Nielsen: Symphony No. 6 & Commotio (Arr. by Hans Abrahamsen)

Featuring

Ryan Wigglesworth
Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble
Carl August Nielsen

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Interpretation

Hans Abrahamsen, a fellow-Dane, arranged Nielsen's Symphony No. 6 and Commotio to distil the original scores with sharpened commentaries, colors, and affirmations of Nielsen's distinctive language.

Composer's Artistic Vision

For Commotio, Nielsen's model was the organ music of the German Baroque, particularly composers like Dietrich Buxtehude and J. S. Bach, and he believed its severe contrapuntal style was the only valid way to write for the instrument.

Composition History

Carl Nielsen, the composer of Symphony No. 6 and Commotio, knew his life would be shortened by a serious heart condition, yet he embarked on bold compositional discoveries in his final years.

Compositional Technique

Nielsen's Symphony No. 6, subtitled 'Sinfonia semplice', has been viewed as pessimistic by some due to its ironic tone, with its finale compared to a grinning skeleton by composer Robert Simpson.

Interpretation

Hans Abrahamsen's transcription of Nielsen's Symphony No. 6 significantly reduces the original orchestration, cutting double winds almost in half and reducing ten brass instruments to a trio, while adding piano and harmonium.

Interpretation

Hans Abrahamsen's arrangement of Commotio uses eighteenth-century horns and trumpets with natural tuning, and period timpani played with mallets, to nod towards the roots of Nielsen's composition and the practice of transcription.

Composition History

Commotio for organ was Nielsen's last major work, completed in February 1931, and its public premiere in Aarhus was attended by Nielsen, who died three days before a subsequent performance became an impromptu tribute.