The Mother
In July 2020 Dacapo Records will release
the first recording of Carl Nielsen's complete music
for Helge Rode's play 'Moderen'
On 10 July 2020 Dacapo Records will release the first recording of Carl Nielsen's complete music for the play Moderen (The Mother).
Carl Nielsen's incidental music for The Mother was written for a gala celebrating the reunification, in 1920, of Southern Jutland with Denmark - one of the most important events in Denmark in the twentieth century. The Royal Theatre commissioned the distinguished poet Helge Rode (1870-1937) to write the text for the play, and Carl Nielsen, who had established himself as Denmark's leading composer, was to write the music.
Carl Nielsen in 1917
This year the one hundredth anniversary of the reunification is celebrated, and this recording provides a new picture of the Danish National composer Carl Nielsen as a composer for the theatre.
The complete score first appeared in print in 2007 and has never been recorded in its entirety. Nielsen uses familiar songs in the play, including the Danish national anthem as well as a curious use of the national anthems from the allied countries that, with their attacks on Germany, determined the fate of Southern Jutland. Several of Nielsen's most popular compositions, including the idyllic work for flute Tågen letter (The Mist Is Rising), originates from The Mother.
The Mother is recorded by tenor Adam Riis, baritone Palle Knudsen, the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Philharmonic Choir and Odense Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andreas Delfs.
Posted 19 June 2020 by Philippa Chamberlayne
FURTHER INFORMATION: CARL NIELSEN