3rd symphony (Nielsen)

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Carl Nielsen in his study in Vodroffsvej Copenhagen, where he completed the 3rd symphony in 1911

The 3rd symphony op. 27 by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) is nicknamed "Sinfonia espansiva". The work, which includes vocalises in the second movement , premiered in Copenhagen in 1912 .

Emergence

After composing the 2nd symphony "The Four Temperaments" , about 8 years passed before Carl Nielsen turned to the genre of symphony again. From 1908, Nielsen succeeded Johan Svendsen as conductor at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen , which took a lot of time. In 1910 he began composing a new symphony and completed the first movement on April 13, 1910. Then Nielsen put the work aside in order to devote himself to the incidental music for “Hagbarth und Signe”. Between July 8 and 27, 1910, Nielsen composed the second movement while on vacation in Damgaard near Fredericia . After a depressive phase, Nielsen only found the energy to continue working on the symphony in the course of autumn, the third and fourth movements of which he completed on January 14 and April 30, 1911 - in nocturnal work due to his conducting duties.

World premiere and reception

Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen, premier of Carl Nielsen's 3rd Symphony

The first performance of Carl Nielsen's 3rd Symphony took place on February 28, 1912 in the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen with the Copenhagen Royal Chapel under the direction of the composer, together with the first performance of his violin concerto , which Nielsen began in 1911 immediately after the symphony was completed . The concert was a great success and the unanimously positive reviews marked a turning point in the reception of Nielsen's music in Denmark, which had previously often been dismissed as cool, academic and artificial.

The symphony had no nickname when it was first performed, but shortly afterwards Nielsen transferred the term "espansivo" from the tempo for the first movement to the composition, which is now called "Sinfonia espansiva". Two months later, Nielsen conducted the work at the invitation of his friend Julius Röntgen in Amsterdam. Further performances soon followed under the direction of the composer in Stuttgart, Berlin, Helsinki and Gothenburg. During Nielsen's lifetime, the Sinfonia espansiva was also performed under the direction of other conductors in Berlin, Hamburg, London, Gothenburg and Stockholm. The Andante pastorale from Nielsen's Third Symphony was played on the occasion of Carl Nielsen's funeral on October 9, 1931.

Carl Nielsen's Third Symphony, Op. 27, went to press in 1913 at CF Kahnt Nachhaben , Leipzig.

In 2000 the fair copy of Carl Nielsen's score, believed to be lost, was found again in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig .

Cast and playing time

The score provides for the following scoring : 3 flutes (3rd also piccolo flute ), 3 oboes (2nd also English horn ), 3 clarinets , 3 bassoons (3rd also contrabassoon ), 4 horns , 3 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani , Soprano and baritone solo and strings .

The performance lasts about 35 minutes.

Structure and characterization

The four movements of the symphony are headed:

  1. Allegro espansivo
  2. Andante pastoral
  3. Allegretto un poco
  4. Final. Allegro

According to Nielsen, the name "Sinfonia espansiva" stands for "the expansion of the horizon and the expansion of life that comes from it".

The first movement begins succinctly with thickening unison beats of the brass and strings on the note A, before - also in unison - from bar 14 the woodwinds intone the up-and-coming, energetic main theme. As part of the most extensive with 734 strokes set the symphony it undergoes numerous changes and contrapuntal processing, incorporating the clock from 138 molto tranquillo sounding in sunbeds page topic and is in the implementation transformed into a waltz.

The Andante pastorale painted as the composer in a program note from 1912 notes, peace and quiet in nature, interrupted only by birdsong. A pendulous, Mixolydian string theme illustrates the landscape, with the woodwinds adding a moving, polyphonic arabesque from bar 32, accompanied by soft drum rolls. Towards the end of the movement, human voices appear as soprano and baritone solos in vocalises , which - according to a program note by Nielsen from the year of his death in 1931 - are intended to underline the peaceful, paradise-like atmosphere that existed before Adam and Eve's fall. For example, Claude Debussy in Trois Nocturnes (1900) and Maurice Ravel in Daphnis et Chloë (1909–1912) also used voices without words ; whether Nielsen knew about it at the time is unknown.

The third movement represents the Scherzo . A syncopated horn signal is followed by an elegiac melody in the oboe, before rapid tone repetitions and Nielsen-typical tremolos first bring the woodwind to a greater degree of restlessness. From bar 42, another theme appears in the woodwinds with 32nd note triplets and colons. The partly dramatic movement fades into ambivalence between major and minor.

A broadly flowing, popular-hymn-like theme dominates the finale with its contrapuntal processing, which leads to an effective coda in A major. According to Nielsen, it symbolizes a “hymn to work and the healthy activity of daily life”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the Leipzig manuscript find 2000 (English; PDF)
  2. ↑ Robert Simpson: Carl Nielsen, Symphonist , London, p. 57. Quoted from Wulf Konold (Ed.): Lexikon Orchestermusik Romantik IR. Schott, Mainz 1989, ISBN 3-7957-8227-9 , p. 543
  3. ↑ C. Nielsen, score 3rd symphony with foreword by Niels Bo Foltmann (English / Danish), Carl Nielsen Udgaven / Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1999, Copenhagen, p. XVII
  4. ↑ C. Nielsen, score 3rd symphony with foreword by Niels Bo Foltmann (English / Danish), Carl Nielsen Udgaven / Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1999, Copenhagen, pp. XIX / XX
  5. ↑ C. Nielsen, score 3rd symphony with foreword by Niels Bo Foltmann (English / Danish), Carl Nielsen Udgaven / Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 1999, Copenhagen, p. XX

literature

  • Wulf Konold (Ed.): Lexicon Orchestermusik Romantik IR. Schott, Mainz 1989, ISBN 3-7957-8227-9 , pp. 541-544.

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