Nielsen's childhood home at Sortelung near Nørre Lyndelse Between 19 the Royal Danish Library, sponsored by the Danish government, completed the Carl Nielsen Edition, freely available online, containing background information and sheet music for all of Nielsen's works, many of which had not been previously published. The Carl Nielsen Museum in Odense documents his life and that of his wife. For many years, he appeared on the Danish hundred-kroner banknote. In Denmark, Nielsen's reputation was sealed in 2006 when four of his works were listed by the Danish Ministry of Culture amongst the greatest pieces of Danish classical music. It was only later that his works firmly entered the international repertoire, accelerating in popularity from the 1960s through Leonard Bernstein and others. Nielsen maintained the reputation of a musical outsider during his lifetime, both in his own country and internationally.
He died from a heart attack six years later, and is buried in Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen. Nielsen's sixth and final symphony, Sinfonia semplice, was written in 1924–25. His early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, but he soon developed his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time.
In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and many of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage. Nielsen is especially noted for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. The works he composed between 18 are sometimes ascribed to his "psychological" period, resulting mainly from a turbulent marriage with the sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen. In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Danish Academy and continued to work there until his death.Īlthough his symphonies, concertos and choral music are now internationally acclaimed, Nielsen's career and personal life were marked by many difficulties, often reflected in his music. The following year, Nielsen began a 16-year stint as a second violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra under the conductor Johan Svendsen, during which he played in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff and Otello at their Danish premieres. 1, Suite for Strings, in 1888, at the age of 23. He initially played in a military band before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1884 until December 1886. Carl August Nielsen ( Danish: 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.īrought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age.