[덴마크]Carl Nielsen

 

     Carl Nielsen

 

카를 닐센 (Carl August Nielsen, 1865년 6월 9일 ~ 1931년 10월 3일) 은 덴마크의 지휘자이자

바이올리니스트, 작곡가이다.

생애

뇌레 린델세 주 (Nørre Lyndelse) 소르텔룽(Sortelung)에서 태어났다. 소년 시절에 군악대의 트럼펫 주자가 되면서부터 음악 생활을 시작했다. 코펜하겐 음악원의 가데에게서 작곡법을 배우고, 작곡가·지휘자로서 활약했다. 북유럽 음악가 중에서는 그리그 이후의 대표적 작곡가이다. 닐센의 초기음악에서는 낭만주의 영향이 엿보이지만, 후기 양식은 반음계적이고 종종 불협화적인 화성, 엄격한 대위법 구조, 압축적인 동기처리, 조성의 대담한 확장, 빈번한 다조적 악구사용 등의 특징들이 뒤엉켜져 있다. 1890~1925년 작곡된 6개의 교향곡은 음조의 진행상태를 명확하게 보여주는 작품이다.

 

그밖에도 〈사울과 다윗 Saul and David〉(1902)을 포함한 2개의 오페라와 3개의 협주곡, 실내악, 합창,

건반음악 작품들이 있다. 덴마크의 민속전통에 바탕을 둔 그의 가곡은 특히 높은 평가를 받고 있다.

 

Carl August Nielsen (Danish: [kʰɑːl ˈnelsn̩]; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) is widely recognized as Denmark's greatest composer, and is also remembered as a skilled conductor and a violinist.^[1] Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. While it was some time before his works were fully appreciated, even in his home country, Nielsen has now firmly entered the international repertoire.^[2] Especially in Europe and the United States, his music is ever more frequently performed, with interest growing in other countries too.^[3]

 

Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and a considerable number of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage.^[4] While his early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, he soon started to develop his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time. For many years, he appeared on the Danish hundred-kroner banknote.^[5][6]

 

Nielsen is best known for his six symphonies. Other well-known pieces are the incidental music for Adam Oehlenschläger's drama Aladdin, the operas Saul og David and Maskarade, the three concertos for violin, flute and clarinet, the Wind Quintet, and the Helios Overture, which depicts the passage of the sun in the sky from dawn to nightfall. The music initially had a neo-classical sound but became increasingly modern as Nielsen developed his own approach to what Robert Simpson called progressive tonality, moving from one key to another. Typically, he would end on a different key, sometimes as the outcome of a struggle as in his symphonies. His frequently blended melodic passages inspired by folk music with more complicated stylings including counterpoint and modern variations.^[14]

 

Like his contemporary, the Finn Jean Sibelius, he studied Renaissance polyphony closely, which accounts for much of the melodic and harmonic content of his music. Nielsen's works are sometimes referred to by FS numbers, from the 1965 catalogue compiled by Dan Fog and Torben Schousboe.

 

Nielsen wrote three concertos: the Violin Concerto op. 33 (1911). is a middle-period work,

from 1911, which lies within the tradition of European classicism, whereas the Flute Concerto of

1926 and the Clarinet Concerto which followed in 1928 are late works, influenced by the modernism of the 1920s and the product of "an extremely experienced composer who knows how to avoid inessentials."^[30] Unlike Nielsen's later works, the Violin Concerto has a distinct, melody-oriented

neo-classical structure. There are three movements. The calm "Praeludium" is followed by a catchy tune for the orchestra providing opportunities for violin virtuosity. The long, slow Adagio leads to the final Scherzo which, as Nielsen commented, "renounces everything that might dazzle or impress."^[31][32]

 

The Flute Concerto=,

in two movements, was written for the flautist Holger Gilbert-Jespersen, a member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet who had performed in Nielsen's Wind Quintet (1922).^[33] In contrast to the rather traditional style of the Violin Concerto, it reflects the modernistic trends of the 1920s. The first movement, for example, switiches between D minor, E flat minor and F major before the flute comes to the fore with a cantabile theme in E major.^[34]

 

Similarly, the Clarinet Concertowas specifically written for a member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet, namely the clarinetist Aage Oxenvad. Nielsen seems to have had an uncanny understanding of the clarinet, stretching its abilities to the utmost. Unusually, the Clarinet Concerto has just one continuous movement and contains a struggle between the soloist and the orchestra and between the two principal competing keys, F major and E major.^[35]

 

Nielsen is perhaps most closely associated with his six symphonies, which were written between 1892, when he was an aspiring young composer, to 1925, when he was already beginning to suffer from poor health. The works have much in common: they are all just over 30 minutes long, brass instruments are a key component of the orchestration, and they all exhibit unusual changes in tonality, which heightens the dramatic tension.^[15]

 

From its opening bars, Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1890–92)while reflecting the influence of Grieg and

Brahms, shows Nielsen's individuality. It begins in C major and hints at what Robert Simpson calls

evolving or progressive tonality or the practice of beginning a work in one key and ending in another.^[16]The composer, who was playing in the second violins at the work's premiere, must have been gratified at the work's highly enthusiastic reception.^[17] From his manifestation of personal strength in the First Symphony, in the Second Nielsen embarks on the development of human character. Inspiration came from a painting in an inn depicting the four temperaments (choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine).^[18]

The Sinfonia Espansiva is understood by Robert Simpson to mean the "outward growth of the mind's scope". It fully exploits Nielsen's technique of confronting two keys at the same time and includes a peaceful section with soprano and baritone voices, singing a tune without words.^[15] Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable", written during the First World War is perhaps the most popular. In the last movement two sets of timpani are placed on opposite sides of the stage as a sort of musical duel. Nielsen described the symphony as "the life force, the unquenchable will to live".^[1][19] Almost as popular is the equally dramatic Fifth Symphony, presenting another battle between the forces of order and chaos. A snare drummer is given the task of interrupting the orchestra, playing ad lib and out of time, with the intention of destroying the music. Performed by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erik Tuxen at the 1950 Edinburgh International Festival, it caused a sensation, inspiring interest in Nielsen's music outside Scandinavia.^[15][20] Finally, the Sixth Symphony, written 1924–25, is less aurally accessible than the previous five. The tonal language is similar to Nielsen's other symphonies, but the symphony soon degenerates into a number of cameos, some sad, some grotesque, some humorous. Even Robert Simpson was confused.^[21][15]