Carl Nielsen: Complete Organ Works - Rued Langgaard: Selected Organ Works - Friedhelm Flamme, Organ - CPO 2010

I was listening to Nielsen's grand and expansive "Commotio" for Organ around 2 a.m. last night (incidentally "after-hours" or the middle of the night are great for organ music; this is not fact but my own general experience (oh give it a try, drink too much coffee perhaps late in the day if needed!) This disc couples Nielsen's complete organ music with pieces for organ by the oft wonderfully eccentric Rued Langgaard. I have to leave the house for a while so I will (possibly) babble/type more on this disc later - I tend to be ummm.....'flakey' and forgetful when it comes to resuming posts as some of you may have noticed it the past! But perhaps I will...

Anyhow...enjoy!

Nielsen-Complete_Organ_Music-Tzadik.zip

http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/F31HSpAr/file.html

Carl Nielsen: The Three Concertos - Violin, Clarinet, and Flute - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kees Bakels - Naxos, 2000

Like Carl Nielsen's Symphonies, his three concertos are an important addition to the repertoire and there are several superb recordings to choose from. The pickings are slimmer compared to the symphonies, but that doesn't matter much as what is available ranges from very good to excellent. There are complete sets yet a nutcase collector (like myself) will definitely want to pick up all recordings that feature just one or two of the concerti, often paired with one of the symphonies, or ballet music in some cases. Or coupled with another composer, needless to say. One of the finest I think is Mogens Wöldike leading the Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra on Decca, for the Flute & Clarinet Concertos. From around late 2009 I think. 

This Naxos offering is one of the best available. My long-standing favorite, which I was looking for (but finally gave up because it must be packed in a box still) is the brilliant Chandos disc (1990) with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Schønwandt. I personally find all three accounts on that disc flawless. When I dig it up I will certainly offer it here!  

The concertos are not as well-known as the symphonies, which is a shame; they should be on concert programs frequently (I have heard the Violin Concerto and the Flute concerto performed live but once in all of my years) yet they really aren't. Nielsen's Violin concerto has always received the highest exposure, and there's no denying that it is an exquisite work. There's a chance I will be considered a heretic among fellow hardcore Nielsen fans but.... I happen to prefer the Flute Concerto and the single-movment quirky Clarinet Concerto. Make no mistake I adore the Violin Concerto as well; it's simply one of the finest penned during the 20th century.

See? Even this butterfly prefers the Flute Concerto. Actual performance..

Enjoy everyone

Nielsen-The_Concertos-Tzadik.zip

http://www20.zippyshare.com/v/ioWQaSn3/file.html

Happy 151st Birthday Carl Nielsen! The Complete Symphonies: (3 CDs) London Symphony Orchestra, Ole Schmidt - Regis (re-re-issue of classic Unicorn-Kanchana)

I just checked to see how many Nielsen discs I have shared on here and I am almost astonished to see that I have only posted ONE all-Nielsen disc, and then Nielsen appears on a couple compilations. And that's it. As he's one of my favorite composers I am almost ashamed - almost - I do after all have quite a healthy Nielsen collection and, I know Nielsen himself would approve of that. Pretty sure he would be really flattered as well. All in all I think the great symphonist would want to be my pal. Ok maybe not, but he is indeed one of many many figures that I wish I could have met in this lifetime. I'd put the Great Dane (or Great Dean of Danish music) near the top of the list. 

This was the first recording cycle of all six symphonies (1974) and it is still one of the finest around. The original Unicorn LP was issued later on cd by Unicorn, but the sound is even better on this Regis disc as it has been marginally cleaned up. Ole Schmidt is spot-on throughout, and his take on Symphony No. 4 ("Inextinguishable") and Symphony No. 6 ("Sinfonia semplice") in particular are candidates for best recorded versions around I think. I have many other favorite accounts, including (but not limited to) Bryden Thomson on Chandos, Gennady Rozhdestvensky also on Chandos, Herbert Blomstedt on Decca, and Michael Schønwandt on Dacapo being my next top picks. Actually, I will add Adrian Leaper's accounts with the NSO of Ireland from the mid-1990s on Naxos too; I used to play those versions all the time and they are quite fine - and I need to locate them now that I'm thinking of it! 

