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Carl
Nielsen (1865-1931)
Woodwind Quintet (FS 100)
Wind Quintet (FS 100)
1. Allegro ben moderato
2. Menuett
3. Praludium – Adagio Tema con variazioni – Un poco andantino
Most people will have
experienced the irritation of receiving a phone call in the middle of
doing something else, but when Christian Christiansen, the Danish pianist
was called to the phone in the middle of rehearsing Mozart with four
members of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet he could little have thought that
this minor inconvenience would result in the composition of a major work
for wind ensemble and two of the finest wind concertos of the twentieth
century. The caller was Carl Nielsen, who, hearing that they
were playing music by his favourite composer asked if he could
attend the rehearsal.
As a result of that
evening, on April 22 of the following year (1922) the Copenhagen Wind
Quintet gave the first performance of Nielsen’s Wind Quintet in
Gothenburg, Sweden. Nielsen planned to follow his quintet by writing a
concerto for each member of the ensemble but had only managed to complete
the flute and clarinet concertos by the time of his death. Both the
quintet (particularly in the last movement variations) and the concertos
were intended not only to exploit the character of the instruments but also
to reflect the personalities of the people playing them.
1. Allegro ben moderato
The first movement (E
major) is in sonata form. The first subject is announced by unaccompanied
bassoon (unequivocal E major with a typically Nielsenesque side-step out
of key in its final bar). This is answered by the upper wind, a small
fanfare from the horn and some play with the bassoon’s ‘out of key’
music. The horn reiterates the opening subject, but this time in A
major.
A transition follows that contains two important ideas: the first consists
of fast, constantly widening, intervals; and the second, which ushers in
the second subject, is distinguished by its repeated note opening. The
second subject, in D minor, is a long, lyrical melody played by horn
accompanied by triplet figures on flute and clarinet. This is repeated by
oboe and bassoon, who, by way of the ‘out of key’ figure from the
opening lead (an unusual event in Nielsen’s later music) to a repeat of
the opening section.
In the development that
follows this restatement, the repeated note figure from the transition is,
with the aid of a quaver accompaniment, transformed into march-like music
and leads to the return, in the oboe, of the ‘out of key’ motif. As
was the case in the opening, the ‘answer’ follows. This is taken up by
the oboe and bassoon (D minor), but played in augmentation (twice as
slowly). Finally, the bassoon, provoking angry-sounding trills from the
others, plays the opening melody in its lowest register in B major and
leads to the recapitulation.
This recapitulation is
shorter than the exposition. The second subject (now in B minor), appears
just once, and is played as a duet for horn and bassoon. A bridge passage
– a final appearance for the repeated note figure – produces a coda
which brings the movement serenely home to E major.
2. Menuett
There is no slow movement
in this quintet: instead Nielsen produces what is (almost) a classical
minuet and trio that looks back to his favourite composer, Mozart (the
original inspiration for the work and without whom, of course, the quintet
might never have existed (see above)).
The Menuett (A major) opens
with what are essentially two duets: the first for clarinet and bassoon
and the second for flute and oboe. The section is completed by the return
of the clarinet and bassoon music but now scored for full quintet.
The Trio that follows
starts with imitative entries on oboe, clarinet and flute in what appears
to be D minor but soon comes to a close in F major. After the repeat of
this music the flute, bassoon and oboe have a strange chromatic
conversation with the bassoon eventually bubbling up through the chords
that herald the return of the trio’s opening. There is a brief
transition passage and then the Menuett returns.
3. Praludium – Adagio
Tema con variazioni – Un poco andantino
The Prelude, Theme and
Variations is perhaps the heart of the quintet. The theme, which Nielsen
(who was not a particularly religious man) wrote as a setting of a
Lutheran hymn in 1916, is the chorale melody Jesus, Lad Mid Hjerte Faa
(My Jesus make my heart to love thee).
The Prelude is a strange,
dissonant piece in which the oboist plays the lower pitched and darker
hued cor anglais. The cor anglais, flute and clarinet all have
cadenza-like passages which are performed against a backdrop of bare
fifths and reiterated chords. Eventually the music calms and prepares for
the entry of the theme.
The chorale theme (A
major) is a simple ternary melody in 3/4 with the middle section slightly
darkened by the use of the cor anglais. It is followed by eleven
variations.
Variation 1:
Horn and bassoon in imitation retain the dignity of the hymn tune.
Variation 2:
A light, airy flute solo accompanied by the rest of the quintet.
Variation 3:
Now playing the oboe again, the oboist has a wistful version of the
chorale melody that hovers somewhere between major and minor.
Variation 4:
The whole quintet plays a fast, scherzando variation.
Variation 5:
An enraged clarinet shrieks at a recalcitrant bassoon.
Variation 6:
The mood darkens as the chorale returns in the minor mode.
Variation 7:
Still in the minor mode, an unaccompanied bassoon sings an elaborate,
sombre melody.
Variation 8:
Gloom still prevails as oboe and clarinet echo each other in a dirge over
a drone bass.
Variation 9:
The tonality changes to F and an unaccompanied horn-call brings light and
an end to the crisis (perhaps precipitated by the quarrel back in
variation 5).
Variation 10:
A major returns and the flute and bassoon lead the quintet in a compound
time variation which dispels any last vestiges of melancholy.
Variation 11:
Clarinet and bassoon (reconciled?) start the final variation, an Alla
Marcia which involves the whole quintet and leads via a bridge passage
to…
The return of the chorale theme,
this time in smiling, rather lop-sided 4/4, which brings the work to a
close on a resounding chord of A.
CRW
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