Aladdin (Nielsen)

Theatre score and suite by Carl Nielsen

Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp

Theatre score & suite by Carl Nielsen

The composer (1917)

Native name| Aladdin, eller Den forunderlige Lampe
Catalogue| FS 89; CNW 17
Opus| 34
Text| play by Adam Oehlenschläger (1805)
Language| Danish
Composed| 1917 (1917)–1919
Premiere
Date|

* 15 February 1919 (1919-02-15) (Part I)
* 22 February 1919 (1919-02-22) (Part II)

Location|

* Royal Danish Theatre
* Copenhagen, Denmark

Conductor| Ferdinand Hemme
Performers| Royal Danish Orchestra

Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp (in Danish: Aladdin, eller Den forunderlige Lampe; typically shortened to just Aladdin), Op. 34 (FS 89; CNW 17), is theatre music for soloists, mixed choir, and orchestra written from 1917 to 1919 by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen to accompany the Danish playwright Adam Oehlenschläger's 1805 "dramatic fairy tale" ("dramatisk eventyr") of the same name. The play is a five-act retelling of the "Aladdin" story from the Middle Eastern folklore anthology, One Thousand and One Nights.

The play, albeit divided into two parts, received its premiere at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, respectively on 15 February and 22 February 1919; Ferdinand Hemme conducted the Royal Danish Orchestra. For each act, Nielsen provided extensive original music, and the complete score is the composer's third longest work, exceeded only by to his operas, Saul and David (Saul og David; 1902) and Maskarade (1905).

## Background

[edit]

Nielsen composed much of the music in Skagen during the summer of 1918, completing it after returning to Copenhagen in January 1919. He experienced major difficulties with the work as the director, Johannes Poulsen, had used the orchestra pit for an extended stage, leaving the orchestra cramped below a majestic staircase on the set. When Poulsen cut out large parts of the music during final rehearsals and changed the sequence of dances, Nielsen demanded that his name be removed from the posters and the programme.[1] In fact, the theatre production in February 1919 was not very successful and was withdrawn after only 15 performances.[2]

## Music

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### Complete score

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The complete score, lasting over 80 minutes, is Nielsen's longest work apart from his operas. Demonstrating great inventiveness, Nielsen's enriched style can be observed in the musical language he used for the exotic dances, paving the way for his Fifth Symphony.[2] In May 1992 a recording of virtually the entire score was made by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir with Gennady Rozhdestvensky.[2]

### Aladdin suite

[edit]

Johannes Poulsen as Aladdin at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.

Nielsen frequently conducted extracts from Aladdin to great popular acclaim both in Denmark and abroad. The music was successfully presented at London’s Queen's Hall on 22 June 1923 and at 12 performances of Aladdin at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg in November and December 1929. Nielsen had been scheduled to conduct extracts with the Radio Symphony Orchestra on 1 October 1931 when he suffered a major heart attack. Lying on a hospital bed, he was nevertheless able to listen to the Oriental March, Hindu Dance and Negro Dance on a crystal set before he died the following day.[2] The extracts were published in 1940 as the Aladdin suite. Its seven parts are:

* Oriental Festival March
* Aladdin's Dream/Dance of the Morning Mist
* Hindu Dance
* Chinese Dance
* The Marketplace in Isphahan
* Dance of the Prisoners
* Negro Dance

A transcription for piano of the Oriental Festival March was published by Borup's Musikforlag in Copenhagen in 1926. On the basis of information from the Carl Nielsen Society, the Aladdin Suite is currently one of Nielsen's most widely performed works.[3]

### Three songs

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Nielsen published Aladdin, three songs from the play by A. Oehlenschlæger in 1919 as his Opus 34. The songs are:

* Cithar, lad min Bøn dig røre
* Visselulle nu, Barnlil!
* Alt Maanen oprejst staar

## Discography

[edit]

The table below lists commercially available recordings of the complete Aladdin Suite:

No. | Conductor  | Ensemble  | Rec.[a] | Time  | Recording venue  | Label  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Myung-Whun Chung | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1)  | 1983  | 21:27  | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS |

[4]

2  | Tamás Vetö | Odense Symphony Orchestra | 1985  | 25:18  | Odense Concert Hall [da] | Unicorn-Kanchana |

[5]

