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1 Tempo giusto
2 Humoreske: Allegretto
3 Proposta seria: Adagio
4 Tema con variazioni: Allegro – Allegretto un poco

Carl Nielsen began work on his last symphony in the summer of 1924, at the north Danish seaside resort of Skagen. It was, he announced, to have ‘a different character than my others: more charming, smooth’. There would be something of the delightful conversational character of the recent Wind Quintet: ‘I think through the instruments – as though I had crept inside them.’ The symphony would have a title, Sinfonia semplice (‘Simple Symphony’), reflecting its ‘entirely idyllic character’.

But it turned out very differently. Was Nielsen simply deluding himself? There had been plenty of pain in his life in the recent past: physically in the series of heart attacks that had increasingly robbed him of his strength; mentally in the collapse of his marriage and of his nationalist-humanist beliefs in the wake of the First World War. The symphony’s opening, with its cheery glockenspiel chimes and jog-trotting folk-like main theme, seems to live up to Nielsen’s initial plan; but very soon notes of anguish begin to be heard: little jabs on strings and woodwind and plaintive falling violin lines as the glockenspiel tries to restart the jog-trotting theme. Anxiety grows throughout the first movement, until trumpets, trombones and tuba pile in through tearing string figures, building to a ferociously dissonant climax. Eventually the movement ends in sad resignation – or is it perplexity?

The ‘Humoreske’ that follows is in weird contrast: jerky puppet-dances are punctuated by derisive yawns on solo trombone. Then comes ‘Proposta seria’ (‘A serious proposition’). ‘Serious’ it certainly is, but it’s enigmatic too: nobly tragic string figures contrast with hopeless meandering on muted violins and later woodwind. A kind of peace is achieved; but then the finale’s savage fun and games begin: a half-folksy, half-snide bassoon theme is treated to a kaleidoscope of crazed variations, manic one moment, desperately sad the next. The variation near the end for tuba, bass drum and xylophone feels like a vision of what Nielsen himself called ‘bony death’. ‘But I want to defy death,’ Nielsen told a friend. Simple it may not be, but somehow the spirit of humour survives – right through to the symphony’s very last note.

Programme notes © Stephen Johnson