One of the original Unicorn LPs

Complete symphony cycle gets its premiere - this is one of two diff. covers

(I confess that it's now half past midnight - but still I stand behind this Bday post's authenticity ;)

Gramophone had this to say about the cycle:

'The Inextinguishable' and No.5 are amongst the best-paced on record, No. 4 preferable to Karajan on DG... devastating account of Sinfonia Semplice (No. 6) is surely Schmidt's greatest achievement... No-one should jump to conclusions about this symphony before having heard the burning intensity Ole Schmidt brings to it. --Gramophone

Enjoy all!

Disc 1

Nielsen-The_6_Symphonies-Disc1-Tzadik.zip

http://www2.zippyshare.com/v/gFH13RV9/file.html

Disc 2

Nielsen-The_6_Symphonies-Disc2-Tzadik.zip

http://www21.zippyshare.com/v/lRTKl5pu/file.html

Disc 3

Nielsen-The_6_Symphonies-Disc3-Tzadik.zip

http://www56.zippyshare.com/v/O7ySZIaz/file.html

Commotio: Organ Works of the Interwar Period - Oskar Lindberg, Organ Sonata in G minor - Olivier Messiaen, Le Banquet Céleste - Hans Gál, Toccata in E minor - Maurice Durufle, Scherzo - Carl Nielsen, Commotio - Christian Wilson, Organ - Acis Records 2015

Here's another great disc of organ music, and one of my favorite recent releases for solo organ. Five composers are represented here, starting off with the rarely heard "Organ Sonata in G minor" Op. 23 of Oskar Lindberg (it has been recorded before, on BIS and Swedish Society but unless you own either of those it's unlikely you will hear it on the airwaves). Next up is "Le Banquet Céleste" by Olivier Messiaen, followed by Hans Gál's wonderful "Toccata in E minor", one of the highlights of this collection. It goes without saying that the Durufle work ("Scherzo") is very fine, and lastly, and most significantly, is Carl Nielsen's masterpiece for organ "Commotio", which is substantial at over 25 minutes. The Nielsen is an absolute knockout and one of the pillars of 20th century organ repertoire.

In a letter Carl Nielsen wrote of "Commotio", "I myself think it is my most accomplished work". That is quite a statement from one of Denmark's greatest symphonists. Commotio was one of Nielsen's last works, completed in 1931, the year of Nielsen's death.

Again when I have more time, I will try to add more info on the rest of the program, I'm trying to post several things before leaving for work!

Enjoy!

Commotio-Organ_Works_of_the_Interwar_Period-Tzadik.zip

http://www82.zippyshare.com/v/powVSJbC/file.html

Carl Nielsen's 150th Birthday Anniversary - Orchestral Works - The Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky - Chandos Records 1994

Today marks the 150th birthday of Denmark's greatest composer, Carl Nielsen, who was born June 9th, 1865 (same year as Sibelius, the other Scandinavian musical giant!). He is also one of the most important symphonists of the early 20th century, and I'd say his symphonies are some of the greatest achievements in the repertoire in general, across centuries.

Carl August Nielsen was born on 9th June 1865 at Sortelung near Nørre Lyndelse on the island of Funen. His father, who was a painter, also worked as a village musician, and as a boy Carl was already playing in his father's dance orchestra. At the same time he played in the local amateur orchestra, Braga, whose repertoire, besides entertainment and dance music, also included the symphonies of Vienna Classicism. At the age of just fourteen he was engaged as a trombonist in the regimental band in Odense. Alongside his work as a military musician he played string quartets with his friends and studied Das Wohltemperierte Klavier on his own initiative. From these years came his first real attempts at composition - mainly chamber music works in the Classical style.

Thanks to patrons in Odense, Carl Nielsen had the chance to go to Copenhagen, where he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in 1884-86 with the violin as his main subject and the Joachim pupil Valdemar Tofte as his teacher. He was also taught theory (by J.P.E. Hartmann and Orla Rosenhoff), piano (by Gottfred Matthison-Hansen) and music history (by Niels W. Gade).

