BaL 19.12.15 - Nielsen: Symphony no. 6

[BBMmk2]

Nor can I !

I do have a tendency to get me Storgards muddled with me Sondergards and me Schønwandts (not to mention me Dausgards)

I do remember that the Royal Stockholm Orchestra under Oramo (at one point I misheard Stephen Johnson calling him Sir Gary Oramo ) was the runner-up by a short head...

Ah, I have the Sir Gary(sic!! :) ) with the CBSO!(as well!)

[Nick Armstrong]

Ah, I have the Sir Gary(sic!! :) ) with the CBSO!(as well!)

Not sure Sir Gary recorded the Nielsen symphonies with the CBSO - the only cycle I know of is with his Stockholm orchestra...

[BBMmk2]

Not sure Sir Gary recorded the Nielsen symphonies with the CBSO - the only cycle I know of is with his Stockholm orchestra...

I am having your problem, today, Cali! I was getting confused with the Sibelius cycle he recorded with the CBSO! Doh!

[Nick Armstrong]

I am having your problem, today, Cali! I was getting confused with the Sibelius cycle he recorded with the CBSO! Doh!

[teamsaint]

Here are some of JLWs thoughts, on the Pressure Kuchar world of Nielsen recordings.

(post #22)

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?3202-19-09-2011-Carl-Nielsen/page3&highlight=Kuchar

[BBMmk2]

Here are some of JLWs thoughts, on the Pressure Kuchar world of Nielsen recordings.

(post #22)

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...ghlight=Kuchar

He's certainly having a stab at the avant-gardists, as to their processes of composing their works

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

He's certainly having a stab at the avant-gardists, as to their processes of composing their works

Who is, Bbm? ("JLW" is our own Jayne Lee Wilson - not "Julian Lloyd Webber".)

[Bryn]

Who is, Bbm? ("JLW" is our own Jayne Lee Wilson - not "Julian Lloyd Webber".)

I was presuming that "He" referred to Nielsen, and the observations made by JLW re. Neilsen's parodies of modernist music in her #23.

[Maclintick]

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...

.

Indeed. I was taken to task by Roehre when I commented on this back in May....

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?13448-Sakari-Oramo-Nielsen-6-23-05-15-barbican-1930-hrs/page3

By 1925 Nielsen was quite a celebrity in his own country, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of his oeuvre was known to Soviet musicians in Leningrad, as it then was, during the less repressive pre-Stalin era.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

("JLW" is our own Jayne Lee Wilson - not "Julian Lloyd Webber".)

. . . from whom we've heard nothing since October. I hope all is well.

[Nick Armstrong]

I commented on this back in May....

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?13448-Sakari-Oramo-Nielsen-6-23-05-15-barbican-1930-hrs/page3

So you did, Mac ... an uncanny pre-echo of my post, nay a prefiguring and a foreshadowing!!

And I didn't read it back in May, so it just shows you!

Nonetheless, I would love to find a concert listing of Nielsen 6 in Leningrad during the relevant period!

[BBMmk2]

Who is, Bbm? ("JLW" is our own Jayne Lee Wilson - not "Julian Lloyd Webber".)

Carl Nielsen, Ferney. He was poking fun at the "modernist" movement at the time

[Maclintick]

Nonetheless, I would love to find a concert listing of Nielsen 6 in Leningrad during the relevant period!

An intriguing thought. Just heard the SFS/Blomstedt on Rob's programme. No quibbles regarding Stephen Johnson's choice in Nielsen 6. It's a

[peterthekeys]

BAL - Nielsen 6

Although I agree with his choice (Blomstedt), I found the reviews very strange - he seems to have a habit of deluging a work with vast amounts of simile and metaphor (for example, the second movement was a "haunted toyshop" with "grinning painted faces" (or something like that.) Actually, it was quite apposite - but I doubt if Nielsen was thinking in those terms when he wrote it.) Also, it baffled me that he did not once mention Robert Simpson, whose book on Nielsen did a massive amount to clarify some of the baffling aspects of the music (well, it did for me anyway.) Maybe it was felt that any mention of "progressive tonality" would unlock a can of worms which would not be suitable for general consumption (sorry about that - can't find a "yuck!" smiley or I would have included one ...)

[pastoralguy]

I think SJ knew Robert Simpson so it's possible he didn't want a conflict of interest to come into his assessment. I'm sure he mentioned this about seven years or so ago when he discussed the Hyperion set of Simpson symphonies with Andrew McGregor.