Carl Nielsen
Symfoni nr. 6
Sinfonia semplice
Symphony No. 6
CNW 30
CNUCarl Nielsen Udgaven (The Carl Nielsen Edition. Royal Danish Library: Copenhagen 1998–2009) II/6
CNSCarl Nielsens Samling (The Carl Nielsen Collection, Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen) 67
FSDan Fog & Torben Schousboe: Carl Nielsen kompositioner. En Bibliografi. København 1965. 116
Composition: 1924–25.
Nielsen began working on his sixth and final symphony in summer 1924 and continued into the autumn. He was interrupted by a long journey abroad in the beginning of 1925 but continued on the symphony after the journey, finishing the third movement in April. During the summer he stopped but must have been under way with the work again in October. The final movement is end-dated 5 December 1925, a week before the first performance. The title of the symphony, Sinfonia semplice, was not used in musical sources during Nielsen's lifetime. However, it was printed in the concert programme for the first performance. Nielsen also mentioned the title in an interview given two days before the premiere.
1.
Tempo giusto
2. Humoreske
2. Humoresque
Allegretto
3. Proposta seria
Adagio
4. Tema med variationer
4. Theme and Variations
Allegro
Score, manuscript copy
Score, partly autograph, draft and sketches
Score, partly autograph, draft and sketches
String parts (nine), manuscript copy
Score, partly autograph, printer's manuscript
Instrumental parts, manuscript copy, partly printer's manuscript
Score, print (posthumous edition)
Editor: Emil Telmányi
Parts, print (posthumous edition)
Score, print (posthumous edition)
Editor: Richard Dahl Eriksen
| 1 Nov. 1925 | Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien, Stockholm (conductor: Carl Nielsen). First performance (first movement only). |
| 11 Dec. 1925 | Odd Fellow Palæet, Copenhagen (The Royal Danish Orchestra (Det Kongelige Kapel); conductor: Carl Nielsen). First public performance. Reviews: Aftenbladet, 12 Dec. 1925. Berlingske Tidende, 12 Dec. 1925 (William Behrend). BT, 12 Dec. 1925. Børsen, 12 Dec. 1925. Dagens Nyheder, 12 Dec. 1925. Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning, 15 Dec. 1925. Kristeligt Dagblad, 12 Dec. 1925. København, 12 Dec. 1925. Nationaltidende, 12 Dec. 1925 (Gunnar Hauch). Politiken, 12 Dec. 1925 (Hugo Seligmann). Social-Demokraten, 12 Dec. 1925. |
| 3 Feb. 1926 | Konserthuset på Heden, Copenhagen (Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; conductor: Emil Telmányi). |
| 18 June 1927 | Tivoli Concert Hall (Tivolis Koncertsal), Copenhagen (Tivoli Symphony Orchestra (Tivolis Symfoniorkester); conductor: Frederik Schnedler-Petersen). |
Letters:
Diary entries:
Manuscripts:
Carl Nielsen: [Levnedsberetning]. DK-København, Ordenskapitlet. 25 June 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 102)
Other other:
Periskopet (interviewer) and Carl Nielsen (interviewee): 'Hvad Carl Nielsen tænker paa!'. Politiken, 3 Apr. 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 91)
Hl [Kj. Helweg-Larsen] (interviewer) and Carl Nielsen (interviewee): 'Carl Nielsen spillede med Synkoper, allerede da han var Dreng –'. Berlingske Tidende, Aften, 3 June 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 94)
Josef Petersen (interviewer) and Carl Nielsen (interviewee): '60 Aar'. Social-Demokraten, 9 June 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 100)
-X [Axel Kjerulf] (interviewer) and Carl Nielsen (interviewee): 'Kunstens trange Vej –'. Politiken, 9 Nov. 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 103)
Clerk (interviewer) and Carl Nielsen (interviewee): 'Carl Nielsen om sin lystige Symfoni'. Nationaltidende, 9 Dec. 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 110)
A.W. [Andreas Winding] (interviewer) and Carl Nielsen (interviewee): 'Carl Nielsen om Instrumenternes Sjæl'. Politiken, 11 Dec. 1925. (SamtidJohn Fellow (ed.): Carl Nielsen til sin samtid. Det Kongelige Bibliotek/Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1999. 111)
Hugo Seligmann: Carl Nielsen. Wilhelm Hansens Forlag: Copenhagen 1931.
