2nd symphony (Nielsen)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carl Nielsen, 1901

The 2nd symphony op. 16 by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) is entitled “The Four Temperaments” (in the original “De fire Temperamenter”). The work, dedicated to Ferruccio Busoni , premiered in Copenhagen in 1902 .

Emergence

Carl Nielsen took 10 years after his 1st symphony , composed in 1891/92 , before he started composing another symphony in 1901 - while he was still working on the opera " Saul and David ". Nielsen was still active as a violinist in the Royal Orchestra, but was already recognized as a composer to such an extent that from 1901 he was granted an annual state payment of 800 crowns. The inspiration for the 2nd symphony was an original four-part picture representation of the four temperaments that he had seen in a Danish village tavern: The choleric sat there on a horse with bristling hair, waving a sword wildly and his eyes bulging out of his head . The first movement was completed at the end of 1901, the rest of the work proceeded more slowly. The fourth movement has the closing date November 22, 1902, a few days before the premiere.

World premiere and reception

The world premiere of Carl Nielsen's 2nd Symphony took place on December 1, 1902 in Copenhagen with the Danish Concert Association and the composer himself at the conductor's desk. The performance was successful and the press reviews were largely positive. Henrik Knudsen, a friend of Nielsen's, made a transcription for piano four hands, which was presented to Ferruccio Busoni on a subsequent trip to Germany , who made a performance in Berlin possible. In thanks, Nielsen dedicated the symphony to Busoni. Nielsen himself conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for the first performance in Berlin on November 5, 1903 . However, the Berlin press reacted very coldly. In the years that followed, the “Four Temperaments” became one of the composer's most popular works, and between 1905 and 1928 Nielsen himself directed at least 13 performances in Norway, Sweden and Germany. In 1921 his 2nd Symphony was performed for the first time in 1921 in London under Henry Wood .

In 1903 the work was published by the Wilhelm Hansen music publisher.

Cast and playing time

The score provides the following instrumentation: 3 flutes (3rd also piccolo ), 2 oboes (the second also English horn ), two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani and strings .

The performance lasts about 30 minutes.

Structure and characterization

The names of the four temperaments - choleric , phlegmatic , melancholic and sanguine - are reflected in the sentence rules:

  1. Allegro collerico
  2. Allegro comodo e flemmatico
  3. Andante malincolico
  4. Allegro sanguineo

Nielsen, however, did not want his symphony to be understood as pure program music; on the contrary, the movement titles express fundamental states of mind, which, however, also allow other moods. In the 1st movement there are quieter nuances, in the 3rd movement brighter moments and also in the bubbling 4th movement there are more pensive sections.

The first movement follows the sonata form and, after a “choleric” main theme, leads to a clear calming of the secondary theme. Both elements mix in the development before the movement in B minor closes in the same mood as at the beginning.

In the short second sentence, as he describes very specifically in a program note from 1931, Nielsen has a handsome, 17- to 18-year-old young man in mind who, although he makes his teachers desperate because he is not learning his lessons, but still is popular with everyone. He is drawn to where the birds sing, fish glide silently through the water, the sun warms and a gentle wind blows through his curls. The prevailing slow waltz rhythm is only interrupted by a brief outburst.

The third movement, in E flat minor, is sometimes reminiscent of music by Anton Bruckner or Gustav Mahler in its gloomy style , but also includes a lighter major middle section.

The fourth movement depicts, again according to Nielsen's own description, a person charging forward, believing that the world belongs to her and that roasted pigeons fly into her mouth without her own intervention. The movement, laid out as a rondo , begins in D major, but also contains a darker minor episode before a radiantly optimistic march closes the symphony in A major.

At the same time, Nielsen's 2nd Symphony shows the composer's growing interest in a “progressive tonality”: their tonal basis is formed by thirds , not only in the relationship between the first three movements, the main keys of which form a descending sequence of thirds (B minor, G major, E flat -Moll), but also in the motivic material (ascending thirds at the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd movements). In the 4th movement, however, Nielsen deviates from this and begins in D major to finally end in A major. He preceded Gustav Mahler a few years with the principle of ending a symphony in a key that was far removed from the beginning .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Niels Bo Foltmann: Foreword and Critical Commentary, Carl Nielsen Udgaven / Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1998, Copenhagen
  2. ^ Nielsen, C. (2002). Symphony no. 2, op. 16: "The four temperaments". Mineola, NY: Dover Publ., ISBN 0-486-41897-9 ; Preface by David L. Post

literature

  • Wulf Konold (Ed.): Lexicon Orchestermusik Romantik IR. Schott, Mainz 1989, ISBN 3-7957-8227-9 , pp. 538-541.
  • CD booklet Chandos 8880: C. Nielsen: Symphonies 1 and 2, Royal Scottish Orchestra, Bryden Thomson. 1991.

Web links