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Carl Nielsen til sin samtid (Carl Nielsen to his Contemporaries), edited by John Fellow.1 3 volumes. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1999. 919 pp. ISBN 87 00 38838 6.
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Carl Nielsen til sin samtid (Carl Nielsen to his Contemporaries), edited by John Fellow.1 3 volumes. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1999. 919 pp. ISBN 87 00 38838 6.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2020
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- Copyright © Royal Musical Association, 2001
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With thanks to Svend Ravnkilde. All translations are my own unless indicated.Google Scholar
1 John Fellow has previously published novels under the name John Fellow Larsen.Google Scholar
2 BBC Proms 1999 (London, 1999), 32–4.Google Scholar
3 Ulf Schirmer and the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Decca CD 460 227–2DH02). For a useful survey of the recorded history of Nielsen's music, see Layton, Robert, ‘Nielsen and the Gramophone’, The Nielsen Companion, ed. Mina F. Miller (London, 1994), 116–47.Google Scholar
4 Both Douglas Bostock and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (for Classico) and Michael Sch⊘nwandt and the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (for Dacapo) are being recorded in conjunction with the new critical edition of Nielsen's works. The third set is by Osmo Vänskä and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and follows the success of their ‘Music is Life’ series in Glasgow, 1997–8.Google Scholar
5 This remark should be read in the context of the Proms’ dual commitment to promoting new music and offering an overview of current musical tastes.Google Scholar
6 Carl Nielsen: Dagb⊘ger og brevveksling med Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, ed. Torben Schousboe, 2 vols. (Copenhagen, 1983). Schousboe was given unrestricted access to much of Nielsen's private correspondence, as well as his diaries, on the condition that the material remained closed to public access in the Royal Library for a further 25 years after the completion of his book. This two-volume edition was an edited selection of the available material, much of which has never been published. For a fascinating discussion of his work, see the interview with Svend Ravnkilde, ‘“… du skal blot g⊘re store og blanke, selvstændige Arbejder”: Torben Schousboe samtaler med Svend Ravnkilde’, Dansk musiktidsskrift, 58 (1983–4), 2–15.Google Scholar
7 J⊘rgen I. Jensen, Carl Nielsen: Danskeren (Copenhagen, 1991). For a useful summary of the main points of Jensen's book, see David Fanning's review, Music and Letters, 74 (1993), 113–15.Google Scholar
8 Carl Nielsens samling: Katalog over komponistens musikhåndskrifter, ed. Birgit Bj⊘rnum and Klaus M⊘llerh⊘j (Copenhagen, 1992).Google Scholar
9 Miller, Mina F., Carl Nielsen: A Guide to Research (New York, 1987), xiv. Miller's annotated guide has now been superseded by the Nielsen CD-ROM and other recent publications, but as a document in Nielsen reception it remains valuable in its own right.Google Scholar
10 Fanning, David, Nielsen: Symphony no. 5 (Cambridge, 1997). Fanning hears the work as a conflict between dark, evil and malignant forces and light, positive, dynamic ones, as expressed, ultimately, in the two-part layout of the work. Most important, this allows him to place the work in the context of other twentieth-century approaches to symphonic composition. Jack Lawson's recent biography of the composer, Carl Nielsen, Phaidon Twentieth-Century Composers (London, 1997), contains valuable photographic material, but pursues a similar ‘humanistic’ approach to that developed by Robert Simpson in Carl Nielsen: Symphonist (London, 1952; rev. edn London, 1979, repr. 1983; all subsequent references are to the revised edition). A similar thesis is advanced by Steen Chr. Steensen's new Danish biography, Musik er liv: En biografi om Carl Nielsen (Copenhagen, 1999).Google Scholar
11 The Music Department in the new annexe, the Sorte diamant ('Black Diamond'), has been reorganized so that Nielsen's manuscripts and correspondence are now in the same part of the building, adjacent to the offices of the Critical Edition. The annexe itself is an impressive architectural achievement.Google Scholar
