Carl Nielsen

Tre Klaverstykker

(Three Piano Pieces), FS 131, Op. 59, is a sequence of three pieces for solo piano by Carl Nielsen. Among the composer's last works, they were published in 1937 in

History#

Nielsen composed the first two movements in January and February 1928, dating the second 1 March 1928. He turned then to the composition of the Clarinet Concerto, and finished the third piano movement on 6 November 1928. The first two pieces were initially performed in April 1928. The three pieces were published after his death in 1937 by Edition Dania in Copenhagen.

Structure and music#

The three pieces are marked: # Impromptu: Allegro fluento # Adagio # Allegro non troppo The beginning is reminiscent of Impressionism, but moves to “more abrupt and dissonant material”, according to the musicologist Chris Morrison. Nielsen commented on the last pages: “Think of a tipsy fellow trying to keep his dignity and upright position by holding on to a lamp-post!” Morrison writes that the Adagio shows “sudden outbursts” in mostly “tender and haunting music”. In the last movement, which he describes as “tough-minded, forceful”, Nielsen at times approaches atonality. The pieces are related to the music of Bartók and Schönberg’s early twelve-tone music. The musicologist Daniel Grimley notes that the pieces convey a “dual sense of childlike innocence and devilish improvisation”.

Selected recordings#

The pieces have been recorded in collections of Nielsen’s works, such as a 1980 recording by pianist Elisabeth Westenholz, Carl Nielsen: The Complete Piano Music, a 1996 album Carl Nielsen / Keyboard works", and a 2008 collection Carl Nielsen: Complete Piano Music with pianist Martin Roscoe. Mina Miller played them on a 2007 recording of piano music by Nielsen.

Composer: Carl Nielsen