After his years at the Academy he continued his theoretical studies with Rosenhoff and in 1888 he felt ready to publish his opus 1, the Little Suite for Strings. The next year he was engaged as violinist in the Royal Orchestra, a position he kept until 1905. In 1890, as recognition of his talent, he was awarded the grant Det Ancker'ske Legat, which enabled him to go on a study trip to the Continent. During this trip, in 1891, he married the sculptress Anne Marie Brodersen, who remained his wife for the rest of his life, although the marriage underwent serious crises in some periods.

In the 1890s Carl Nielsen consolidated his position as one of the country's prominent composers with works like the First Symphony op. 7 (1890-92), the J.P. Jacobsen songs op. 4 and 6 (1891), the violin sonata op. 9 (1895) and the choral work Hymnus amoris (1896-97). The years around the turn of the century brought a further two operas, Saul and David (1898-1901) and Maskarade (1904-06), the last of which quickly gained the status of a Danish national opera.

From 1901 he was granted a Government salary, which meant that he was no longer forced to take private pupils to keep up the family finances. A few years afterwards he also signed a general contract with the publisher Wilhelm Hansen, who published more or less all his works until 1924. Alongside his composing career Carl Nielsen was to hold several important posts in Danish musical life. In the period 1908-1914 he conducted at the Royal Theatre, then from 1915 until 1927 he conducted the concerts of the society Musikforeningen. In 1915 he was elected to the board of trustees of the Royal Academy, where he also taught theory and composition from 1915 until 1919. Finally he was on the boards of the Danish Composers' Society and the Society for the Publication of Danish Music.

From the earliest works on, Carl Nielsen's compositions were permeated by a Classicist aesthetic which deliberately avoided any element of Late Romanticism. But in the course of the 1910s and 1920s he oriented himself more towards the new currents in European music. Little by little he now worked several modernist elements into his music, but without at any time abandoning his very characteristic personal style. This development is very clear in the last three symphonies, no. 4 (1914-16), no. 5 (1921-22) and no. 6 (1924-25).

Alongside the increasingly modernist instrumental works Carl Nielsen worked, with his friend Thomas Laub for example, to reform the Danish national song tradition. This resulted in a number of collections of simple strophic songs where he deliberately tried to perpetuate the ideals of J.A.P. Schulz' Lieder im Volkston (1784). Carl Nielsen had a distinctive literary talent which resulted in the childhood memoirs 'Min fynske Barndom' (My Childhood on Funen), which is amazingly objective and unsentimental, and the essay collection 'Levende Musik' (Living Music), where his anti-Romantic aesthetics were clearly expressed. In his later years Carl Nielsen suffered from a weak heart, and he died on October 3rd, 1931 at the age of 66. He continues to be (astonishingly to me) underrated as one of the 20th century's true geniuses, but his legacy cannot be overstated.

Carl Nielsen's childhood home

The great Dane himself, in 1908

Someplace I'd rather be-The Carl Nielsen Museum, which is also dedicated to the works of the composer's wife, the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen.

In the large-scale "Helios Overture" from 1902, we find ourselves at the beginning of Carl Nielsen's great musical 'sunshine period', which culminated in Symphony No. 3, nine years later. If Nielsen chose the Greek word for the sun, it was because the work was written in Greece while on a visit to Athens with his wife. They stayed on that occasion in a room that overlooked the Aegean Sea. Strongly descriptive in style, the Helios has a magnificent arching form which is even condensed, towards the end of the fast main section, into a bright firework display of a fugue. Carl Nielsen himself described the progress of the work in the following words:

Silence and darkness - then the sun rises
to joyful songs of praise -
wanders its golden way - sinks silently
into the sea

It opens in total darkness, with a deep pedal on C, but this gradually yields to the first hints of light, with soft horn-calls evoking the coming of dawn, which is symbolized by a noble chorale. As the sun rises, the large orchestra comes more and more into its own with radiating colors (one can almost 'feel' the golden rays caressing the skin I'd say!) as noon approaches, and the music hoists itself into a resplendent E major as the sun attains its zenith. There follows a quieter passage, suggesting the time of siesta. A grand and bustling music then breaks out into a joyous fugue as the sun makes its way into the west, to sink finally again into C and into the warm darkness from which the music first arose...

