Frommer's Review
Judge Carl Nielsen by his great music, not his purple prose, as evoked by such rhapsodic lines about the Funen landscape as "Even trees dream and talk in their sleep with a Funen lilt." At the Odense Concert Hall, you can learn about the life and music of Denmark's greatest composer, Carl August Nielsen (1865-1931), the second-most-famous son to come out of Odense.
This towering musician developed a unique polytonal and contrapuntal musical form, his operas including Saul and David in 1903 and Maskerade in 1906. He also composed symphonies, concertos, and choral and chamber music. Nielsen single-handedly "woke up" Danish music after its sleepy decline of decades. In the museum you can listen to some of his greatest works, even a polka he penned as a child before joining the Odense Military Band as a trumpet player at the tender age of 14.
A biographical slideshow brings to life once again this cultural icon, whose six symphonies and several operas, as well as his hymns and popular songs (many of which are patriotic) are still played around the world today.
Nielsen married a famous sculptor of her day. She changed her name to Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, strangely keeping her husband's first name in her full name. Although hardly as well known as her husband, she created works still on view in Denmark, including her equestrian statue of Christian IX that stands outside the Royal Stables in Copenhagen.
Although "Anne and Carl," as they were known to their intimates, remained married until he died, they had long periods of marital strife, including a lengthy separation and mutual accusations of infidelity.
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