BaL 19.12.15 - Nielsen: Symphony no. 6

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have never heard this work. I think this may have something to do with my first experience of Nielsen's music - hearing the 5th Symphony at a Hallé concert in the 1960s. The programme notes were very thorough in that era, with musical quotations included - extremely helpful, and an example of what should still happen (imo).

However, the writer of the programme notes implied that the 5th was the climax of Nielsen's symphonic writing, dismissing the sixth as something inferior, written at time when the composer was suffering ill-health.

I was impressionable at the time, and since then, I have done nothing to rectify my lack of knowledge of number 6. So this coming Saturday should be something of an education.

[richardfinegold]

I have to confess that while I admire the other 5 Nielsen Symphonies, this one has been a puzzler for me. I'd be very willing to try to listen to whatever the final recommended version is.

[seabright]

I have to confess that while I admire the other 5 Nielsen Symphonies, this one has been a puzzler for me. I'd be very willing to try to listen to whatever the final recommended version is.

Because Stokowski also told Deryck Cooke that he "didn't understand" this work, I thought I'd see what some of the on-line reviewers of the BBC Legends CD made of his performance. Here first is David Wright of Music-Web International:

"If you must have a recording of Nielsen's awful Symphony no. 6, Bryden Thomson on Chandos is the best but it does not save this work. One wonders whether the symphony is semplice or for simple minds. It seems a strange way to end your symphonic career with such a loony work, particularly when Symphony number 2 is a real gem (Thomson on Chandos or Wha-Chung with the Gothenberg are best) and the third, fourth and fifth are also very fine. The Sixth Symphony is embarrassingly bad. At first hearing one may be captivated by its unusualness and raw humour but it soon wears off."

Here is Raymond Tuttle of Classical Net:

"Carl Nielsen's 'Sinfonia semplice' was recorded on September 12, 1965 in London's BBC studios in Maida Vale. There is no applause, so perhaps this performance was recorded in the studios for a later broadcast. Nielsen's coolness in this last and most enigmatic of his symphonies might seem a poor match for Stokowski's flamboyant style. Oddly (in more than one sense of that word!), this performance works. It is good to remember that Stokowski was an advocate for modern and unfamiliar music, and the duty of introducing a new or rare score to an audience tended to put him on his best behavior. Apart from notably brisk tempos, there's little revisionism here. Stokowski trades in some of Nielsen's Scandinavian reticence for some grace and emotional generosity. He makes the score sound younger than it seems in other conductors' hands."

And here is Colin Anderson of Classical Source:

"It's the Nielsen that makes this CD a mandatory purchase. This most ambiguous of Nielsen’s six symphonies is anything but simple; in my opinion it’s his greatest achievement in the genre. A visionary work, it poses questions all along the way, and with Stokowski its four movements are unbroken: I like that! With sardonic Shostakovich-like wit and Ivesian clashes, something very personal and disturbing is expressed in this remarkable work; the quixotic phrases and scoring (always notated with a Scandinavian translucence) find a sympathetic and vivid interpreter in Stokowski. His carefully prepared and dramatic realisation is impressively sharp both in orchestral timbre and emotional contradictions. That said, he could have made more of a ’raspberry’ out of the bassoon’s closing salutation (Nielsen with two fingers aloft I’ve always thought), but Stokowski certainly captures the ’exit stage left’ feeling I usually register with a chilled spine (I do here, from 9’14”) and puts the seal on a penetrating and absorbing performance of this strange, complex statement in which allusion and inner-turmoil collide."

Well, I seem to recall Stokowski's performance got short shrift on a BAL many years ago but as it is now "unavailable," and in mono anyway, I doubt if it will get much of a mention. On You Tube there are other performances probably more convincing, such as Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony, but we'll just see what SJ says on Saturday.

[BBMmk2]

I must hear this work again. But which recording!! :)

[Barbirollians]

Because Stokowski also told Deryck Cooke that he "didn't understand" this work, I thought I'd see what some of the on-line reviewers of the BBC Legends CD made of his performance. Here first is David Wright of Music-Web International:

"If you must have a recording of Nielsen's awful Symphony no. 6, Bryden Thomson on Chandos is the best but it does not save this work. One wonders whether the symphony is semplice or for simple minds. It seems a strange way to end your symphonic career with such a loony work, particularly when Symphony number 2 is a real gem (Thomson on Chandos or Wha-Chung with the Gothenberg are best) and the third, fourth and fifth are also very fine. The Sixth Symphony is embarrassingly bad. At first hearing one may be captivated by its unusualness and raw humour but it soon wears off."

Here is Raymond Tuttle of Classical Net:

"Carl Nielsen's 'Sinfonia semplice' was recorded on September 12, 1965 in London's BBC studios in Maida Vale. There is no applause, so perhaps this performance was recorded in the studios for a later broadcast. Nielsen's coolness in this last and most enigmatic of his symphonies might seem a poor match for Stokowski's flamboyant style. Oddly (in more than one sense of that word!), this performance works. It is good to remember that Stokowski was an advocate for modern and unfamiliar music, and the duty of introducing a new or rare score to an audience tended to put him on his best behavior. Apart from notably brisk tempos, there's little revisionism here. Stokowski trades in some of Nielsen's Scandinavian reticence for some grace and emotional generosity. He makes the score sound younger than it seems in other conductors' hands."

