Fresh from assuming the title of music director of the Seattle Symphony, Thomas Dausgaard conducts two symphonies by his fellow Dane Carl Nielsen. Dausgaard and the orchestra performed the Symphony No. 1 and the Symphony No. 2 “The Four Temperaments”, written respectively in 1891-2 and 1901-2, live in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.
Gramophone Editor's Choice.
Featuring
Thomas Dausgaard
Seattle Symphony
Carl August Nielsen
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Composer's Artistic Vision
Carl Nielsen's First Symphony was a reaction against the excesses of late-Romantic music and aimed for an authentic voice, as he put it, to "open ears and eyes to all the fat and gravy among Wagner's imitators."
Performer Biography
The Seattle Symphony, led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, is recognized as one of the 'most vital American orchestras' by NPR.
Performer Biography
The Seattle Symphony has garnered five Grammy Awards and 26 Grammy nominations, and was named Gramophone's 2018 Orchestra of the Year.
Compositional Technique
Despite its programmatic inspiration, Nielsen considered his Second Symphony a true symphony, creating symphonic drama with contrasting themes and atmospheres in each movement.
Recording & Production
Nielsen's Symphony No. 1 was recorded live in concert in January and February 2020, while Symphony No. 2 was recorded live in April 2019.
Performer Biography
Thomas Dausgaard, the conductor, is also Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
Composition History
Nielsen's Second Symphony, 'The Four Temperaments,' was inspired by a comical colored picture he saw at a country inn in Zealand, depicting the Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic temperaments.