Richard Hove: 'Den danske Carl Nielsen'. Dansk Musiktidsskrift, 7/1, Jan. 1932, pp. 5–11.
Andreas Vinding: Sorgløse Tider. Westermann: Copenhagen 1942, pp. 199–202.
Torben Meyer and Frede Schandorf Petersen: Carl Nielsen. Kunstneren og Mennesket. Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck: Copenhagen 1947–48: vol.2, pp. 234–248.
Ludvig Dolleris: Carl Nielsen. En Musikografi. Fyns Boghandels Forlag: Odense 1949, pp. 279–293.
Hans Riis-Vestergaard: Carl Nielsens symfoniske stil, dens forudsætninger og særpræg. University of Copenhagen: 1952. Ph.D. dissertation.
Robert Simpson: Carl Nielsen. Symphonist 1865–1931. London 1952, pp. 105–23.
Robert Simpson: 'Carl Nielsens symfonier: en englænders indtryk'. Dansk Musiktidsskrift, 27/3, 1952, pp. 90–93.
Desmond Shawe-Taylor: 'A Carl Nielsen Festival – I'. The New Statesman and Nation, 46/1175, Sep. 1953, pp. 285–86.
Torben Meyer and Irmelin Eggert Møller: Carl Nielsens Breve. Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1954, pp. 231, 233.
Hugh Ottaway: 'Nielsen's Sixth Symphony'. The Musical Times, 95/1337, July 1954, pp. 362–63.
Povl Hamburger: Koncertfører: fra Bach til Stravinsky og Prokofiev. Skandinavisk Bogforlag: Odense 1955, pp. 315–19.
Peter Garvie: 'Carl Nielsen'. The Canadian Music Journal, 5/2, Winter 1961, pp. 20–28.
Povl Hamburger: 'Orkester- og kammermusikken', in: Jürgen Balzer (ed.): Carl Nielsen 1865–1965 i hundredåret for hans fødsel (Copenhagen 1965), pp. 44–45.
Torben Schousboe: 'Samtale med Emil Telmányi'. Dansk Musiktidsskrift, 40/4, May 1965, pp. 95–100.
Pierre Vidal: 'Le centenaire de Carl Nielsen'. Musica, 140, Nov. 1965, pp. 20–25.
Emil Telmányi: 'Introduktion til Carl Nielsens violinværker', in: Oplevelser og Studier omkring Carl Nielsen (Sanmarks sanglærerforening: Tønder 1966), pp. 37–71.
Hugh Ottaway: 'Carl Nielsen', in: Robert Simpson (ed.): The Symphony: Elgar to the Present Day (Penguin Books Ltd.: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England 1967), pp. 52–79.
Dean Clarke Wilson: An Analytical and Statistical Study of the Harmony in Carl Nielsen's Six Symphonies. Michigan State University: 1967. Ph.D. dissertation.
Christopher John Ballantine: Tradition and Innovation in the Twentieth Century Symphony. University of Cambridge, St. John's College: 1970. Ph.D. dissertation.
Robert Simpson: Carl Nielsen. Symphonist. New York 1972, pp. 13–14, 112–36.
H.F.W. Kruize and W. van der Lugt: 'De zesde symfonie van Carl Nielsen'. Mens en melodie, 27, May 1972, pp. 153–54.
David Fanning: The Symphonies of Carl Nielsen. Manchester University, United Kingdom: 1977. B.M. thesis.
Emil Telmányi: Af en musikers billedbog. Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck: Copenhagen 1978.
