'Tonality, clarity, strength': gesture, form, and Nordic identity in Carl Neilsen's piano music

Journal article

Identifying elements of a Nordic subjectivity in the music of Carl Nielsen is a complex exercise. As Naomi Cumming has observed, we construct musical subjectivity in multiple ways, some of which we perceive as a 'composer's voice'. But musical identity is properly a tension between compositional process, reception, and historical context. Carl Nielsen's piano music has been less widely acknowledged outside Denmark than his symphonies, but offers a compelling case study in the formation of music subjectivity. His piano works employ a diverse range of different compositional strategies, from stylized neo-Baroque textures to angular modernist dissonance and the carnivalesque juxtaposition of different musical characters or voices. The critical reception of his piano music reveals interesting trends in the construction of a Danish musical style. This essay presents a general survey of his major piano works, from the Symphonic Suite to the posthumous Three Piano Pieces, and seeks to place them in their European historical context.

Authors: Grimley, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: Music & Letters
• Volume: 86
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 202-233
• Publication date: 2005-05-01
• DOI: 10.1093/ml/gci033
• EISSN: 1477-4631
• ISSN: 0027-4224
• Language: English
• Keywords: Carl Nielsen; piano works
• Subjects: Music