Born: 1865, Sortelung, Denmark
Died: 1931, Copenhagen, Denmark

"Music is Life and, like it, is inextinguishable."

Nielsen was involved in popular and classical music from childhood, later becoming a member and then conductor of the opera orchestra at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen. His comic opera Maskarade made him a national hero in 1906, but he is best known as the composer of six characterful symphonies. Like many of the composers whose work spanned the turn-of-the-century, Nielsen combined many progressive ideas and techniques with a reverence for inherited traditions. The result was a bold, idiosyncratic style that has won an ever-widening circle of admirers.

Further listening:

• Saul and David (opera, 1898-1901)
  Danish National Radio Orchestra, chorus, soloists; Neeme Järvi (Chandos)
• Violin Concerto (1911)
  Cho-Liang Lin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philharmonia Orchestra (Sony)
• Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable" (1914-16)
  Esa-Pekka Salonen, Swedish Radio Symphony (Sony)