Michael Bonnesen, Estrid Anker Olsen, Teresa Waskowska and Ib Skovgaard: 'Carl August Nielsen', in: Knud Ketting (ed.): Gyldendals musikhistorie: Den europæiske musikkulturs historie, vol.4 (Gyldendalske Boghandel Nordisk Forlag: Copenhagen 1984), pp. 221–24.
R.D.: 'Nielsen: The Symphonies-Complete'. Fanfare, 7, 1984, pp. 249–53.
Finn Mathiassen: 'Carl Nielsens sidste symfonisats', in: Musikvidenskabeligt Institut, Århus Universitet (ed.): Otte ekkoer af musikforskning i Århus (Musikvidenskabeligt Institut, Århus Universitet: Århus 1988), pp. 158–172.
Jørgen I. Jensen: Carl Nielsen – Danskeren. Gyldendal: Copenhagen 1991, pp. 419-20, 425–30.
Jonathan D. Kramer: 'Unity and Disunity in Nielsen's Sixth Symphony', in: Mina Miller (ed.): The Nielsen Companion (Faber & Faber: London 1994), pp. 293–344.
Harald Krebs: 'Tonal Structure in Nielsen's Symphonies: Some Addenda to Robert Simpson's Analyses', in: Mina Miller (ed.): The Nielsen Companion (Faber & Faber: London 1994), pp. 208–49.
Michael Fjeldsøe: Den fortrængte modernisme – den ny musik i dansk musikliv 1920-1940. Hr. Nilsson: Copenhagen 1999. Ph.D. diss. (University of Copenhagen)
Sussie Grevsen: Carl Nielsen og den musikalske drivkraft. En undersøgelse af sonateformstyen i udvalgte satser fra den 4., 5. og 6. symfoni belyst ud fra to principper. University of Copenhagen: 1999. Speciale.
Steen Chr. Steensen: Musik er liv. En biografi om Carl Nielsen. Fisker og Schou: Frederiksberg 1999, pp. 321–29.
George Herbert Turner: Carl Nielsen's first and last symphonies: A comparison (Denmark). California State University: Domininguez Hills 1999. MA diss.
Thea H. Rump Palbøl: Carl Nielsens 5. og 6. symfoni, En redegørelse for de modernistiske træk. University of Copenhagen: 2001. Speciale.
John Fellow: 'Fra Eroica til Semplice – fra den unge Beethoven til den ældre Carl Nielsen'. Magasin fra Det Kongelige Bibliotek, 16/2, 2003, pp. 53–63.
Natalj'a Mamentova: ''Poslednjaja simfonija Karla Nil'sena [The last Symphony of Carl Nielsen]', in: Valerija Stefanova Cenova (ed.): Muzyka XX veka: Voprosy istorii, teorii, estetik-Materialy naucnoj konferencii [The music of the 20th century: History, theory, aesthetics – Proceedings of the scholarly conference] (Moscow 2005), pp. 55–63.
Colin Roth: 'Carl Nielsen and the Danish Tradition of Story-Telling'. Carl Nielsen Studies, 4, 2009, pp. 164–85.
Daniel M. Grimley: Carl Nielsen and the Idea of Modernism. The Boydell Press: Woodbridge 2010.
Timothy James Beattie: Four Corners: Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra and Carl Nielsen: An Analysis of His Late Symphonies: (Symphony 4-6) (= LSU Doctoral Dissertations, vol. 3191). 2016. 
AbstractFull text
Christopher Tarrant: 'Breakthrough and Collapse in Carl Nielsen’s Sinfonia semplice'. Danish Yearbook of Musicology , 41, 2017, pp. 32–49. Full text
Regitze Ida Tetzlaff: 'The Nielsen Project. North American Reception of Carl Nielsen’s Symphonies'. Danish Yearbook of Musicology, 41, 2017, pp. 101–17. Full text
Last changed 2022-12-02 by MerMEId