BaL 6.06.15 - Nielsen: Symphony no. 3

[teamsaint]

i think Beefys predictive text must have gone bonkers.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I can sort-of see why people might have reservations about the Finale of the RVW #5 - it begins as a straightforward set of variations which comes to a "grand finale" D major tutti triad; then it goes all peculiar and modal leading back to the very opening theme of the First movement (and it does take careful playing and conducting to bring this off successfully); and then one of the most beautiful of RVW's beautiful epilogues.

But I love it! The whole symphony is, with the Elgar #2, one of my two favourite British symphonies.

[Nick Armstrong]

the Finale of the RVW #5... one of the most beautiful of RVW's beautiful epilogues.

But I love it! The whole symphony is, with the Elgar #2, one of my two favourite British symphonies.

i think Beefy must have gone bonkers.

.

[teamsaint]

.

Well I am thrilled and delighted that I dre.....

Hang on, change that back, Cals. Beefy will do terrible things if he sees that cheeky edit.

46 lines for you, I think. ( lines came in multiples of 46 at my school and had to be chosen from a list of "wise " quotes.)

"Let the Multitudinous seas incarnadine, turning the green one red."

"I'm not a man, I'm dynamite."

that sort of thing.

[Nick Armstrong]

[Beef Oven!]

[EdgeleyRob]

I can sort-of see why people might have reservations about the Finale of the RVW #5 - it begins as a straightforward set of variations which comes to a "grand finale" D major tutti triad; then it goes all peculiar and modal leading back to the very opening theme of the First movement (and it does take careful playing and conducting to bring this off successfully); and then one of the most beautiful of RVW's beautiful epilogues.

But I love it! The whole symphony is, with the Elgar #2, one of my two favourite British symphonies.

THE most beautiful RVW epilogue is surely that of the 2nd String Quartet.

[seabright]

RVW5 as played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, especially its superb string section, is well worth hearing for the fervour of the performance ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrcPrGp_XFM

[Nick Armstrong]

- "acceptable" rather than "wonderful", I thought. (Could have been a lot worse!)

So I won't be making like young Carl then:



(I love that photo! )

[Daniel]

[...] Strange one this - the first movement of No 3 is one of my favourite orchestral pieces - I know it from the Blomstedt/San Francisco CD... but never got on with the rest of the symphony.

I have similar experiences with Nielsen's symphonies, finding some moments great, but long passages in which I'm not quite sure why I'm listening. One work which I find compelling all the way through is his Clarinet Concerto. It seems to inhabit a very unusual region of the mood/colour spectrum, and for me is gripping and at times unexpectedly moving.

Don't say there's some warbly matron in the Chung performance? In the words of our dearly departed gamba: "Wobbly women spoil my music" !!!

A sentiment I'd share very keenly.

(... except in Wagner maybe, and Strauss occasionally, and um anywhere it suits the dramatic tension .. but only on special occasions, and you'll need special permission from me. )

[Nick Armstrong]

I have similar experiences with Nielsen's symphonies, finding some moments great, but long passages in which I'm not quite sure why I'm listening. One work which I find compelling all the way through is his Clarinet Concerto. It seems to inhabit a very unusual region of the mood/colour spectrum, and for me is gripping and at times unexpectedly moving.





A sentiment I'd share very keenly.

(... except in Wagner maybe, and Strauss occasionally, and um anywhere it suits the dramatic tension .. but only on special occasions, and you'll need special permission from me. )

Tel père, tel fils !

[jayne lee wilson]

Devoted lifelong Nielsonians are surely biting their tongues and shaking their heads reading parts of this thread...

The andante pastorale of the 3rd is one of my musical icons, always with me, somewhere - from the first time I heard it begin, it seemed to tell me something I always knew but never recognised; a profound calm, at one with the natural world and at one with myself; and when the melody intensifies it speaks to me on a deep level - what oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed - seems to validate my own struggles and helps me to know myself.

My first Nielsen was Berglund's 5th, then Blomstedt's DRSO 1st, on LP. I never doubted their greatness. Perhaps an advantage to encounter them as a teenager, the grasp of the music so fresh and quick!

The Espansiva has a classically poised formal balance: the extremes of drama, intensity and hushed withdrawal in the first two movements - then the release of rhythmic energy in the emotionally ambiguous scherzo, bridging the mood to the the joyful melodic sweep of the finale.

For me, always one of the very greatest of Symphonic Cycles, with scarcely a wasted note anywhere. Who can say why he seems to be more difficult for serious listeners than Sibelius, or Mahler - but then Bruckner seems to be as well, something of a parallel.

Perhaps it's simply that - the great moments come to you quickly, but the subtleties, complexities, and sheer compression of his intensely through-composed symphonic structures take half a devoted lifetime's listening to go to the heart, to hear as a unity and be moved by.

[richardfinegold]

People are entitled to their opinions, but as jlw above, some of the criticisms of the Composer voiced here have me shaking my head in disbelief.
I will say that the one Nielsen Symphony that took me a while to digest was the 6th. The second Blomstedt version here seemed a clear winner over the Danish, if for no other reason than the digital version allowed me to hear more of the textures. The Horenstein performance on YouTube, which I have been absorbing over the past week, has been instructful.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I suppose I would describe myself as a "born-again Neilsenean". Whereas with Sibelius (where there was an instant "connection"), Nielsen took longer. I was never in any doubt that the Symphonies were the work of a great Musical imagination, but it was a long process before they became an essential part of my listening - there was something in them that just didn't "click" - in ways that I found (and still find) difficult to explain to myself, let alone anyone else. (I have the same "barrier" with the Music of Michael Finnissy - and am equally enjoying the frequently frustrating challenge of trying to get through the surface "film" that prevents my wholehearted absorption into a Music that is quite clearly the work of a first-class master).

The exception was always the slow movement of the Expansiva - which, since the first time I heard it, held me seemingly breathless. Indeed, it might well have been my searching for the unique sound-world of this Music that prevented me from hearing the equal-but-very-different magic in the rest of the Music. It still holds me entranced - just floating away from everyday concerns, completely unaware of anything else. "[S]omething I always knew but never recognised" might sound a little "pshaw!" - but it's exactly right: a reminder that, whilst you can "lose yourself" in a good book/painting/piece of Music (etc) - you find yourself in the great ones.

[Daniel]

Just to be clear as specific movements are being pinpointed, I like the first two movts of the Third Symphony, particularly the 2nd, but thereafter the experience becomes noticeably less vivid for me.

Anyway, with inspiring and interesting posts from Jayne, ferney and LMP #80 (among others), a Nielsen overhaul now taps at the window looking at its wristwatch (Nielsen overhauls haven't apparently yet got the habit of smartphones ..). Jayne please don't bite your tongue on my behalf, it's great to read yours and others' views.

I will say that the one Nielsen Symphony that took me a while to digest was the 6th.

The 6th is one symphony I like very much, I find it consistently engaging from beginning to end.

Tel père, tel fils !

I see son of Gamba shares a name with me, but in case there's any doubt, I feel I ought to point out (for Daniel's sake) that we are not one and the same. Perhaps there is no doubt, but reading the above I thought it worth stating. Like many others here I was struck by Gamba's stoical manner when facing health problems, and much enjoyed reading his posts (and shared his wish for a virtually wobble-free sopranoverse!). R.I.P.