If I Could Choose Only One Work By...NIELSEN

It Would Have To Be...Symphony No. 5
Just a cosmically great work by a symphonist to the manner born.

The List So Far...
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job
12. Bach: Goldberg Variations
13. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
14. Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
15. Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies (Nos. 82-87)
16. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
17. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor
18. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
19. Chopin: Preludes
20. Verdi: Rigoletto
21. Roussel: Symphony No. 2
22. Copland: Appalachian Spring (complete original ballet)
23. Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2
24. Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
25. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2
26. Rimsky-Korsakov: Opera Suites (Scottish National Orchestra/Järvi) Chandos
27. Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
28. Smetana: Ma Vlást
29. Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
30. Bizet: Carmen
31. Elgar: In the South
32. Sullivan: The Mikado
33. Dvořák: Symphony No. 8; Cello Concerto (Piatigorsky/Munch/Boston Symphony) RCA
34. Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
35. Monteverdi: Orfeo
36. Scarlatti: Sonatas
37. Schumann: Fantasie in C, Op. 17
38. Berg: Wozzeck
39. Hermann: Psycho (film score)
40. Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini
41. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
42. Holst: Suites for Military Band
43. Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex
44. Respighi: Three Botticelli Pictures
45. Sibelius: Symphony No. 5; Pohjola’s Daughter (Bernstein, New York Philharmonic) Sony
46. Britten: The Turn of the Screw
47. Borodin: String Quartet No. 2
48. Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen
49. Korngold: Violin Concerto
50. Tallis: Spem in Alium

[neiltheblaze]

I've never been able to understand why Nielsen's music isn't programmed more often by the big hot-shot orchestras. The symphonies are amazing, his concerti are amazing, Helios is amazing, Aladdin is amazing. It's accessible, direct music and everyone passes it by to do "Ein Heldenleben" for the 80th time.

[tarquinmidwinter]

Been waiting for this one too. Such a hard choice between the 4th and 5th.

[d.r.martin]

Great choice. Couldn't agree more. Just as Jascha Horenstein introduced me to Mahler, so he introduced me to Nielsen with his 5th on Nonesuch.

[annakimborahpa]

I'm with you all the way on this one, Dave. As I recall, however, the Danish government selected only Symphony 4 for inclusion in their list of national artistic works of merit. That said, Nielsen's 5th is monumental for a variety of reasons:
1. The two movements are so different in character that I consider them as contrasting musical examples of right-brain and left brain cognition: The first movement is intuitive, feeling-based and dream-like and the second movement is logical, sequential and mathematical.
2. Although there is no program, there are such strong war impressions of marching and battle in the first movement that the second movement appears as a departure from the combined group struggle and a return to the rat-race complexities of individual daily life in the post-war era.
3. Whereas, the first movement can be understood as a combination of two movements, fast and slow, the second movement is a mini-symphony of allegro, scherzo, adagio and allegro. Both movements can stand on their own, but in combination we are confronted with an artistic totality of unusual construction and ingenuity.
4. The ending of the second movement is one of the great symphonic head fakes in that the long forte 3/4 allegro pedal on Bb Minor that conveys the impression of it being the ending key, is suddenly flipped on its head in the brass fueled coda when it becomes the dominant of Eb Major and thus a v - I modal cadence in the new and final key of Eb Major, an example originating in Mahler of progressive tonality.
5. The clarinet obligato over the snare drum at the end of first movement has been linked to an uncannily resemblance with Ravel's Bolero. It turns out that Ravel attended the premiere of Nielsen's 5th in Paris in 1924 and two years later he premiered his Bolero. Coincidence?
6. Again, as Leonard Bernstein and the NYPO did for Mahler, so did they do even more for Nielsen whose symphonies prior to the 1960s did not have much of a following outside of his home country. Along with British musicologist Robert Simpson's 1952 biography of the composer, Lenny/NYPO helped gain international exposure and appreciation for Nielsen's symphonies that lifted him to the ranks of others from the 20th century that included Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
7. Although I do not consider Nielsen's other symphonies to be of quite the same stature as his 5th, he did reach for the heights in his final instrumental work composed before his death, Commotio, an approximately twenty minute piece for solo pipe organ.

