Nielsen: Aladdin Suite / Pan And Syrinx / Helios Overture

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Cat No: 8557164

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Release Date: 07 January 2005

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313216420

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: NIELSEN

Description
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)Orchestral WorksAlthough he is most highly regarded for his sixsymphonies, Carl Nielsen also composed a number ofshort orchestral pieces whose musical preoccupationsplace them as satellites around those larger works.Aside from two operas he wrote prolifically for thetheatre, as did his Finnish contemporary Sibelius, andvarious instrumental items from these scores havefound an existence outside their original dramaticcontext.Of the shorter orchestral works, the most famous isthe overture Helios (FS32) which Nielsen wrote in1904, the result of a journey to Greece with his wife, thesculptress Anne Marie Brodersen. The chief inspirationwas the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea, andit is this image that opens and closes the piece. Overundulating strings, divided horns sound in evocativepolyphony, while upper strings and woodwind outline amelodic idea of burnished richness. This rises to aserene climax for full orchestra, from which fanfaringtrumpets initiate a striding theme which returns later inthe piece. After this first appearance, a graceful idea forwoodwind ensues; then, after a further brass entry,strings begin a lively fugato which draws the fullorchestra into a reprise of the striding theme and itsassociated fanfare. From here the music subsides into itsinitial calm, solo horn and woodwind musing on theopening motifs as lower strings effect a return todarkness.Composed during 1907 and 1908, the tone poemSaga-dr?©m (Saga-Dream, FS46) develops the idea ofmusical stasis in subtle and intriguing ways. At theopening, sombre yet serene strings evoke a mood of raptcontemplation, soon to be intensified by the addition ofpensive brass and graceful woodwind arabesques. Ananimated motion now takes hold of the strings, overwhich brass continue as before; there ensues a piquantdialogue between pizzicato strings and woodwind,culminating in the magical passage where solowoodwind coalesce, over a held chord on doublebasses, in a cluster of unbarred exchanges, a notationalfeature which aroused much curiosity at the time. Thestrings and brass music heard earlier then returns toeffect the briefest of climaxes, from which thisattractive piece quickly withdraws beyond earshot,leaving as thoughtful yet elusive an impression as itstitle suggests.Undoubtedly the finest of Nielsen's shorterorchestral pieces is the tone poem Pan and Syrinx(FS87), composed during 1917 and 1918, immediatelyafter the Fourth Symphony and three years before hebegan work on the Fifth Symphony [both Naxos8.550743], whose radical approach to timbre andtexture is anticipated in several respects. At the outsetrustling strings and undulating flute aptly evoke thepastoral nature of the Greek myth, combininggentleness and agitation to a telling degree. Percussion,notably xylophone and tambourine, enter as the musicalexpression quickly becomes more animated, subsidingto leave cor anglais and glockenspiel alone inthoughtful uncertainty. Timpani and strings graduallym
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