Carl Nielsen and the Idea of Modernism

336 Pages·2011·5.055 MB·English

by  Daniel M. Grimley

CARL NIELSEN
and the idea of modernism
Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) is one of the most playful, life-
affirming, and awkward voices in twentieth-century
music. His work resists easy stylistic categorisation
or containment, yet its melodic richness and har-
monic vitality are immediately appealing and engag-
ing. Nielsen’s symphonies, concertos and operas are
an increasingly prominent feature of the international
repertoire, and his songs remain perennially popu-
lar at home in Denmark. But his work has only rarely
attracted sustained critical attention within the schol-
arly community; he remains arguably the most under-
rated composer of his international generation.
This book offers a critical re-evaluation of Carl
Nielsen’s music and his rich literary and artistic con-
texts. Drawing extensively on contemporary writing
and criticism, as well as the research of the newly com-
pleted Carl Nielsen Edition, the book presents a series
of case studies centred on key works in Carl Nielsen’s
output, particulary his comic opera Maskarade, the
Third Symphony (Sinfonia espansiva), and his final sym-
phony, the Sinfonia semplice. Topics covered include
his relationship with symbolism and fin-de-siècle deca-
dence, vitalism, counterpoint, and the Danish landscape.
Running throughout the book is a critical engagement
with the idea of musical modernism – a term which, for
Nielsen, was fraught with anxiety and yet provided a
constant creative stimulus.
daniel m. grimley holds a University Lectureship
in Music at Oxford, and is the Tutorial Fellow in Music
at Merton College and Senior Lecturer in Music at
University College. His previous books include Grieg:
Music, Landscape and Norwegian Identity (Boydell,
2006), and the Cambridge Companion to Sibelius
(Cambridge University Press, 2004).
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C A R L N I E L SE N
and the idea of modernism
Daniel M. Grimley
the boydell press
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© Daniel M. Grimley 2010
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted,
recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Daniel M. Grimley to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2010
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
isbn 978 1 84383 581 3
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 3df, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mount Hope Ave, Rochester, ny 14620, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred
to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Designed and typeset in Adobe Warnock Pro by
David Roberts, Pershore, Worcestershire
Printed in Great Britain by
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Contents
List of Illustrations vi
List of Music Examples vi
List of Tables vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xv
List of Abbreviations xvii
Carl Nielsen Chronology xviii
1 Introduction: Carl Nielsen at the Edge 1
2 Thresholds 23
3 Hellenics 61
4 Energetics 96
5 Funen Dreams 132
6 Counterpoints 178
7 Cosmic Variations 237
8 Conclusion 289
Appendix: Sketches for the Sinfonia semplice 294
Select Bibliography 298
Index 305
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Illustrations
Fig. 1.1 Carl Nielsen, c. 1908: photograph by George Lindstrøm (courtesy Royal
Library, Copenhagen) xx
Fig. 1.2 Carl Nielsen, c. 1880? (courtesy Royal Library, Copenhagen) xx
Fig. 1.3 Carl Nielsen, 1887 (courtesy Royal Library, Copenhagen) 22
Fig. 4.1 Hans Mersmann’s wave types, modelling various musical forms (from
Angewändte Musikästhetik, 1926) 117
Fig. 4.2 Hans Mersmann, models of complex wave form structures (from
Angewändte Musikästhetik, 1926) 117
Fig. 4.3 Hans Mersmann’s energetic model of four-movement classical structure
(from Angewändte Musikästhetik, 1926) 119
Fig. 5.1 Johan Thomas Lundbye, Landskab ved Arresø, 1836 (courtesy Thorvaldsen
Museum, Copenhagen, with permission) 138
Fig. 5.2 Peter Hansen, Pløjemanden Vender, 1900–2 (courtesy Faaborg
Kunstmuseum, with permission) 175
Fig. 8.1 Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen: Carl Nielsen memorial, Oslo Plads (courtesy
Royal Library, Copenhagen) 290
Music Examples
Ex. 2.1 Nielsen, ‘Har Dagen sanket al sin Sorg’, Musik til fem Digte af J. P. Jacobsen,
op. 4/5 32
Ex. 2.2 Nielsen, ‘Har Dagen sanket al sin Sorg’: (a) voice-leading chart;
(b) Schenker, Die freie Satz, fig. 15b; (c) Nielsen, ‘Har Dagen sanket al sin
Sorg’, background schematic 37
Ex. 2.3 Nielsen, ‘Genrebillede’, Viser og Vers af J. P. Jacobsen, op. 6/1 39
Ex. 2.4 Nielsen, ‘Genrebillede’, voice-leading chart 43
Ex. 2.5 Nielsen, ‘Arabesk’, Fem Klaverstykker, op. 3/3 46
Ex. 2.6 Nielsen, Symphony no. 1, first movement: background schematic 55
Ex. 2.7 Nielsen, Symphony no. 1, first movement: voice-leading sketch, bb. 1–5 56
Ex. 2.8 Nielsen, Symphony no. 1, first movement: harmonic reduction (Exposition),
bb. 39–85 57
Ex. 2.9 Nielsen, Symphony no. 1, first movement: harmonic reduction
(Development), bb. 133–49 58
Ex. 2.10 Nielsen, Symphony no. 1, first movement: harmonic reduction (Reprise),
bb. 241–93 59
Ex. 3.1 Nielsen, Helios Overture (opening) 62
Ex. 3.2 Nielsen, Helios Overture: voice-leading, bb. 285–310 67
vi
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Ex. 3.3 Nielsen, Maskarade: Act 1, bb. 18–48 91
