Carl Nielsen: Works for 4 Hand Piano "Espansiva" (World Premiere Recording)

First the Saul & David pieces are more sonorous, because they were arranged for two pianos, but irrespective of the piece they almost sound like different works. In the Symphony the transparency exposes inner parts, Nielsen’s unique harmonies, chromaticism, occasional echoes of Grieg and Sibelius and what Robert Simpson called ‘the outward growth of the mind’s scope and the expansion of life that comes from it’. Yes the opening might lack the arresting, jarring power of the original and the reduction cannot adequately recreate the Andante pastorales marvellous refrain for soprano and baritone, but this makes for fascinating listening.

First the Saul & David pieces are more sonorous, because they were arranged for two pianos, but irrespective of the piece they almost sound like different works. In the Symphony the transparency exposes inner parts, Nielsen’s unique harmonies, chromaticism, occasional echoes of Grieg and Sibelius and what Robert Simpson called ‘the outward growth of the mind’s scope and the expansion of life that comes from it’. Yes the opening might lack the arresting, jarring power of the original and the reduction cannot adequately recreate the Andante pastorales marvellous refrain for soprano and baritone, but this makes for fascinating listening.

An important album both for Nielsen and for the piano repertoire. The performances and recording are faultless. The documentation is extensive. A real Wants List candidate.

But the real treasures here are the Symphony No. 3 and the two Saul and David excerpts in their two-piano form. Though Nielsen originally wrote the arrangements for piano four-hands, Sandberg and Hyldig chose to play them on two separate pianos of different brands: a Steinway for the upper register and a Fazioli for the lower because, as Sandberg explained, it “has an incredibly rich and round bass.” Heard in its two-piano form, the Symphony No. 3 is darker, craggier and more “Scandinavian” than as a piece for orchestra, where Nielsen’s creative and often brass-heavy style softens its edges a bit.

More than most composers, Nielsen comes off differently based on who’s playing him – Jascha Horenstein’s and Herbert Blomstedt’s recordings of Symphony No. 5 sound almost like different pieces of music – and it’s nice not only to hear the quite different sound worlds evoked by the orchestral and duo-piano versions of Symphony No. 3 but to hear the piano version as well played and recorded as it is here. Dare we hope that similar four-hands versions of Nielsen’s other symphonies will turn up?

The second question I posed above is easy to answer. Simply, this is superb piano playing. Sandberg and Hyldig think as one; their tempi and expressive choices are absolutely in sync. Listen to the lilt of the waltz in the symphony’s first movement, the clarity of Nielsen’s counterpoint whenever it occurs, or the sonorous build-up of texture at the beginning of the Saul and David Act IV Prelude. On the basis of their performance, I believe that if the “Espansiva” only existed in this two-piano format, it would be regarded as one of the masterpieces of the genre—up there with the Rachmaninoff Suites and Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. The icing on the cake is the superlative sound achieved by Our Recording’s engineers (as usual). Although this album has a short playing time, the musical rewards are so great that timing simply isn’t a factor. Nielsen fans and piano mavens need to own this recording.

World Premier Recordings of Nielsen’s 4 hand piano music, played to perfection. They have a strong, note-perfect ensemble and a common interpretation that allows for the most quiet melodic places as well as big virtuosic climaxes. Excellent recorded piano sound and a substantial, detailed booklet complete this must have release.