At age 24 in 1889 Carl Nielsen began his 16-year position in the second violin section of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Five years later he performed in the orchestra for the premiere of his own First Symphony. He would become a Danish national hero, eventually composing six symphonies that to this day are among the core repertoire of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra who last year released a 3-CD set of all six symphonies led by Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.
In 2015,
NPR's Tom Huizinga wrote that "Quirky" could be an apt descriptor of Nielsen's music. "Sample almost any spot in his symphonies and you'll find Nielsen up to something just a bit unusual, from harmonies and melodies that don't quite align to ambiguous phrases, seesawing from major to minor keys."
Fabio Luisi conducts the Symphony No. 1 by Carl Nielsen for today’s Midday Masterpiece.