And here is Colin Anderson of Classical Source:

"It's the Nielsen that makes this CD a mandatory purchase. This most ambiguous of Nielsen’s six symphonies is anything but simple; in my opinion it’s his greatest achievement in the genre. A visionary work, it poses questions all along the way, and with Stokowski its four movements are unbroken: I like that! With sardonic Shostakovich-like wit and Ivesian clashes, something very personal and disturbing is expressed in this remarkable work; the quixotic phrases and scoring (always notated with a Scandinavian translucence) find a sympathetic and vivid interpreter in Stokowski. His carefully prepared and dramatic realisation is impressively sharp both in orchestral timbre and emotional contradictions. That said, he could have made more of a ’raspberry’ out of the bassoon’s closing salutation (Nielsen with two fingers aloft I’ve always thought), but Stokowski certainly captures the ’exit stage left’ feeling I usually register with a chilled spine (I do here, from 9’14”) and puts the seal on a penetrating and absorbing performance of this strange, complex statement in which allusion and inner-turmoil collide."

Well, I seem to recall Stokowski's performance got short shrift on a BAL many years ago but as it is now "unavailable," and in mono anyway, I doubt if it will get much of a mention. On You Tube there are other performances probably more convincing, such as Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony, but we'll just see what SJ says on Saturday.

Poor Colin Anderson being bracketed with that pair. !

Although it is now unfashionable to say so Blomstedt and the SFSO are superb in the Sixth.

[Nick Armstrong]

But which recording!! :)

I think there's a germ of an idea for a radio programme there, Bbm! An expert compares extracts from various recordings of a piece... coming up with a suggestion for the best one to choose. Could be called... oh, I don't know... 'Constructing a Collection'...? Could catch on!

[seabright]

I think there's a germ of an idea for a radio programme there, Bbm! An expert compares extracts from various recordings of a piece... coming up with a suggestion for the best one to choose. Could be called... oh, I don't know... 'Constructing a Collection'...? Could catch on!

I'd like to hear three experts separately and independently comparing various recordings and coming up with their own "best one" suggestions. I wonder what listeners would do if these "experts" ended up by choosing three quite different versions. :)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'd like to hear three experts separately and independently comparing various recordings and coming up with their own "best one" suggestions. I wonder what listeners would do if these "experts" ended up by choosing three quite different versions. :)

Grumble endlessly on about how none of them chose the one that they'd've chosen, probably.

[Roehre]

I'd like to hear three experts separately and independently comparing various recordings and coming up with their own "best one" suggestions. I wonder what listeners would do if these "experts" ended up by choosing three quite different versions. :)

Realising that the concept of a "best" version simply is nonsense, perhaps

[aeolium]

Realising that the concept of a "best" version simply is nonsense, perhaps

[mikealdren]

I'm really enjoying this week, I'd not listened to the symphony for a long while and forgotten how good it is and some many of the performances are also excellent.

[Nick Armstrong]

Although it is now unfashionable to say so Blomstedt and the SFSO are superb in the Sixth.

Not any more. Bang on the money Barb, and I agree. I've had the original coupling with No 1 on a single Decca 'London' CD, and like 2 & 3 (for some reason I never got 4 & 5), its excellence has never faded. Apart from the performance, these are among my handful of 'orchestral recording' demonstration discs - the sound is just perfect to my ears. Likewise, the extracts from this recording were the ones that held my attention most in Stephen Johnson's excellent review.

I'm really enjoying this week, I'd not listened to the symphony for a long while and forgotten how good it is

Yes.... And although SJ did mention his name generally, and it also pops up once above, I was reminded of the uncanny similarities above all else and very specifically to Shostakovich 15...

It's unbelievable. Would the Nielsen have been played in the USSR in the intervening 45 or so years? Hard to believe DSCH hadn't heard it...

The repeated opening notes on solo glockenspiel: utterly identical in spirit... I thought they were actually the same note, but it's a D in the Nielsen and an E an octave plus a note higher in DSCH15. You get half measure in the latter, only two notes rather than 4, but in each case, introducing a sparsely-orchestrated, whimsical, apparently 'simple' first movement, soon taken over by other things; the 'haunted toyshop' themes; the bleak interludes; the accent on eccentric percussion... And in general, both pieces' overall 'enigmatic' nature seems similarly positioned at the end of the respective symphonic career of each man. Only Nielsen ends with that face-pulling bassoon raspberry, while DSCH seems to have attained some rareified other world, with his rattling and ringing and that final transcendent bell chime...

.

[visualnickmos]

I'd like to hear three experts separately and independently comparing various recordings and coming up with their own "best one" suggestions. I wonder what listeners would do if these "experts" ended up by choosing three quite different versions. :)

Add to the national credit card debt, I expect!

[AmpH]

Realising that the concept of a "best" version simply is nonsense, perhaps

How very true. As is so often the case, it is the journey which is more interesting, informative and rewarding rather than the final destination.

[visualnickmos]

How very true. As is so often the case, it is the journey which is more interesting, informative and rewarding rather than the final destination.

Yes - and sometimes I've found myself actually avoiding the recommended recording in favour of one of the other 'contenders'

I was rather taken with extract(s) of the Naxos recording - may have to investigate further.....