Nielsen's international breakthrough for his symphonies only began in the 1950s, largely due to the efforts of symphonist and BBC editor Robert Simpson and conductor Jascha Horenstein.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, 'The Inextinguishable,' is based on the idea that the most elementary components of music are light, life, and movement, representing the will and urge to live.
Compositional Technique
The finale of Symphony No. 4, 'The Inextinguishable,' is famous for its 'battle' between two pairs of timpani, which attempt to overpower the orchestra with their martial noise.
Composition History
Carl Nielsen found inspiration for his Symphony No. 2, 'The Four Temperaments,' in a Zealand pub, where he saw grotesquely exaggerated paintings of human character archetypes.
Performer Biography
Sir Roger Norrington, the conductor on this album, was the principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1998 to 2011 and is known for his historically informed performance style, dubbed the 'Stuttgart Sound.'
Composer Biography
Carl Nielsen, like his contemporaries Jean Sibelius, Claude Debussy, and Leoš Janáček, was known for his provocative originality that deviated from established musical norms.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Carl Nielsen was considered an anti-Romantic, breaking with the nostalgic sentimentality prevalent in Vienna and London, and his music is characterized by its unsentimental, life-affirming nature and sense of coherence.
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