Nielsen, Carl

Nielsen was impressed by Brahms, whom he met, but less so by Wagner, whose leitmotifs Nielsen regarded as a simplistic device. During the period from 1890 to 1905, he composed works for piano, songs to texts by J. P. Jacobson, and the Hymnus amoris, a choral work showing the influence of Palestrina. He also wrote an opera, Saul and David, which had its premiere at the Royal Theatre in 1902 with the composer as conductor. Nielsen finished his Symphony No...