3  | Esa-Pekka Salonen | Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra | 1989  | 23:11  | Berwald Hall | CBS Masterworks |

[6]

4  | Herbert Blomstedt | San Francisco Symphony | 1989  | 25:01  | Davies Symphony Hall | Decca |

[7]

5  | Neeme Järvi | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (2)  | 1995  | 23:18  | Gothenburg Concert Hall | Deutsche Grammophon |

[8]

6  | Niklas Willén | South Jutland Symphony Orchestra [da] | 2002  | 24:55  | Musikhuset, Sønderborg | Naxos |

[9]

7  | Douglas Bostock | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra | 2003  | 26:02  | Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool | Classico  |

[10]

8  | Lance Friedel | Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (1)  | 2004  | 24:16  | Frichsparker, Aarhus | MSR Classics  |

[11]

9  | Dorrit Matson | New York Scandia Symphony  | 2005  | 25:56  | Trinity Church | Centaur |

[12]

10  | Paavo Järvi | Philharmonia Orchestra | 2016  | 26:35  | Henry Wood Hall, London | Signum Classics |

[13]

11  | Debashish Chaudhuri | Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra  | ?  | ?  | ArcoDiva Studio  | ArcoDiva |

[14]

12  | Ensemble Midtvest | Ensemble Midtvest | 2018  | 27:19 (Excerpts, Arr. M.O. Jones)  | Den Jyske Sangskole, Herning, Denmark | First Hand Records |

[15]

## Notes

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1. ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.

## References

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1. ^ "Family Life". Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
2. ^ a b c d "Preface" to Aladdin, Carl Nielsen Edition Archived 2010-04-09 at the Wayback Machine. Royal Danish Library. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
3. ^ "Performances" Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, Carl Nielsen Society. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
4. ^ M. Chung–BIS (CD–247) 1983
5. ^ T. Vetö–Unicorn-Kanchana (DKP(CD)9054) 1996
6. ^ E. Salonen–CBS Masterworks (MK 44934) 1989
7. ^ H. Blomstedt–Decca (425 857–2) 1991
8. ^ N. Järvi–DG (447 757–2) 1996
9. ^ N. Willén–Naxos (8.557164) 2005
10. ^ D. Bostock–Classico (CLASSCD 638) 2005
11. ^ L. Friedel–MSR Classics (MS 1150) 2005
12. ^ D. Matson–Centaur (CRC 2780) 2005
13. ^ P. Järvi–Signum Classics (SIGCD477) 2017
14. ^ D. Chaudhuri–ArcoDiva (UP 0228–2 131) 2021
15. ^ P. First Hand Records (FHR163) 2018

## External links

[edit]

* Aladdin, Op. 34: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
* Aladdin, CNW 17: Scores at the Catalogue of Carl Nielsen's Works by the Royal Danish Library

* v
* t
* e

Carl Nielsen

* List of compositions
* Discography of symphony cycles

Symphonies|

* Symphony No. 1 (1892)
* Symphony No. 2, The Four Temperaments (1902)
* Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia espansiva (1911)
* Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable (1916)
* Symphony No. 5 (1922)
* Symphony No. 6, Sinfonia semplice (1925)

Concertante|

* Violin Concerto (1911)
* Flute Concerto (1926)
* Clarinet Concerto (1928)

Opera|

* Saul and David (1902)
* Maskarade (1906)

Stage|

* Aladdin (1919)
* The Mother (1920)

Chorus & orchestra|

* Hymnus amoris (1896)
* The Sleep (1905)
* Springtime on Funen (1921)

Other orchestral|

* Little Suite for Strings (1888)
* Helios Overture (1903)
* Saga Dream (1908)
* At the Bier of a Young Artist (1910)
* Pan and Syrinx (1918)
* An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands (1927)

Chamber|

* String Quartet No. 1 (1889)
* Fantasy Pieces for Oboe and Piano (1890)
* String Quartet No. 2 (1890)
* String Quartet No. 3 (1898)
* String Quartet No. 4 (1906)
* Serenata in vano (1914)
* Wind Quintet (1922)

Miscellaneous|

* Chaconne (1917)
* Three Piano Pieces (1928)
* Three Motets (1929)
* Commotio (1931)
* Songs (list)

Family & friends|

* Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen (wife)
* Anne Marie Telmányi (daughter)
* Emil Telmányi (son-in-law)
* Victor Bendix
* Ferruccio Busoni

