BIS-CD-428STEREO D D D Totaltime: 56,1B NIELSEN, Carl 1r s6s-1931 ) Wind ChamberMusic - Completetdition I Fantasistykkefor klarinet og klaver (1881]Andanre cantabile 4,06 (FantasyPiece for clarinetand piano) Lars Kristian Holm Brynildsen,clarinet; l_eiiOve Andsnes,piano Fantasistykkerfor obo og klaver, Op.2 6,05 (Fantasy _ Piecesfor oboe and piano) L?_.1Romanze. Andante con duolo 3,39 ll_.1Humoresque. Allegretto scherzando 2,2O Steinar Hannevold, oboe; Leif Ove Andsnes,piano E Canto serioso(1913) for horn and piano. Andantesosrenuto 3,43 Vidar Olsen, horn; Leif Ove Andsnes,piano E Serenatain vano (1914).Altegro non troppo ma brioso 7,1A Lars Kristian Holm Erynildsen,clarinet; per Hannevold, bassoon ,cello; Vidar Olsen, horn; Sally Guenther, Torbjorn Eide, double bass _ Three Piecesfrom "Moderen', (The Mother) 636 lj_J No.2:Taagen letter (The Fog is Lifting)for flute and harp,Op.41 2,2O _ Andantino quasi allegretto ll_.1No.12: Bornene leger(The Children are playing)for f lute solo. Allegretto 2,23 't,42 lU No.15:Tro og hAbspiller (Faith and Hope are playing)for f lute and viola Allegro marciale Gro Sandvik,flute; Turid Kniejski,harp; Lars Anders Tomter, viola The Wind Music of Carl Nielsen The FantasyPiece for Clarinet and Piano is a very early work by Niersen, .1 probably written in BB1 when Nrelsenhad just been appointed as a regimentalmusician in Odense.The young composer provided the piecewith a motto,"Formel h;ilt uns nichtgebunden, unsre Kunst heisst Poesie" (Form cannotbind us fast;poetry is our art) - the samequotation from Uhland which had beenselected by hismuch olderand veryfamous colleague Niels W. Cade in connectionwith the overture"Efterklang af Ossian"(Echo of Ossian- the piecewith whichCade made his breakthroughJ Nielsen's piece, which was not publisheduntil 19B1, is dedicatedto one Mr. M Hansen.a namewhich f itsseveral of hisregimental colleagues Which of them had the honour of being dedicatedthis little, unassumingpiece is impossibleto d iscover. With the two FantasyPieces for Oboe and Pianowe progressinto Nielsen's "official" careeras a composer.They bearthe opus numberof 2 and were writtenin'l BB9- the year afterNielsen made hrs debut as a composerwith the successfulperformance in the TivoliConcert Hall in Copenhagenof the LittleSuite for Strings.The Fantasypreces were printedby Wilhelm Hansenin 1890 but not premiereduntil 1 6th March1 891 by the oboistOlivo Krause(the dedicatee)and the pianist(and composer)Victor Bendix.Nielsen did not attendthe premiere:he was in Paris,madly in lovewith the youngsculptress Marie Brodersenwhom he marrreda month later. Canto Serioso (191 3) is an occasional piece, written f or a musical competitionto find a new hornistfor Det KongeligeKapel, the orchestraat the Royal Theatrein Copenhagen.At that time Nielsenwas the theatre's conductor,a job which broughthim more troublethen joy and which he lost the followingyear. The littleCanto Serioso, which the composeralso arranged for cello and piano,was only publishedin 1944,longafter hisdeath Nielsenwrote Serenalain Vano (Serenadein vain)in1914 at the behestof a groupof musicransf rom Det KongeligeKapel who wereplanning a tour with Ludwig van Beethoven'sSeptet and other pieceson their programme.The combinationof instrumentsis unusualbut has,of course,its roots in the instrumentalforceswhich Ludwigvan Beethovenchose. The composition was createdin a couple of days duringMay - a periodduring which he was starting to toy with the first sketches for his Fourth Symphony, Det tJudslukkelige(The Inextinguishable),and moreover on the thresholdof a long-lastingcrisis in Nielsen'smarriage. There are, however, traces neither of the Symphonynor or privateproblems in thislittle, fantasy-f illed Serenade in vain. Like the Canto Serioso,it was publishedposthumously (1 942). As a resultof the peace arrangementsafter the FirstWorld War Denmark recoveredpart of SouthernJutland from Cermanyin-1 920. This eventwas celebratedwith, among other things,a gala performance at the RoyalTheatre with wordsby the poet HelgeRode and musicby Nielsen.This play, Moderen [TheMother), which includessuch allegorical characters as Faithand Hope, was directlylinked with the historicaloccasion and has not livedon in the reDertorv.Parts of the music have,however, become well known, especially Tdgen letter(The Fog is lifting) which has become one of Nielsen'smost popularpieces. In its originalform the pieceis so shortthat it has become customaryto add a repeatwhich is not in the originalscore (and is therefore not played on this recording). One eveningin Iate1921 the pianistChristian Christiansen was sittingin a rehearsalwithfour out of the f ivemembers of the CopenhagenWind Quintet. Nielsenwas a f riendof christiansenand askedif he mightcome and listen,for they