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| PASC035:
Symphony No. 6 (Sinfonia Semplice) - Carl Nielsen |
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Carl
Nielsen (1865-1931), the greatest composer to come out of Denmark,
stands alongside Sibelius as the great masters of Scandinavian composition.
Like his Finnish contemporary, Nielsen's great body of work lies in his
symphonies. Of these, this is the sixth and last, written in the years
1924-5. As with Sibelius, he developed his own notions of structure and
tonality that, as his work progressed, became more entirely individual
and unorthodox.
However
at the time of this recording the jury was still firmly out on his Sixth
Symphony - indeed although a number of contemporary symphony recordings
by the Danish State Radio Orchestra were released in the UK, this recording
was not. The following explanation and description (for curious readers,
no doubt) appeared in 1956's The Record Guide:
"...the
Sixth Symphony is a somewhat enigmatic work about which even Danish musicians
are by no means agreed. A spacious and impressive first movement is followed
by a sarcastic Humoreske, which sounds like a parody of the neo-classical
Stravinsky at his thinnest, interrupted by downard glissando yawns on
the trombone; then comes a slow movement which begins nobly but peters
out; finally a set of variations in which sardonic humour is interspersed
with a good deal of melodic charm. It is a puzzling work... the probability
is that, if Nielsen had not died in his sixties, we should be thinking
of it as a transitional work pointing the way to further symphonic achievements;
and in fact it was it was followed by the two important and original wind
concertos and by the organ Commotio and Three Motets. A fairly good recording
of the Sixth Symphony, conducted by Thomas Jensen, is available in Denmark
(Tono) and in America (Mercury); but this has not yet been issued in England."
This
certainly is an interesting yet enigmatic work - and in a recording that
is well worth hearing, especially following the efforts of Peter Harrison
in restoring it to show a clean, vibrant, sparkling intensity.
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REVIEW
OF Nielsen - Symphony No. 6
(DRSO, Jensen, 1952) |
| How
is one to approach this very enigmatic work? Carl Nielsen, having
written two of the greatest and most life-enhancing symphonies
of the 20th century (#4-"The Inextinguishable" [1916]
and #5 [1922]) now writes a very bitter and ironic work to finish
his symphonic oeuvre. There may be reasons. He has suffered
a series of heart problems in the 1920's. More importantly,
he feels betrayed by the relative lack of recognition he has
received in Denmark and internationally compared to his compatriot
Sibelius who has been showered with honors and money. Although
Nielsen's 60th birthday (1925) was well-celebrated in Denmark
and his opera Maskerade is the Danish national opera, he writes
in the late 1920's that he wishes that he had taken up another
profession and that he has never been able to make a living
from his compositions. Finally, in 1928, Nielsen writes the
only Clarinet Concerto worthy to rank with Mozart's, yet it
is a work of such surpassing bitterness and gall that one cannot
tolerate hearing it too often.
The
first movement of the sixth symphony begins sweetly but coldly
and the entire first movement alternates between simplicity
and irony-a great piece of music. The second movement is a
short wind-driven humoreske leading to a beautiful "proposta
seria" for strings. The final movement is a set of utterly
diverse variations-lamenting, waltzing, brutal and ultimately
ironic. Jensen, who recorded most of the Nielsen symphonies
in the early 1950's during the first intense but short-lived
burst of Nielsen interest after WWII, drinks the ironic cup
to the full. Even more than the newer Blomstedt, which is
very good, Jensen brings out the contradictory sides of this
symphony.
The
Danacord 1994 remastering of the Jensen 1952 performance was
pretty good, but has been considerably bested by the Pristine
Audio remastering, especially in the areas of dynamic range
and presence.
Reviewer:
Bill Rosen
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Find
out more: |
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Second
movement :
Humoresque allegretto |
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About Nielsen: |
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