At that time European culture had once more rediscovered ancient Hellas, as expressed for example by the resumption of the Olympic Games of antiquity. Nielsen completed the Helios on April 23rd, 1903 and dedicated it to his friend, the Germano-Dutch composer Julius Röntgen, who had also been a friend of Brahms and of Grieg. And another significant Scandinavian figure-the Norwegian, Johan Svendsen-conducted the premiere of Helios in Copenhagen on October 8th of the same year.

The Helios Overture has been of great national importance because it was-and is-the first music one hears from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation on the radio after the turn of the year on New Year's Eve. Especially when the radio was the only broadcasting medium, people were given a sense that with this music they were on their way into a new time (with their dissonances, the horns at the beginning of the work create a feeling of space and promise: far out in space, the year is turning, the light of the sun will grow). There are also points of contact with the earlier great sunrise music in Denmark, Gade's morning song from "The Elf King's Daughter"; as if one sun work is greeting another. The Helios Overture is considered by many to be Nielsen's finest (smaller scale) orchestral work.

In some of the drafts from 1892 Carl Nielsen’s first symphony (opus 7 in G minor) is called "Symphony in C". This Symphony was not his first attempt in the genre. As early as 1888 he had started on a symphony in F major, but he never went further than the first movement. So it was performed under the title "Symphonic Rhapsody for Orchestra" in February 1893, under the baton of Victor Bendix, at one of the so-called Popular Concerts in Copenhagen. While Nielsen's musical personality is not in any sense in full bloom here, the orchestral writing is clearly impressive and, imo, 'clearly' Nielsen all the same.

With the "Rhapsodic Overture: A Fantasy Journey to the Faroe Islands", we are near the end of Carl Nielsen's life, after the completion of the sixth and last symphony. It is an occasional composition written for a celebration at the Royal Theatre to mark a visit from the Faroe Islands. We hear how the music approaches the remote islands in the Atlantic and arrives at an old melody well known in Denmark as "Påskeklokken kimed mildt" (Gently chimed the Easter bell). The work is also an example of how Carl Nielsen in his later years touched on many widely differing landscapes, each of which required its own music.

The orchestral piece "Pan and Syrinx" from 1917-18 is one of Carl Nielsen's most distinctive works, and has always been so regarded. Among other things that have been pointed out is a surprising affinity with musical Impressionism - even with Debussy's well known piece for solo flute, Syrinx, written five years previously, although Carl Nielsen is unlikely to have known it. But that is only one side of the work. The other is the odd shifts in tempo and the special alternation between transparent chamber-musical passages and tutti sections. Here, for the first time, Carl Nielsen uses a relatively large array of exotic percussion; in the work he is stepping out on new paths after the conclusion of his Symphony no. 4. The work points forward all the way to works of the 1920s, especially the Flute Concerto of 1926.

The story of Pan and Syrinx comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Pan is attracted to the nymph Syrinx. He pursues her, dancing and bleating. But she is frightened and flees to a woodland lake, where she is transformed into a reed. That is a summary of what Carl Nielsen writes as a text in the score. But he must also have been thinking about the continuation in Ovid, where Pan makes a flute from the reeds, so that he is united with Syrinx through his art. At the end of the piece the high strings lie close to one another in a dissonant block of sound. The individual strings must then gradually stop playing with vibrato. The result is a static sound where the reeds become an instrument, the nymph becomes a thing, and love becomes art.

The "Bohemian-Danish folk tune: Paraphrase for String Orchestra" of 1928 was considered by Nielsen to be an unimportant work (the booklet notes speak of Nielsen referring to his "Rhapsodic Overture: A Fantasy Journey to the Faroe Islands" as "only a piece of jobbery" (!) which I certainly do not agree with. The "Bohemian-Danish folk tune...." is one of my favorite pieces here. I find it to be extremely beautiful, with modal string writing that is on an almost Vaughan Williamsian level,  inducing chills and sheer joy for me, anyhow. I must repeat it every time I play it. Just gorgeous, a real confection imo.