12 In addition to her Garland Research Guide (see note 9 above), Miller was also the first scholar to produce a modern critical edition of any of Nielsen's music, and her volume of the complete two-hand piano works (Copenhagen, 1981) contains valuable commentary on individual pieces as well as on aspects of Nielsen's compositional procedure.Google Scholar
13 Witness the two recent substantial books by Richard Taruskin (Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions, London, 1996, and Defining Russia Musically, Princeton, NJ, 1997) that have sought to correct a similar critical imbalance. There remains a pressing need, I think, for a treatment of the idea of a northern style in fin-de-siècle Scandinavian music.Google Scholar
14 Treitler, Leo, ‘The Historiography of Music: Issues of Past and Present’, Rethinking Music, ed. Nicholas Cook and Mark Everist (Oxford, 1999), 356–77 (p. 365). Jann Pasler has sounded a similar cautionary note: ‘Scholars troubled by poststructuralist work find that an undue emphasis on power relations can sometimes lead to its own totalising illusions, such as universalist notions of gendered meaning in music, and to one notion or group substituting for another without any real change in our understanding of music’ ('Directions in Musicology’, Acta musicologica, 69 (1997), 16–21 (p. 18)).Google Scholar
15 The comparison is a good one because of the many small correspondences between Nielsen's work and much of Shostakovich's music, though it seems unlikely, as David Fanning has noted ('Nielsen’, A Guide to the Symphony, ed. Robert Layton, London, 1995, 351–62 (p. 361)), that Shostakovich had heard anything by Nielsen. Compare, especially, the thematic and textural material of Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto with Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto.Google Scholar
16 Simpson, , Carl Nielsen.Google Scholar
17 Ibid., 21.Google Scholar
18 The quotation is taken from Nielsen's explanatory programme note for the first performance of his Fourth Symphony, ‘Det Uudslukkelige’ ('The Inextinguishable'), on 1 February 1916, and was reprinted both in the study score and at the head of Levende musik (Copenhagen, 1925), the collection of articles originally published in association with his sixtieth birthday celebrations. See Claus R⊘llum-Larsen's introduction to the critical edition of the Fourth Symphony (Copenhagen, 1999).Google Scholar
19 This is a topic that needs far greater discussion than can be afforded here. The nature of Nielsen's understanding of organicism remains a significant area for future research.Google Scholar
20 Adorno, Theodor W., Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Chicago, 1991); first published in German (Frankfurt am Main, 1971).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21 The Tre klaverstykker were written in 1928 (the third piece is dated ‘Damgaard, 11 November'), but not published until 1937. See Dagb⊘ger, ed. Schousboe, 535.Google Scholar
22 Simpson, , Carl Nielsen, 167.Google Scholar
23 Nielsen's most substantial lecture on Greek music was read at the Græsk Selskab on Tuesday, 22 October 1907 (Fellow, pp. 99–110). Nielsen's notes for the lecture include references to Riemann's Handbuch der Musikgeschichte (Leipzig, 1904) as well as other theoretical writings on the subject.Google Scholar
24 Items 82–3 (pp. 304–8). The composer Victor Bendix referred to ‘this filmatic symphony, this unclean trench music, this brazen deception, this clenched fist in the face of a defenceless, conservative and over-excited public’ ('denne Symfoni filmatique, denne urenlige L⊘begravsmusik, dette frække Bedrag, denne Knytnæve i Ansigtet paa et værgel⊘st, nyhedssnobbet og pirrings-sygt Publikum').Google Scholar
25 Collected as item 214 (pp. 648–81) in Fellow's edition. The poems were written during a difficult period in Nielsen's life, between Maskarade and the Third Symphony (1910–11), when his wife spent a long time in hospital. They were never published by Nielsen himself.Google Scholar
26 'Stoffet er hverken udvalgt efter kvalitet eller emne eller andre kriterier … [deres] mangfoldighed er en værdi i sig selv’ (Fellow, p. 20).Google Scholar
27 'Efter Schousboes arbejde måske ikke i så h⊘j grad drejer sig om at finde nyt stof frem som at pr⊘ve at kaster nyt lys ind over det, vi allerede kender, både biografisk og musikalsk.’ Jensen, Carl Nielsen, 13.Google Scholar
28 Anonymous interview, Verdens gang, 5 December 1908 (Fellow, p. 124):Google Scholar
