Nielsen: Saga-drøm, Op. 39 (FS46)

Nielsen - Orchestral Works

Carl Nielsen's Prophet in Sweden - Tor Mann

Nielsen - The Collector’s Edition

Whilst his works may not show the influence of his country’s literature and landscape as overtly as does Sibelius (with many of his works bearing distinct echoes of the Kalevala and, at times, it is almost easy to see the forests and lakes that he knew and loved), Nielsen is a composer who absorbed the distinctive atmosphere of his homeland. His scores are clear and forcefully argued, he used progressive tonality rather than resorting to the atonal techniques being practiced elsewhere in Europe. His modern reputation is based primarily on his six symphonies but, as can be heard in the other works in this collection, he was adept in many musical forms. A number of modern composers now acknowledge their debt to the group of composers in various countries who developed tonality rather than turning their backs on it – Bartók in Hungary, Janácek in the Czech lands and of course Sibelius and Nielsen and it is interesting to note that more and more commentators have indicated the growing interest in and importance of this music. The majority of the recordings were made in Copenhagen with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Herbert Blomstedt (Symphonies, Concertos and Tone Poems) and Mogens Wöldike (Choral works) in the first half of 1970s. Other works have been added to these thereby giving the listener a wide and fairly comprehensive survey of this influential composer. Like some other great composers – Bach, Mozart and Schubert for example – whose works have been catalogued by experts, Dan Fog and Torben Schousboe have completed this task for Nielsen and this set includes this FS numbering as the prime identification. Dates of composition are also included and Opus Numbers where and when they were allocated.