-Ok, I am including the booklet notes anyhow so I hope you will all excuse my abrupt end to this post; I have to get to work! If possible I might post the symphonies tonight (the classic Da Capo series is my first choice, but I dunnoo where I have them so we shall see)

Enjoy!!

Carl_Nielsen_Orchestral_Works-Tzadik.zip

http://www29.zippyshare.com/v/pRdLAQeu/file.html

Buried Treasure - Francis Poulenc - Randall Thompson - Carl Nielsen - Joaqin Turina - Robert Muczynski - Edouard Lalo - Alan Hovhaness - Clark McAlister - Chamber Music Palm Beach

Sorry for the lil lapse in posting..it had been a busy week, and full of more grief than I would have wished. Here is a quick (and great) offering for now, it's a Klavier Records disc from 2000 called "Buried Treasure" with the ensemble Chamber Music Palm Beach. This is charming music for winds, however there's also some strings (violin, viola, cello, doublebass) in a few of the (equally charming) pieces. It's a nice varied program, the music of Hovhaness following the "Deux Aubades" by Lalo for example. My favorites on the disc are Poulenc's "Mouvments Perpetuels" (I love anything by Poulenc! His chamber music is especially exciting, and he wrote a lot of it thankfully!), as well as Randall Thompson's "Suite" for Oboe, Clarinet and Viola (Randall Thompson is another one of my favorite American composers, I don't understand why it's in fact the "other" American (Virgil) Thompson that gets more attention), and of course the Hovhaness Suite. Not to mention the Nielsen "Serenata.." and Muczynski's "Fragments". (I might as well say I fancy the whole disc, which I do)

I don't have time to write any real info or thoughts about the program right now, however I know that many of you (esp. all you wild and crazy wind addicts out there ;) will truly enjoy listening to all the music presented here. If anyone wishes that I write notes about the disc when I can feel free to let me know. I will try to post other "Buried Treasures" this evening. Enjoy...

Track List:

Francis Poulenc
1. Trois mouvements perp‚tuels, for chamber orchestra (orchestration of piano work, FP 14): Assez Mod‚r
2. Trois mouvements perp‚tuels, for chamber orchestra (orchestration of piano work, FP 14): TrŠs Mod‚r‚
3. Trois mouvements perp‚tuels, for chamber orchestra (orchestration of piano work, FP 14): Alerte

Randall Thompson
4. Suite for oboe, clarinet & viola: Gaio
5. Suite for oboe, clarinet & viola: Adagio Assai
6. Suite for oboe, clarinet & viola: Allegro
7. Suite for oboe, clarinet & viola: Lento Religioso
8. Suite for oboe, clarinet & viola: Grave; Allegretto

Carl Nielsen
9. Serenata in vano, for clarinet, bassoon, horn, cello & double-bass, FS 68: Serenata Invano

Joaquin Turina
10. La Oraci¢n del torero, for lute quartet (or string quartet/string orchestra), Op. 34: La Oraci¢n del

Robert Muczynski
11. Fragments, for flute, clarinet & bassoon: Waltz
12. Fragments, for flute, clarinet & bassoon: Solitude
13. Fragments, for flute, clarinet & bassoon: Holiday
14. Fragments, for flute, clarinet & bassoon: Reverie
15. Fragments, for flute, clarinet & bassoon: Exit

Edouard Lalo
16. Aubades (2), for 10 instruments/small orchestra (from opera "Fiesque"): Andante; Allegretto Non Trop
17. Aubades (2), for 10 instruments/small orchestra (from opera "Fiesque"): Andantino

Alaln Hovhaness
18. Suite for English horn & bassoon in D minor, Op. 21: Adagio Espressivo
19. Suite for English horn & bassoon in D minor, Op. 21: Allegro Grazioso
20. Suite for English horn & bassoon in D minor, Op. 21: Andante Espressivo

Clark McAlister
21. Lou's Mountain Bread, for wind quintet, string quartet & double bass: Energetic
22. Lou's Mountain Bread, for wind quintet, string quartet & double bass: Relaxed but Rhythmic
23. Lou's Mountain Bread, for wind quintet, string quartet & double bass: Lively

Buried_Treasure_ChamberMusicPalmBeach_Tz.zip


http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/73151212/file.html