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"If you were music, I would listen to you ceaselessly, and my low spirits would brighten up." - Anna Akhmatova

Carl Nielsen

Carl Nielsen was a Danish musician, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.
Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. He initially played in a military band before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1884 until December 1886. He premiered his Op. 1, Suite for Strings, in 1888, at the age of 23. The following year, Nielsen began a 16-year stint as a second violinist in the prestigious Royal Danish Orchestra under the conductor Johan Svendsen. In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Academy and continued to work there until his death.
Although his symphonies, concertos and choral music are now internationally acclaimed, Nielsen's career and personal life were marked by many difficulties, often reflected in his music. The works he composed between 1897 and 1904 are sometimes ascribed to his "psychological" period, resulting mainly from a turbulent marriage with the sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen. Nielsen is especially noted for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and many of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage. His early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, but he soon developed his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time. Nielsen's sixth and final symphony, Sinfonia semplice, was written in 1924–25. He died from a heart attack six years later, and is buried in Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen.

Featured on

Carl Nielsen, Johan Halvorsen, Johan Svendsen
Violin Concerto Op. 33 / Andante Religioso / Romance Op. 26
Lisa Jacobs / Bremer Philharmoniker / Mikhail Agrest
Various composers
Chaconne
Sofya Gulyak
Carl Nielsen, Sergei Prokofiev
Soloists of the Spannungen Festival 2016, Wind Quintets
Various
Carl Nielsen
Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto, Aladdin Suite
Philharmonia Orchestra
Carl Nielsen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Flute Concertos
Juliette Bausor
Various composers
Petite Delights - Romantic Music for Flute & Harp
Arioso
Carl Nielsen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Nielsen Clarinet Concerto / Mozart Clarinet Concerto
Julian Bliss / Royal Northern Sinfonia / Mario Venzago
Various composers
Nordic Atmospheres
Sinfonietta Riga / Claus Efland / Egīl Šēfers
Various composers
Hymnus
Anders Eidsten Dahl