'– Hvordan vil De – uden beskedne tillempninger – karakterisere deres Betydning for dansk Musikliv?Google Scholar
– Jeg er jo, eller rettere var jo ofte et Stridens Æble.Google Scholar
– Det er jo alle begavede Mennesker.Google Scholar
– Hmm – ja; men det var fordi jeg mente Protest mod dette danske bl⊘de, udglidende, udjevnede [sic], jeg vil den stærke Rytme, der videregaaende i harmonisk Henseende. Nu er ikke Modstanden saa stærk længer, nu staar dansk Musik og vipper mellem gammelt og ungt.’Google Scholar
('– Without being modest, how would you characterize your importance for Danish music?Google Scholar
– Well, I am, or rather was, often a bone of contention.Google Scholar
– That is true of all gifted people.Google Scholar
– Yes, but it was because I wanted to protest against this soft, stodgy Danish smoothness, I wanted stronger rhythms, more advanced harmony. The opposition is no longer so strong now that Danish music hovers between the old and the new.')Google Scholar
The interview was originally quoted, but not identified, in Torben Meyer and Frede Schandorf Petersen, Carl Nielsen: Kunstneren og Mennesket, ii (Copenhagen, 1948), 8.Google Scholar
29 In the absence of definitive information, Fellow comments on the uncertain editorial status of Levende musik; it is not known, for example, whether the selection of essays and their ordering was made by Nielsen or his editor.Google Scholar
30 As Fellow notes (pp. 78–86), Nielsen's article was initially commissioned by the newspaper Politiken, and was due to appear in late January 1906, but Nielsen was unable to meet the deadline and his article was subsequently printed in the periodical Tilskueren in March. Maskarade was premièred on 11 November 1906.Google Scholar
31 Busoni and Nielsen first met in Leipzig in 1891 (see diary entry dated 7 February, Dagb⊘ger ed. Schousboe, 42), and were both in Dresden in 1896 when Nielsen conducted a highly successful performance of his First Symphony on 18 March. Busoni subsequently organized a performance of Nielsen's Second Symphony in Berlin in 1903 that was less well received. Though it seems that they were not in touch during the period when Busoni wrote the Entwurf, they nevertheless maintained a correspondence for over 30 years. See Michael Fjelds⊘e, ‘Ferruccio Busoni og Carl Nielsen – brevveksling gennem tre årtier’, Musik og forskning, 25 (1999–2000), 18–40. I am grateful to Dr Fjelds⊘e for sending this material to me in advance.Google Scholar
32 'Hvad mit musikalske Standpunkt angaar, saa er det min Overbevisning, at Palestrina, Sebastian Bach og Mozart er de Komponister, der er naaet h⊘jest af alle. Det forekommer mig, at de 2 sidste Mestre for os Nutidsmennesker ligesom danne Yderpunkterne af Musikernes Udtryksevne. Bach fastholder jo den een Gang anslaaende, enkle Stemning hele Stykket igennem, trods de mange mærkelige og interessante Enkeltheder, han udvikler, hvorimod Mozart vel nok er den, som man skylder den endelige Uddybelse og Fuldendelse af den Stil, hvori Kontrastvirkninger og vexlende Stemninger finder Udtryk. Naturligvis mener jeg ikke hermed, at disse Mestre i eet og alt b⊘r være vore Idealer; jeg tror, at Musiken endnu langt fra har naaet sin Kulminationspunkt i Evnen til at udtrykke menneskelige F⊘lelser og Stemninger; men i hvilken Retning, Udviklingen vil bære hen, er i Øjeblikket umuligt at sige. Saa meget staar mig dog klart, at der ligger uhyre mange Muligheder skjulte i det harmoniske og modulatoriske, og jeg skulde tage meget fejl, om ikke Fremtiden vil forkaste vore moderne tonearter, Moll og Dur, som utilskrækkelige til at udtrykke et moderne [M]enneskes Tanke- og F⊘lelses-Liv. Tanken om Kvart-Toner, som skal være oppe i Tyskland, tiltaler mig i h⊘j Grad, og jeg har flere Gange, bl. a. et sted i min f⊘rste Symphonie, ligefrem f⊘lt Savnet af et finere nuanceret Tonesystem’ (Fellow, pp. 50–1). Despite the lack of corroborative evidence, it is difficult to resist the temptation to compare Nielsen's sketch with the discussion of microtonal intonation (chapter vi) in Busoni's Entwurf.Google Scholar
33 See the interview by Finn Hoffmann for Politiken, reproduced in Fellow, pp. 434–6. The concert took place on 1 July, and was conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. The programme included the première of Bartók's Piano Concerto no. 1, Hauer's Suite no. 7 for Orchestra, op. 48, and a hugely successful performance of Nielsen's Fifth Symphony. Jascha Horenstein was responsible for conducting rehearsals of Nielsen's work before Furtwängler arrived.Google Scholar
