it's very distinctive. Have a blast of the Schmidt disc and see if you don't love it. I found it kept coming back through my head unbidden for years after the first listen, but in a good way, not like an earworm!

Thanks Ciaran. Now that you mention it I do recall coming across the SFSO/Blomstedt LPs. I might have even played them at one stage.

So is the Blomstedt/SFO cycle the choicer choice for a plebeian like myself?

Diapason wrote:So is the Blomstedt/SFO cycle the choicer choice for a plebeian like myself?

To my (tiny) mind it is beyond compare. It is the DE cycle to get, others may have a different view and I respect their right to be worng. And Simon you're no pleb!