# Niels Gade



## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

What do you think of this composer? I just listened to his 8th symphony from the cycle of his symphonies on BIS by Järvi and I quite liked it. Are his other symphonies and also his music in general worth checking out?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Gade's a winner. Some folks feel he sounds like Mendelssohn, but I don't hear it.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

His First Symphony is a significantly strong work and the one has left me the best impression overall.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

I recently discovered Gade's _Holborgiana Suite_ for orchestra and love it -- better than Grieg's _Holborg Suites_.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My favorite Gade work is Eleverskud, a fantasy tale with vocal soloists and chorus. The best version I know of is on Chandos.


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## Nawdry (Dec 27, 2020)

EvaBaron said:


> What do you think of this composer? I just listened to his 8th symphony from the cycle of his symphonies on BIS by Järvi and I quite liked it. Are his other symphonies and also his music in general worth checking out?


This thread prompted me to find a YouTube recording of this symphony, and I'm listening to it as I write this. (No performance info.) First impressions: engaging, inventive, brilliant, lovely music. I would compare favorably in quality with such composers as Mendelssohn, Schumann, Dvorak. On the basis of this experience Gade's compositions will be of interest in the future.


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## Nawdry (Dec 27, 2020)

There's a nicely done YouTube version of this symphony with score:


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

A decent composer, but not on par with his contemporaries that's for sure.


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## haziz (Sep 15, 2017)

A good composer but not a great one. I have listened mostly to his symphonies. Pleasant, inoffensive and not particularly memorable.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The Schønwandt set of the symphonies doesn't always make him full justice I think, Hogwood or Järvi generally have more drive, Järvi being very fast, even hastened. The 8th, 5th and 1st symphonies are among the more interesting ones I think, the 8th being perhaps the most autumnal / modern. The 5th is of course interesting for the design as a piano concertante work, probably inspiring Langgaard's 3rd Symphony.

There was a thread on the 1st Symphony not long ago








Niels Gade – Symphony No.1, in C minor


How do you rate this piece?




www.talkclassical.com


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

Neo Romanza said:


> A decent composer, but not on par with his contemporaries that's for sure.



Feel somewhat the same about Berwald.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Berwald was more innovative, at least in some of his works.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

PeterKC said:


> Feel somewhat the same about Berwald.


Norway, Denmark and Finland have all produced some outstanding composers that have made a name for themselves internationally, but I have yet to encounter a Swedish composer that has had any kind of significant impact in classical music. I mean there are some great Swedish composers that are worthy of mention like Stenhammar, Atterberg, Pettersson, Nystroem et. al., but none of them are household names or a part of the standard repertoire.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

Neo Romanza said:


> Norway, Denmark and Finland have all produced some outstanding composers that have made a name for themselves internationally, but I have yet to encounter a Swedish composer that has had any kind of significant impact in classical music. I mean there are some great Swedish composers that are worthy of mention like Stenhammar, Atterberg, Pettersson, Nystroem et. al., but none of them are household names or a part of the standard repertoire.


I would say Atterberg and Stenhammer are up there. But when you take the big three (Nielsen, Greig and Sibelius) out of the mix, there are few, if any. household names in Scandanavia and the Nordic countries. The standard repertoire certainly falls short.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

As regards us in Scandinavia, I think Swedish Alfven is also pretty much a household name here, due to his importance within Swedish music, his songs and the _Swedish Rapsodies_, and his associations with the Skagen painters, including Krøyer. Berwald is heard at concerts from time to time. Stenhammar certainly so too. Peterson-Berger's piano cycle _Fröso Flowers_ was popularized in the LP days, but is now more forgotten, and admittedly, it is indeed unimportant. Names like Atterberg, Sjøgren, Nystroem, Pettersson, Rosenberg, Blomdahl, Wiklund, Rangström, Eklund, Holewa, Sandström etc. etc. etc. (there are dozens) are mainly for connoisseurs.

I don't think the modest knowledge internationally about Swedish music is due to a lack of quality in it, but I can't explain why it is so. Maybe they tend to lack a truly, individual voice (where Pettersson is one candidate though, but can be too tough a nut to crack for the general public).


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> As regards us in Scandinavia, I think Swedish Alfven is also pretty much a household name here, due to his importance within Swedish music, his songs and the _Swedish Rapsodies_, and his associations with the Skagen painters, including Krøyer. Berwald is heard at concerts from time to time. Stenhammar certainly so too. Peterson-Berger's piano cycle _Fröso Flowers_ was popularized in the LP days, but is now more forgotten, and admittedly, it is indeed unimportant. Names like Atterberg, Sjøgren, Nystroem, Pettersson, Rosenberg, Blomdahl, Wiklund, Rangström, Eklund, Holewa, Sandström etc. etc. etc. (there are dozens) are mainly for connoisseurs.
> 
> I don't think the modest knowledge internationally about Swedish music is due to a lack of quality in it, but I can't explain why it is so. Maybe they tend to lack a truly, individual voice (where Pettersson is one candidate though, but can be too tough a nut to crack for the general public).


Well, I'm talking more about internationally. I don't think there's one Swedish work that gets played with any frequency in the concert hall. This is, more or less, what I was referring to in my post. I don't live in Scandinavia, so I can only relate my experience from outside of these countries.


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## PeterKC (Dec 30, 2016)

You might as well say the same about America. Apart from Copland and Gershwin and Barber, I doubt many in other parts of the world get to hear the genius of someone like Ives, let alone the rest of our music making rabble.


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