Teachers|

* Niels Gade
* J. P. E. Hartmann
* Orla Rosenhoff
* Valdemar Tofte
* Royal Danish Academy of Music

Pupils|

* Thorvald Aagaard
* Harald Agersnap
* Emilius Bangert
* Jørgen Bentzon
* Nancy Dalberg
* Knud Jeppesen
* Herman Koppel
* Poul Schierbeck
* Rudolph Simonsen
* Mogens Wöldike

Select interpreters|

* Herbert Blomstedt
* Douglas Bostock
* Launy Grøndahl
* Thomas Jensen
* Tor Mann
* Gennady Rozhdestvensky
* Esa-Pekka Salonen
* Ole Schmidt
* Michael Schønwandt
* Edward Serov [ru]
* Bryden Thomson
* Erik Tuxen

Related articles|

* Carl, My Childhood Symphony
* Carl Nielsen International Music Competition
* Carl Nielsen Edition
* Carl Nielsen Monument
* Carl Nielsen Museum
* Danish National Symphony Orchestra
* David Fanning (biographer)
* My Childhood on Funen (autobiography)
* Robert Simpson (biographer)
* Royal Danish Orchestra

Category

* v
* t
* e

One Thousand and One Nights

Translations|

* Les mille et une nuits (1704–1717)
* The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (1885–1888)
* Le livre des mille nuits et une nuit (1926–1932)

Stories|

* Abu al-Husn and His Slave-Girl Tawaddud
* Aladdin
* Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
* The Ebony Horse
* The Fisherman and the Jinni
* Hassan of Basra
* Sinbad the Sailor
* The Sisters Envious of Their Cadette
* The Three Apples
* Abou Hassan
* Ahmed and Paribanou

Characters|

| Fictional|

* Aladdin
* Ali Baba
* Badroulbadour
* Old Man of the Sea
* Scheherazade
* Sinbad the Sailor

|

Legendary|

* Hatim al-Tai
* Khidr
* Ma'n ibn Za'ida al-Shaybani
* Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan
* Shaddad ibn 'Ad
* Solomon

Historical|

* Abu Nuwas
* Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
* Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
* Al-Ma'mun
* Baibars
* Harun al-Rashid
* Ibrahim al-Mawsili
* Ishaq al-Mawsili
* Ja'far ibn Yahya
* Khosrow II
* Shirin
* Zubaidah bint Ja'far

Films|

* The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
* The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
* The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
* Arabian Nights (1942)
* Baghdad Ka Chor (1946)
* La Rosa di Bagdad (1949)
* The Thief of Bagdad (1952)
* Baghdad Thirudan (1960)
* The Thief of Baghdad (1961)
* Baghdad Gaja Donga (1968)
* A Thousand and One Nights (1969)
* Arabian Nights (1974)
* The Thief of Baghdad (1978)
* Ajooba (1991)
* Arabian Nights (2015)

Templates|

* Aladdin
* Sinbad
* Ali Baba

Television|

* Alif Laila (1993–1997)
* Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights (1994)
* Arabian Nights (2000)
* Thief of Baghdad (2000–2001)
* 1001 Nights (2011)

Music|

| Operas|

* Le calife de Bagdad (1800)
* Abu Hassan (1811)
* Ali Baba (Cherubini) (1833)
* Der Barbier von Bagdad (1858)
* La statue (1861)
* Ali-Baba (Lecocq) (1887)
* Mârouf, savetier du Caire (1914)

|

Other|

* Scheherazade Op. 35 (1888)
* Aladdin (1918–1919)

Literature|

* "Recollections of the Arabian Nights" (1830)
* "The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade" (1845)
* New Arabian Nights (1882)
* Slaves of Sleep (1939)
* The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad (1964)
* Dunyazadiad (1972)
* Arabian Nights and Days (1979)
* The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor (1991)
* Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (2015)

Lists|

* Stories (Burton translation)
* Works influenced by

Related|

* Ghoul
* Ifrit
* Jinn
* Magic carpet
* Open sesame
* Roc (rukh)
* Shahrokh
* Aladdin (franchise)
* The Thief and the Cobbler
* One Hundred and One Nights

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work
* 2

|

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*[Rec.]: Year of recording
*[Ref.]: References
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