Nielsen - Wind Quintet

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) is Denmark's most internationally famous composer, known mostly for his six symphonies (the Fourth and Fifth having been featured here). He is also the composer of one of the most prominent Wind Quintets written in the 20th Century.

Nielsen's Wind Quintet dates from 1922 and was written in Sweden, where it was first privately performed in Gothenburg. The composer provided this programme note for the music:

"The quintet for winds is one of the composer’s latest works, in which he has attempted to render the characters of the various instruments. At one moment they are all talking at once, at another they are quite alone. The work consists of three movements: a) Allegro, b) Minuet and c) Prelude – Theme with Variations. The theme for these variations is the melody for one of C.N.’s spiritual songs, which has here been made the basis of a set of variations, now merry and quirky, now elegiac and serious, ending with the theme in all its simplicity and very quietly expressed."

Ray Ashley has written this descriptive essay about the Quintet, and Alan George contributed this piece to MusicWeb International.

 

Cartridge: Zhige ZG-K101 with Paratrace stylus on white sapphire cantilever

Phono amp: Graham Slee Accession MC

Turntable: CTC Classic 301 with SME M2-12R

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