The Carl Nielsen Society in Denmark

The Carl Nielsen Society in Denmark is a non-profit organisation, run mainly on membership fees by a board working on a voluntary basis. If you want to support us by becoming a member or donating money, please click here.

This website in English is our main international activity at present.

We are also happy to try to supply you with specific Nielsen information not found on the website. Please use info@carlnielsen.dk for such questions.
If you know of forthcoming Nielsen performances and/or recent Nielsen cd’s not found in the relevant pages of this website, you may also help us by supplying the information.
Indeed, we welcome any reaction which could assist us in making this website more relevant to users.

The Society was founded in 1991 on the initiative of Henning Tjørnehøj, who functioned as chairman until 1996. The present chairman is Eva Hvidt. The other members of the board are Torben Enghoff, Morten Riise-Knudsen, Eva Maria Jensen, Troels Varming and Bjarne Juul.
Our activities include awarding a yearly prize to musicians or researchers who have particularly furthered the cause of Nielsen. Past recipients include the conductors Herbert Blomstedt, Michael Schønwandt and Alan Gilbert, pianist Anne Øland, organ player Grethe Krogh, and Niels Krabbe, the former first librarian at the Royal Danish Library and leader of the revised Nielsen Edition.

The Society has signed an agreement with the Szymanowski Society in Poland to further the interest in our respective composers.

About the composer

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) composed famous and beloved songs, and he composed large works that led the romantic tradition of Danish art music right into modernism. Carl Nielsen came from rural and humble surroundings in Funen, and ended up as Denmark’s most celebrated and famous composer. He was a lively person who contained both the popular and the fine culture. That’s why his music and story appeal directly to most music lovers.

In 1891 Carl Nielsen married the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, born Brodersen (1863-1945). She had grown up on the farm Thygesminde in Jutland, and she modeled a number of distinctive animal sculptures, which she received much recognition for. Together, composer and sculptor had a great and loving artistic vision and three children, but the marriage also had serious crises when Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen took long study trips and Carl Nielsen had difficulty in taking care of the admiring glance of the many women. Carl Nielsen composed stage works, orchestra music, choir works, solo songs, chamber music and other instrumental music. Read more

Membership

Become a member of The Carl Nielsen Society to receive newsletters and special offers.

Please contact info@carlnielsen.dk