Composer Svend E. Nielsen
Instrumentation 1.1.1.1/1.1.1.0/perc/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Category 7+ Instruments
Publication year 1989
Catalogue no. B.0186
Duration 21 minutes
Nightfall
(1989)
(1989)
Composer Svend E. Nielsen
Instrumentation 1.1.1.1/1.1.1.0/perc/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Category 7+ Instruments
Publication year 1989
Catalogue no. B.0186
Duration 21 minutes
Nightfall for chamber orchestra (1989) seems to interpret its title ambiguously with elements of ‘darkening’, ‘dream’ and ‘fall’. While the music is poetically conceived, the work is a good example of the way dramatic expression has become a clear presence in Svend Nielsen’s music. (With its ‘dark’ culmination the work stands in the composer’s own consciousness as a contrast to the subsequent ‘light’ orchestral work Aubade).
Nightfall can be heard as a journey from the violent, the thronging, to the lyrical and dreaming, and back again. The turbulence of the beginning leads over a subsiding pulse to the middle section’s contrasting dreaming and floating moods, then as the pulse rises again, is condensed in a dark, urgent orchestral texture which implodes – as if sucked into a black hole – so only the high flute-like tone of the first violin is left in the end. There is a symphonic feel to the dense texture of the outer parts of the work. The middle sections, on the other hand, are light and transparent. Farthest in, at the heart of the music, it reaches acoustic absolute zero, where only the conductor keeps the pulse going and thus the music alive.
All categories Solo 2-6 Instruments 7+ Instruments Choir Orchestra
Solhvervsnat
2001 • Svend E. Nielsen
Solo
10 minutes
Organ solo
Fall
1987 • Svend E. Nielsen
Solo
15 minutes
Piano solo
Sommerfugledalen
2009 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
45 minutes
5 singers (S, mS, A, T, B) + 1.1.2.0/1.1.0.0/perc/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Zhongguo Hudie
2007 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
6 minutes
Qu Di & Erhu soli + 2.2.2.0/4.2.0.0/perc/archi
Reflekser
1994 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
10 minutes
fl, org
Sange
2002 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
25 minutes
Mezzo-soprano solo + pno
Ekbátana
2006 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
15 minutes
Soprano solo + 3.2.3.2/4.2.3.0/2 perc/pno/archi
Så stille
1986 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
17 minutes
Alto solo + Afl, vibr, gui, vlc
På bunden af min drøm
1993 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
18 minutes
Mezzo-soprano solo + cl, pno, vlc
Dreamsongs
1988 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
12 minutes
Soprano solo + Afl, el-gui, vlc
Akustisk Regnbue
2002 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
17 minutes
Alto solo + Concert Band (2fl, 2ob, 2b-cl, basset-horn, 4 cor, 2fg, Cfg)
Ritorneller
1994 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
10 minutes
Soprano + 2 gui
Svinedrengen
2003 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
25 minutes
Narrator + soprano,&baritone soli, girls choir + 3.2.2.2/4.2.3.0/3 timp/pno/cel/archi
Sommerfugledalen
2004 • Svend E. Nielsen
Choir
42 minutes
Chamber choir (12 solo voices)
Med lyset vandrer skyggen
1989 • Svend E. Nielsen
Solo
15 minutes
Organ solo
Blowing Winds
2002 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
17 minutes
0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0.0
Sommerfugledalen
2001 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
50 minutes
Mixed choir, 3.2.3.0/4.2.0.0/2 perc/pno/archi
Vindbilleder
1990 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
15 minutes
cor, 2 trp, trb, tuba
Tre karakterstykker og en arie
1997 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
15 minutes
Percussion ensemble (5 players)
The Colour Blue
1998 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
20 minutes
1.1.1.1/1.0.0.0/pno/1.0.1.1.0
Skyggebilleder
1995 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
20 minutes
1.1.1.1/1.1.0.0/vibr/1.1.1.1.1
Luftkasteller
1993 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
20 minutes
Wind quintet
Symfoni nr. 2
1996 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
25 minutes
3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/timp/2 perc/pno/el-bs/archi
Strygekvartet
1987 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
String Quartet
Sinfonia concertante
1994 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
20 minutes
Cello solo + 1.1.1.1/1.1.1.0/vibr/1.1.1.0.1
Aria
1991 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
23 minutes
3.3.3.3/4.3.3.0/timp/2 perc/pno/cel/el-bs/archi
Rondo
1985 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
10 minutes
fl, pno, vl, vla, vlc
Black velvet
1988 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
14 minutes
cl, 2 vl, vla, vlc
Carillons
1995 • Svend E. Nielsen
7+ Instruments
18 minutes
1.1.1.1/1.1.1.0/perc/arpa/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Aubade
1994 • Svend E. Nielsen
Orchestra
12 minutes
3.2.3.2/4.2.3.0/2 perc/archi
String Quartet
1987 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
22 minutes
String Quartet
Sonnetts of Time
1978 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
14 minutes
Soprano solo + fl, gui, vl, vlc
Opstigning mod Akseki
1979 • Svend E. Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
8 minutes
Soprano solo + vibr/vl, guit