were playingmusic by Mozart,whom he admiredgreatly. The evening was long and profitable, also in the longerterm, for it was herethat the seeds of Nielsen'sown Wind Quintetwere sown. First of all he wasto completehis Fifth Symphony(BlS-CD-370), the f irst performanceof which he conducted himself in Copenhagenin January 1922. A couple of months later he conductedBerlioz' Symphonie Fantastique in which the greatcor anglaissolo was plaVedby SvendChristian Felumb, the oboistof the CopenhagenWind Quintet.Nielsen asked him if it was possiblefor a playerto exchangethe oboe for the cor anglaiswithin one piece.Felumb said that iswas - and so Nielsen used the cor anglais instead of the oboe in the prelude to the seriesof variationsin the lastmovement of hisQuintet. Nielsen explainedthe thinking behrnd the variation movement in a programmenote(in which, with hisusual reticence, he refersto himselfin rne third person):"Here the composerhas soughtto reproducethe charactersof the variousinstruments. Here they chatter away all at eachother at the same time;there they speak each for itself. Thetheme for thesevariations is one of C.N.'sown hymnsand it ishere the basisof a seriesof merry,baroque, elegiac or seriousvariations which culminatein the themestated in all itssimplicity and expressedmost stylishly." fhe Wind Quintet receivedits first performancear a pilvare concert on 30thApril 1922 at the houseof Hermanand LisaMannheimer in Cothenburg, Sweden.Mannheimer had been one of the foundersof the Cothenburg SymphonyOrchestra in 1905and chairmanof its board from 1922,Nielsen was a frequent guest conductor,especially in the period of his marital difficulties.The f irst public performancewas in Copenhagenon 9th October of the sameyear and the playerswere naturallythose for whom the work had been written. The Wind Quintet has become one of the classicsof the wind quintetrepertory, played and recordedby innumerableensembles all over tne world. By comparisonwith the Wind Quintet, the Allegretto for two recorders (1931 ) is a mere bagatelle.lt can, however,be locatedin a largerpedagogi6al context with its roots in a lecture given by Nielsento the Music Teaching Society in Copenhagenin December 1929.The lecture concerned - with Nielsen'sown manuscriptformulation as its introduction- "the questionof whetherour composerscould considercomposing music of a folk-likeor, more precisely,simple character, partly suitable for teachingyoung and not too advancedplayers, partly for beginners."Nielsen clearly felt that tnrs ouestionneeded an answer,because he set aboutwriting a collectionof 25 little oiano pieceswithout delay: this appearedin 1930 under the title - Klavermusikfor Smaaog Store(Piano Music for Creat and Small BIS-LP- 167116U.And in the year of his death he added a little PianoPiece in C and a miniature for two recordersto be published in the book Blokflalten (The Recorder)by the musicologistC.M. Savery. In thismanner the composerwho had beenrecognised internationally for yearsreached out backwardsin time to the young,musically inexperienced composer and regimentalmusician. Knud Kettine The BergenWind Quintet, establishedin 1946,has upheld the traditionthat the ensembleshall consistof the principalwind playersof the Bergen PhilharmonicOrchestra, one of the world'soldest symphony orchestras. The members of the ouintet are also teachersat the BergenConservatory of Music,and much sought-afterlecturers at seminarsand masterclasses. The Quintet has undertakentours throughoutthe world and severalNorwegian comoosers have dedicated works to the ensemble This is the Quintet's secondBIS recording.Gro Sandvik,flute, was born in Sarpsborgand grew up in Samar.Her teachers include Jean-Pierre Rampal and RobertAitken and she ismuch in demandas a soloist,chamber musician and pedagogue.She ioined the BergenPhilharmonic Orchestra in 1967.Steinar Hannevold, oboe, studied with Erik Niord Larsenand Prof.Karl Steins.He has appearedin the Berlin PhilharmonicOrchestra and as solo oboist at the StockholmOpera. After working with the Oslo PhilharmonicOrchestra, he joined the Bergen Phifharmonic Orchestra in 1977. Lars KristianHolm Brynildsen,clarinet, studiedin Norway,in Freiburgand in Paris.He appearedthree times with the World YouthOrchestra of JeunessesMusicales and is now an activechamber musician Vidar Olsen,horn, studied in Oslo with Odd Ulleberg He is the principalhorn playerof the BergenPhilharmonic Orchestra and joinedthe BergenWind Quintet in 19BB Per Hannevold,bassoon, studied in Oslo and with Haroldcolzer at the Juilliardschool of Music,New york He taughtthe bassoon at oslo Universityand movedto Bergenin 1981. He isalso active as a conou ctor. leif ove Andsnes,piano, was born near Haugesundin Norway in 1970.He startedto play the piano at the age of