[paulengland]

The opening with that string trill and woodwinds is one of the most haunting and beautiful passages ever. And the snare drum rim shots in the Horenstein version towards the climax. Truly mesmeric.

[brithgob]

I am anxiously awaiting your One Work by Delius. My nomination would be "In a Summer Garden."

For your "How I Discovered" series, I would love to hear how you discovered Heraclius Djabadary.

[mikenol]

I have to agree with your opinion that the 5th is Nielsen’s greatest symphony. I also agree with Ronald Stevenson’s assessment of the work as possibly the greatest symphony of the twentieth century, ahead of Shostakovitch and Prokofiev’s 5ths. It is such a startlingly original work, but with extraordinary integration of its musical elements; harmony, rhythm and thematic essence, together with a narrative that is easy to grasp.

[martinbynion]

I appreciate your love of Nielsen, Dave, and especially for the 5th symphony, but my vote for his best work would absolutely go to the 4th. Only one symphony in the entire repertoire is, for me, clearly superior - the Eroica. And the 6th, "Semplice", is a great one too! Mind you, if you asked me what my FAVOURITE Nielsen symphony is, I'd probably say the 1st ! 🙂 Thank you for all your fabulous reactions!

[markusschneemann]

Call for MARTINU: Nonet No.2 from 1959 (H. 374): highly original with his characteristic gift for melody and sound.

[jackdolphy]

Many thanks Dave for pushing or is it pulling me out of my 60 plus years of ignorance of Nielsen’s music. Cancrizans could have erased Nielsen and I would have been no worse for wear. No longer. 🙏🏽

[davidaiken]

Yes, it had to be No. 5, though I chose No. 3, :The Inextinguishable" as my offering to the Dull God back when I was making personal rather than representative choices. No. 5 is one of the most original symphonies ever written, but then again, so are its siblings in the Nielsen canon. My love of Nielsen's music goes back to my college days when I chanced upon the old Markevich recording, on a Turnabout LP at my university's bookstore. I was stunned by the vehement beauty of the music. Since then my estimation of Nielsen's genius has risen with each succeeding decade. I now place him third on my personal list of "the greatest symphonists who flourished in the 20th Century, " right after Mahler and Sibelius. Latterly he has bumped Vaughn Williams to fourth place. Not that it's a horse race. In any case Nielsen's music is still seriously neglected in the USA. How often does one get to see "Maskarade" performed in an opera house? Yet it is one of the greatest comic operas ever. Right up there with "Marriage of Figaro" and "Rosenkavalier." Well, I could go on, but I hope that Dave's viewers would be encouraged to acquaint themselves further with this amazing composer.

[zdl]

Great choice, a 5th symphony equal to those of Prokofiev and Shostakovich, perhaps even more.

[RoyB-gncy]

Bravo Dave ! It has to be the 5th. And I personally think it's better than the 4th by a long way !

[danielspyle]

If one wanted to avoid symphonies and symphony-orchestras, one might consider "Commotio".

[robertdandre]

I am surprised....! i thought your favorite work by nielsen was the aladdin suite...you talked about it so enthusiastically. my favorite work by nielsen as far as I am concerned is his symphonies no.3 ...yes exciting and at the same time well structured especially the finale directed by bernstein especially....!

[MikeRusso]

Been waiting on this one. Thanks Dave! Excellent choice!

[Warp]

It had to be the 5th.
I have to thank you DH for telling me about it.

[barryguerrero]

I think the 5th Symphony is the most 'important' and greatest contribution from Nielsen. However, I like the third and sixth symphonies more. In addition, I feel the third symphony is the one that is most 'representative' of Nielsen's oeuvre. Make of that as you will.

[iankemp]

Certainly a unique piece which is truly representative of Nielsen's highly individual voice, so it seems a perfect choice. The other symphonies are very fine but not quite as idiosyncratic.

[vanhouten]

I prefer the 4th slightly over both the 5th and the 3rd, but they're all fantastic.