Classical Convert

Back from Toronto, with 2 new CDs

Well, Toronto was lots of fun even if I consistently and often felt pangs of I-should-be-in-the-lab type guilt. It also takes a lot longer to get across the border than I remember previously, and the QEW (I’ll refer to it as the Queen-E next time, thanks ever so much wikipedia) was completely, utterly, jam-packed up full of Canadians in their cars on Friday evening. I forget what gridlock is like, living out here in the middle of nowhere.

Lying in wait for me upon my return were two previously ordered CDs - neither of which I have had much of a chance to listen to yet. I have:

Which completes my set of Nielsen symphonies (plus other opus goodies). After listening to everything through approximately once, my first impressions are that these symphonies sound a little more traditional - and more romantic - then the last three. In places some of it almost sounded like Tchaikovsky. I’ll probably completely change my mind after a bit more listening, though.

I also got this copy of the 12 London symphonies of Haydn. As I’ve been humming the ubiquitous second movement of the “Surprise” for about a year, and don’t actually own any Haydn (other then this brand spanking new CD) I thought it was about time to do some Franz Joseph purchasing. I have this wild dream where one day I will be able to distinguish Haydn from Mozart.

Nielsen Out-Schnittkeing Schnittke

As part of my exciting foray into the compositional world of Nielsen (who is sneaking his way progressively further up my list of favorites every day) I’ve been listening a lot to his symphony No. 6, within which is a remarkably Schnittke-esque, in-your-face blurring of musical styles (or polystylism, as the cool kids call it.) Blurring probably isn’t such a hot description of it actually, it’s more like a smack in the face.

This is the kind of thing Schnittke does (taken from the second movement of his viola concerto):

And here is the section of Nielsen’s 6th symphony:

The Nielsen is even more surprising, in a way, because of the (comparably) reasonably normal tonality preceding the outbursts. It really jumps out at you. With Schnittke you’re always three-quarters expecting (Get it? It’s like half-expecting, but more so) something like that to happen. The Nielsen is one of the most sonically violent passages I know of from that time period - it was written in 1924/1925. I really like it. I love pieces which play off tonal order, versus disorder.

Nielsen’s Symphony No.5 and the Star Wars theme

As everybody might possibly know (look, I like keeping things as vague as possible) a good chunk of the themes that John Williams shoved into the Star Wars trilogy were inspired by a variety of his favorite compositions. The wikipedia page for Star Wars Music lists a bunch of these inspiration/theme combos, and the inspiration for the main theme is listed (on wikipedia and everywhere else I’ve googled) as Korngold’s soundtrack to the 1942 film “King’s Row“.

It might well be blatantly similar, but I can’t comment, as I haven’t seen it. Yet. It actually looks pretty intriguing, but lets keep on track here…

Every time I listen to Nielsen’s symphony No. 5, composed in 1922. I keep hearing the bloody star wars theme. For anyone who can’t remember what the theme sounds like, have a hit on this youtube:

And here’s a snippet from Nielsen 5, start of the 2nd movement:

Pretty similar aren’t they? Except the Nielsen has that delicious dissonance and is way more awesome. Please don’t kill me, internet Star Wars fans.

What I’ve Been Listening To Lately: Nielsen

A couple of weeks ago this CD came flitting it’s way through my mailbox. Actually it got plonked down outside on our not-very-charming porch, for the birds to stare at - but it sounds way more romantic the other way. Well, regardless of it’s pre-listening sitting position it’s a rather splendid little package. It’s also the first Nielsen that I’ve had the pleasure to really properly sift through my ears.

Nielsen was active from the tail end of the romantic period right through into that awkward beginning of twentieth century stage. He died in 1931. His music (well, judging on the slightly limited repertoire that I’ve currently heard) definitely has a romantic sort of lushness to it, but it’s tempered with a bit of a brutal modern (and bleakly Scandinavian) edge. In places the orchestration reminds me of the more romanticy but dangerous bits of Prokofiev, and some of the harmonies reminds me of Bartok and Martinu. There are also several of what I think of as “American” sounding melodies. If I only had a decent (or, basically any) grasp of musical theory I might be able to more accurately convey what I mean. How sad.

The first CD is the one getting most of the airtime. It’s got his 4th (the “Inextinguishable”) and 5th symphonies. He’s got a thing for percussion, which I find instantly appealing: the 4th has a kind of timpani duel in the last movement, and in the 5th there is a wonderfully menacing, improvisational section for the snare drum (”as if at all costs to stop the progress of the orchestra”), playing at a different tempo from everybody else. That’s actually my favorite bit so far on this CD, the first movement of the 5th. It’s a great build-up, struggle and release. It reminds me a bit of the huge climax in the 2nd movement of Shosty’s symphony No. 11. Aggressive percussion and tortured strings, with the winds shrieking over the top.

Unfortunately I can’t find a recording of the 5th online, but there is a Youtube performance of the 4th symphony, 4th movement, with the timpani duel. It’s Osmo Vanska and the BBC symphony orchestra:

So anyway, in conclusion, Nielsen kicks arse.