Carl Nielsen
The first biography in English on the Danish composer Carl Nielsen.
Jack Lawson
- The first biography in English on the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
- Reveals much that is new and previously unpublished about Nielsen's life and times
- Emphasizes the composer's versatility, from the dramatic heights of his two operas to the simplicity of his popular songs and the complexity of his six symphonies
Paperback
156 x 220 mm, 6 1/8 x 8 5/8 in
240 pp
80 black and white illustrations
ISBN 9780714835075
0714835072
The Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), together with Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, is a towering figure of twentieth-century Scandinavian music. Both are masters of the modern symphony, but it is arguably Nielsen who was the more progressive of the two.
Nielson emerges as an energetic, well-rounded individual, one who was much more dynamic than suggested by his popular image of the country boy rising from poverty to become Denmark's most influential composer.
His musical style advanced beyond the comprehension of his contemporaries to express personal and national turmoil and, above all, the inextinguishable power of music. In this, the first ever biography to be published in English, the author reveals much that is new and previously unpublished about Nielsen's life and times.
Jack Lawson is founder and secretary of the Carl Nielsen Society of Great Britain. He has written extensively on Nielsen's music for CD and programme notes, and for magazines including Classic CD and Opera Now.
'The ideal introduction to a still under-appreciated composer.' (Hi-Fi News)
'Fascinating and fastidiously researched.' (The Scotsman)
'The photographs are among the book's greatest assets, since they are both well chosen and excellently reproduced. The accompanying descriptions are tastefully written, factual and informative.' (Classical Music)
'As a series, Phaidon's 20th Century Composers has brought remarkable variety and a welter of information, both necessary and delightfully trivial. Intended both for the general reader and for the more enthusiatically musical...' (The Scotsman)