GRIEG PIANO CONCERTO
SYMPHONY NO . 4
Carl Nielsen
Born in Nørre Lyndelse , Funen , Denmark , June 9 , 1865 : died in Copenhagen , October 3 , 1931
Scandinavia ’ s two greatest symphonists — Finland ’ s Jean Sibelius and Denmark ’ s Carl Nielsen — were born just six months apart in 1865 . Nielsen was the seventh of 12 children born to an impoverished housepainter and his wife , and he grew up in a two-room cottage in the Danish countryside . At age four , he discovered that the pieces of timber in the cordwood delivered to his village produced different pitches when struck with a hammer , and so he arranged them into his first primitive instrument . At six , he began learning the violin , piano and finally the cornet . His mastery of this last instrument enabled him to win a post as a regimental musician in the Danish Royal Army at age 14 .
At 18 , Nielsen won a scholarship at the Copenhagen Conservatory , where he studied violin and piano for two years while voraciously reading literature , history and philosophy to make up for his limited schooling on Fyn . He received little formal training in composition , but this probably enhanced the originality of his creative voice .
By now a powerful symphonist , Nielsen began composing his Fourth Symphony in 1914 as World War I was breaking out , and it became , in effect , his “ war symphony ,” completed early in 1916 as the conflict was at its height . There was also turmoil in Nielsen ’ s private life : his marriage to the prominent sculptress Anne Marie Brodersen-Nielsen seemed to be falling apart , and in a letter to a friend , he described his life as “ a stormy sea .” ( The marriage did recover , and the two remained together until Nielsen ’ s death in 1931 .) In the Symphony , the violence and anguish of this period is epitomized by a dramatic duel between two timpanists , positioned symbolically on opposite sides of the stage .
However , the overarching philosophical theme behind this dark , intense symphony , which Nielsen called
“ The Inextinguishable ,” is actually the indestructibility of the life force . From his early years in the countryside , the composer retained a passionate attachment to the natural world , which we can sense in his explanation of the title : “ The title The Inextinguishable … is meant to express the appearance of the most elementary forces among human beings , animals , and even plants . We can say : in case all the world was to be devastated by fire , flood , volcanoes , etc ., and all things were destroyed and dead , then nature would still begin to breed new life again .… Soon the plants would begin to multiply , the breeding and screaming of birds would be seen and heard , the aspiration and yearning of human beings would be felt . These forces , which are ‘ inextinguishable ,’ are what I have tried to present .”
However , Nielsen also insisted that the Fourth was not a program symphony : rather , it was purely a musical drama in which the key of E major , representing Life , wins an ultimate victory over an unstable D-minor tonality , representing chaos and destruction . He also conceived the symphony as one continuous 40-minute flow without pauses , though we can detect four distinct movements within .
The symphony opens in a maelstrom of chaotic violence . The key is already a source of strife , for the woodwinds assert D minor , while the strings prefer C major . Meanwhile , the timpanist hammers dissonant tritone intervals , the infamous “ devil-in-music ” interval . Eventually , this violence subsides , and two clarinets propose a tranquil , folk-like melody ; modest as it now sounds , this will turn out to be the Symphony ’ s most important theme . The violins adopt it , then transform it into a bold peasant dance ; this dance introduces for the first time the key of E major , the symphony ’ s goal . A grand , brass-led chorale , another variant of the clarinet theme , brings the exposition to an affirmative close .
Over an ominous sustained pedalnote in the timpani , the development section begins in quiet expectation . Soon a violent battle breaks out , which the clarinet theme tries in vain to pacify .
The wild opening music returns and the grand chorale as well to carry this “ first movement ” to a provisional resting place in E major .
A hushed bridge passage leads to an intermezzo-like “ second movement ” in G major , which is led by woodwinds and has a gentle , rural charm ( Poco allegretto ).
Suddenly , the violins cry out in anguish , singing an impassioned theme ; this is the work ’ s “ slow movement ” ( Poco adagio quasi andante ). The mood calms , and the solo violin sings a theme of grave beauty , a tender prayer enhanced by other solo strings . All the strings pick up this theme , but it is soon interrupted by urgent warnings from the woodwinds . These warnings grow into a fierce fugal passage , culminating in a mighty brassdriven climax .
A long bridge passage — at first hushed , then a whirl of frenzied activity — leads into the final Allegro , launched by a loud timpani crack . Opening in A major , the energetic violin theme is related by its descending shape to the clarinet theme . The music evolves into a dissonant struggle . Now the two timpanists — Nielsen instructs them to always play with a menacing tone — erupt in their famous battle , each thundering away on a different tritone interval . The music seems to surmount this crisis in a grand victory Nielsen marks “ glorioso ,” but the key is still stuck in A major .
A vaguely uneasy development section leads to another outbreak of the timpani battle , now focusing on the D-minor key with which the symphony opened . The horns roar out the clarinet theme , and eventually , it succeeds in defeating the chaotic world of D minor and other “ wrong ” keys . Now unequivocally in E major , the once-modest clarinet theme sweeps to a triumphant , splendorous close . Once again , the inextinguishable life force is the victor .
Instrumentation : Three flutes including piccolo , three oboes , three clarinets , three bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , two timpani and strings .
Notes by Janet E . Bedell , © 2018
34 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org