34 Compare, for example, Simpson's two divergent commentaries on the work with Jonathan Kramer's supposedly post-modernist account, ‘Unity and Disunity in Nielsen's Sixth Symphony’, The Nielsen Companion, ed. Miller, 293–344. Kramer comments: ‘the process of destruction of innocence, of loss of (rather than just contrast to) simplicity, is the essence of this fundamentally dark work’ (p. 322).Google Scholar
35 '– Hvad skildrer De i den nye Symfoni?Google Scholar
– Kun rent musikalske Problemer. For f⊘rste Gang i mit Komponistliv har jeg lavet en Humoreske i en Symfoni. Den er for nogle ganske faa Instrumenter, som spiller, mens hele det ⊘vrige Orkester tier. Jeg har paa den ene Side anbragt en Gruppe, bestaaende af to Klarinetter, en Piccolofl⊘jte og to Fagotter. Paa den anden Side staar et Klokkespil, en lille Tromme og en Triangel. Hertil kommer endelig en Basun. Humoresken begynder med, at de tre smaa Slaginstrumenter – Klokkespillet, Trommen og Triangel – bliver enige om at vække de andre, st⊘rre Instrumenter, som ligger og sover. Disse tre sma Væsner har ikke megen Hjerne, de er nogle meget barnlige, s⊘de, uskyldige Smaa, og de begynder nu med deres Bimme-limme-bim og deres sagte Bom-bom-bom … de bliver ivrigere og ivrigere og faar tilsidst larmet de andre op til at spille … Klarinetterne, Piccolofl⊘jten og Fagotterne. Men de smaa uskydige Instrumenter synes aldeles ikke om den moderne Musik, der nu lyder – de hamrer for sig selv: Hold op, hold op, siger de … og saa er det snart forbi med den moderne Musik. Men da begynder Klarinet at spille, det er en lille barnlige Melodi, og de smaa Instrumenter tier og lytter. Basunen, detter store Instrument, gaber og siger: Baah, Barnemad! De andre Instrumenter falder atter ind, der bliver Strid om Musiken, det lyder lidt falsk og forvirret – og tilsidst falder det hele hen til ingen Verdens Ting. Dette er Symfoniens Humoreske.Google Scholar
– Hvad rummer den ellers?Google Scholar
– I f⊘rste og tredie Sats er der meget forskellige musikalske Tanker, men i Finalen kommer der igen et Tema med Variationer … det er f⊘rst ganske enkelt, saa meget lystigere, heftigere – tilsidst helt barokt. Og dermed ender “Sinfonia Semplice”’ (Fellow, pp. 375–7).Google Scholar
36 The allusion to Gary Tomlinson's article, ‘The Web of Culture: A Context for Musicology’, 19th Century Music, 7 (1983–4), 350–62, is intentional, but in my commitment to the aesthetic integrity of the musical work I am obviously closer to the model of history outlined by Carl Dahlhaus in ‘The Significance of Art: Historical or Aesthetic?’, Foundations of Music History, trans. J. Bradford Robinson (Cambridge, 1983), 19–33.Google Scholar
37 That is not to suggest that the similarity between Bruckner and Nielsen goes beyond one of reception. However, the case of a composer such as Messiaen, who left a substantial amount of writing on the technical and aesthetic content of his work, might present a useful counterexample.Google Scholar
38 For more on this subject, and on the subsequent reception of central-European music in Denmark in the 1930s, see Michael Fjelds⊘e, Den fortrængte Modernisme (Aarhus, 1999).Google Scholar
39 Fellow, pp. 366–7 (the name of Marlborough House is also misspelt). Nielsen had met Ronald during his visit to England in April 1920 (Dagb⊘ger, ed. Schousboe, 433), though, to my knowledge, Ronald never conducted any of Nielsen's works. Sibelius, by contrast, had enjoyed the championship of conductors such as Granville Bantock and Henry Wood from the very earliest years of the century.Google Scholar
40 'Det er ofte blevet sagt om mig, at jeg var haardhjertet i min Kunst. Stemningen har nemlig aldrig faaet afg⊘rende Betydning i, hvad jeg har frembragt. Stemningen er jo en personlig F⊘lelse, og Kunsten, det er en kosmisk F⊘lelse, en mærkelig Tilstand, hævet op over Vilje og Indtryk, og hvor alle F⊘lelser er ægte. Kun i dette Tilstand naas det inderste og dybeste i al Kunst. Man skal over for et Kunstværk have den samme Fornemmelse, man har, naar man staar ved en Bæk, det Sted, man staar ved, er et Led i et Hele, og det rummer i sig baade Kilden og Havet og alle Steder langs Bækken. Der skal ikke jagtes ikke efter Idéer, Idéer er uden Betydning imod dette at kunne f⊘re en Ting igennem fra Begyndelse og Ende, og det synes mig, at vi nu til Dags mangler denne Kraft, som vi mangler Formsans.’ Interview by Ole Vinding, Politiken, 4 October 1931 (Fellow, pp. 614–15).Google Scholar