Ex. 4.1 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, first movement: thematic table 105
Ex. 4.2 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, first movement: harmonic reduction (Exposition),
bb. 1–138 107
Ex. 4.3 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, first movement: harmonic reduction (Exposition),
bb. 138–259 122
Ex. 4.4 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, first movement: harmonic reduction
(Development), bb. 259–424 124
Ex. 4.5 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, first movement: harmonic reduction (Reprise),
bb. 424–end 125
Ex. 5.1 Nielsen, Springtime on Funen: 'Dansevisen', bb. 105–11 133
Ex. 5.2 Nielsen, 'Taagen Letter' (Moderen), bb. 27–end 150
Ex. 5.3 Nielsen, ‘Jens Vejmand’, Strofiske Sange, op. 21/3, first stanza 157
Ex. 5.4 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, second movement: voice-leading sketch 163
Ex. 5.5 Nielsen, Symphony no. 3, fourth movement: thematic table 173
Ex. 6.1 Nielsen, Chaconne: opening 191
Ex. 6.2 Nielsen, Chaconne: climax, bb. 130–46 193
Ex. 6.3 Nielsen, Theme and Variations: theme, bb. 1–16 204
Ex. 6.4 Nielsen, Theme and Variations: Variation 7, bb. 113–28 205
Ex. 6.5 Nielsen, Theme and Variations: climax, bb. 257–88 207
Ex. 6.6 Nielsen, Commotio: thematic table 232
Ex. 6.7 Nielsen, Commotio: conclusion 234
Ex. 7.1 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: first movement, opening 258
Ex. 7.2 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: first movement, climax 259
Ex. 7.3 Mahler, Symphony no. 4: first movement, opening 261
Ex. 7.4 Nielsen, Maskarade: Act 1, opening 262
Ex. 7.5 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: first movement, bb. 50–8 264
Ex. 7.6 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: first movement, bb. 204–14 267
Ex. 7.7 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: third movement, opening 270
Ex. 7.8 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: second movement, bb. 29–33 273
Ex. 7.9 Nielsen, Sinfonia semplice: finale, opening 281
Tables
Table 4.1 Symphony no. 3, first movement: formal chart 104
Table 5.1 Symphony no. 3, second movement: formal chart 163
Table 5.2 Symphony no. 3, fourth movement: formal chart 172
Table 6.1 Commotio: formal chart 229
Table 7.1 Sinfonia semplice, first movement: basic formal chart 257
Table 7.2 Sinfonia semplice, finale: formal scheme 280
vii
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Preface
arl nielsen is one of the most playful, life-affirming, and awkward
C
voices in twentieth-century music. His work resists easy stylistic catego-
risation or containment, yet its melodic richness and harmonic vitality are
immediately appealing and engaging. Nielsen’s symphonies, concertos, and
operas are an increasingly prominent feature of the international repertoire,
and his songs remain perennially popular at home in Denmark. But his work
has only rarely attracted sustained critical attention within the musicological
community. The reasons for this relative critical neglect are complex. Access
to primary source material has previously been limited to Danish-speaking
scholars, although strenuous efforts have been made (by the Carl Nielsen
Edition, for example) to disseminate research more widely. With the comple-
tion of the Edition in March 2009, it is possible for the first time to perform
and analyse Carl Nielsen’s work from reliable, scholarly editions, with accom-
panying notes and editorial addenda. A more serious obstacle to full criti-
cal appreciation of his work, however, perhaps lies in a wider unwillingness
to engage with music which lies outside the mainstream modernist canon.
Nielsen’s perceived peripheralised position, as a Nordic composer working on
the historical and stylistic cusp of a full-blown continental musical modern-
ism, has reinforced his marginalisation from much writing on twentieth-cen-
tury European music. Though many scholars have sought to dismantle such
received models of historical musical development, and stress the contested,
multivalent nature of musical modernisms (in their plurality), such fixed
patterns of geographical thought remain remarkably resistant to change.
Nielsen’s proper place, at the forefront of historical and analytical accounts
of twentieth-century music, has yet to be conclusively established in the
wider scholarly field. A related problem is the extent to which Nielsen’s work
challenges received models of musical analysis. Though the seemingly dia-
tonic surface of his music positively invites a post-Schenkerian voice-leading
approach, the lack of a stable diatonic middleground means that such read-
ings ultimately remain provisional at best. Similarly, by Schoenbergian stand-
ards of motivic rigour, Nielsen’s more associative approach to motivic devel-
opment can appear frustratingly casual. But neither of these qualities point
to inherent weaknesses in Nielsen’s musical style. Rather, they are composi-
tional strengths of his idiosyncratic musical language, and the starting point
for contemplating deeper questions of musical meaning and value in his work,
issues which this present volume seeks to address. Critical consideration of
Nielsen’s music is therefore timely. It offers the chance to rediscover a vibrant
body of work whose popular appeal among international audiences is wid-
ening rapidly. Simultaneously, it presents the opportunity to reflect critically
ix
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