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The Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable (Danish: Det Uudslukkelige), by Carl Nielsen, was completed in 1916. This symphony is among the most dramatic that Nielsen wrote, featuring a 'battle' between two sets of timpani. Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (June 9, 1865, Sortelung – October 3, 1931, Copenhagen) was a conductor, violinist, and the most internationally known composer from Denmark. ...
1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ...
The title, Inextinguishable, does not aply to the symphony itself. In his notes for the symphony, Nielsen refers the 'the elemental will to live" ('inextinguishable' is not an exact translation of uudslukkelige, which itself suggests the life-force). It is scored for 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 2 sets of timpani, and strings. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ...
Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™ clarinet (left) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ...
A Fox Products bassoon. ...
This is a contrabassoon. ...
The horn is a brass instrument that consists of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ...
Trumpeter redirects to here. ...
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ...
The tuba is the largest of the low-brass instruments and is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. ...
A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...
It is in four movements played without breaks. The first movement begins with a fierce tutti pitting D minor against its flat seventh, C, in an almost antiphonal manner. After the tutti, the clarinets introduce in A major the theme that will culminate the work. The second movement, in G major, is more an intermezzo than the expected adagio, a function filled by the third movement. The second set of timpani appears in the final movement, and at the very end E major emerges as the key to conclude the work. D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B-flat, C♯, and D (harmonic minor scale). ...
A major is a major scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, and A. Its key signature consists of three sharps. ...
G major is a major scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, F# and G. Its key signature consists of one sharp. ...
E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D# and E. Its key signature consists of four sharps. ...
The two sets of timpani are placed on either side of the orchestra. The fierce timpani duel in the last movement require the two timpanists to change the pitch of the timpani while playing. This was never called for before.
The most recorded of Nielsen's symphonies, No. 4 presents some unique problems to the interpreter. In his book Carl Nielsen: Symphonist, Robert Simpson devotes nearly a page to "features that can lead the exhibitionist conductor astray", mostly relating to matters of tempo. Robert (Wilfred Levick) Simpson (March 2, 1921 - December 21, 1997) was an English musicologist and composer best known for his symphonies and string quartets. ...
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