Helios overture

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The young Carl Nielsen

The Helios Overture op. 17 by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865–1931), composed in Greece in 1903 , now forms the standard Danish repertoire, especially at New Year's.

Emergence

Since 1901 Carl Nielsen received an annual state grant of 800 crowns and from January 1903 he was under a permanent contract with the renowned publisher Wilhelm Hansen . So he was able to give up his position as violinist in the Royal Chapel of Copenhagen and devote himself more to composition. Even interested in archeology, he went on a long trip to Greece in 1903, where his wife Anne Marie was already staying, who had been awarded the Ancker Award and was allowed to make copies of reliefs and statues in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Carl Nielsen was a room at the Athens Conservatory available, and on April 23, 1903, he completed the begun on March 10 concert overture Helios , Op. 17, in which, inspired by the lighting conditions on the Ägaischen sea , the sun's path from the Musically recreated dawn until dusk.

Cast and playing time

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

The performance lasts between 10 and 13 minutes.

characterization

Nielsen placed the following motto in front of his overture dedicated to Julius Röntgen : "Stilhed og mørke - så stiger sol under frydefuld lovsang - vandrer sin gyldne vej - sænker sig stille i hav." her golden way - sinks quietly into the sea. ")

The work begins with an extended, slow introduction (Andante tranquillo) , with horn calls first occurring in the low strings, before the full orchestra gradually joins. Trumpet fanfares lead over to the middle section, which is held in sonata form (Allegro ma non troppo) ; a heroic main theme of the violins is followed by a lyrical secondary theme, which the violoncellos intone. The focus of the implementation is a spirited fugato . The main theme returns in a large cast before a slow passage suggests the onset of twilight. The composition ends with a brief reminiscence of the introduction and fades away in the triple piano of the cellos.

World premiere and reception

The Berkentinsche Palais (Odd Fellow Palæet), the location of the premiere

The work was premiered on October 8, 1903 in the Odd Fellow Palæet in Copenhagen with the Copenhagen Royal Chapel under the direction of Johan Svendsen . While the concert audience reacted with enthusiasm, the judgment of the music critics was divided.

Nielsen himself conducted the work several times during his lifetime, for example in Gothenburg , Stockholm , Helsinki and Berlin . Today it is one of Nielsen's most frequently played compositions and is still broadcast by Danish Radio on New Year's Eve as the first piece of music right after the turn of the year.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jørgen I. Jensen: CD supplement Carl Nielsen Orchestral Music, 2006, Dacapo 6.220518

literature

  • Robert Naur: Plate Text EMI 2903191 (Nielsen: Helios Overture, Violin Concerto)

Web links