Nielsen Violin Concerto Op. 33 Premiered On This Day in 1912

The first performance was given by Danish violinist Peder Møller  - with the composer conducting the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Carl Nielsen Violin Concerto Op. 33 premiered on the 28th of February in 1912.

Edvard Grieg’s widow Nina Grieg invited Nielsen to spend the summer of 1911 at Troldhaugen, her husband’s composing retreat, and it was here that Nielsen began to conceive his only violin concerto. He found it difficult to compose the work; Nielsen mused later on the dilemma inherent in composing a concerto: “It has to be good music and yet always show regard for the development of the solo instrument, putting it in the best possible light. The piece must have substance and be popular and showy without being superficial. These conflicting elements must and shall meet and form a higher unity.”

The first performance was given by Danish violinist Peder Møller  - with the composer conducting the Royal Danish Orchestra. Møller was an early twentieth century Danish violinist and music teacher, and Nielsen was a member of the Royal Danish Orchestra orchestra for many years - both as 2nd violinist and conductor.

The two-movement concerto, unlike Nielsen’s later works, is composed with a distinct, melody-oriented Neo-Classical structure.

Norwegian Violinist Vilde Frang suggests that "I think every violinist should play this concerto, because you get challenged not only technically, but also structure-wise. You have to take a bird's eye view of this concerto, you need this kind of perspective." and that the "piece has a lot of possibilities. It's a wonderful piece for the violin."

Many eminent violinists today have recorded the work, including:

- Cho-Liang Lin: with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen (1988).

-Vilde Frang: with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen (2012).

-James Ehnes: with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner (2023).

JOHAN DALENE | NIELSEN VIOLIN CONCERTO OP. 33 | YARON TRAUB & COPENHAGEN PHILHARMONIC | 2019 CARL NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION | 1ST PRIZE