Niels Peter Jensen - Flute Duets

Niels Peter JENSEN (1802-1846)

Flute Duets

Marcelo Barboza, flute

Rune Most, flute

About:

Niels Peter Jensen (1802-1846) is a fascinating figure from the Danish Golden Age. He was blind, but became an acknowledged flute virtuoso and obtained an official post as a church organist. Jensen collaborated with many of the great artists of the Golden Age, and his teacher was the famous Friedrich Kuhlau. He himself became a highly respected teacher, and his pupils included the national composer J.P.E. Hartmann. This is the first CD of Niels Peter Jensen´s music - charming, delightful and very melodious flute duets.

Reviews

Many CDs make me want to dance, but this one made me want to play the music, so skillfully does it sell the repertoire. This is definitely a CD that I would love to have recorded and a sure candidate for this year’s Want List.

(THE WANT LIST - Fanfare, USA. )

A beautifully recorded, performed and presented release from Dacapo. Jensen’s music deserves further investigation so I am on the lookout for new releases.

(MusicWeb International - )

Rune Most and Marcelo Barboza are a fine team indeed, displaying excellent intonation, a refined sense of musical structure and line and an obvious esprit de corps. Their give and take is such that the interchange of lines is seamless and elegant.

(Kevin Sutton, Musicweb International; )

NIELS PETER JENSEN

One could hardly imagine a more ordinary Danish name than Niels Peter Jensen - it has no special connotations of art and music. It hasn't always been that way, for in the first half of the nineteenth century Jensen was a well known figure in the musical life of the Danish Golden Age.

Niels Peter Jensen was a flautist, organist and composer. He was born in Copenhagen in 1802, the son of a poor blacksmith. As a baby he contracted an eye infection and almost lost his sight. In his boyhood years he could still make out enough with one eye to learn to read, but when he was 10 his vision failed completely.

At that time a poor blind boy had no chance to live an ordinary life. Niels Peter Jensen had to try to help as well as he could at home - treading the bellows in his father's smithy and doing simple craft work, but the home was too poor for anything else to be done for the boy.

Fortunately for Niels Peter Jensen, in 1811 a lodge by the name of Kjæden, ‘The Chain' (which still exists in Copenhagen) founded a school for blind children, The Royal Institute for the Blind. The institute was in the inner city behind the Church of the Holy Spirit, and Niels Peter Jensen was admitted there. The aim of the school was to make the blind children into self-supporting adults, so they would not be a burden on society. Usually the children were taught a trade, but it was quickly discovered that Niels Peter Jensen had musical talents, so in his case a career as a musician was chosen. The flute was chosen as a suitable instrument for him, perhaps because the school's blind music teacher Paulli was himself a flautist.

Niels Peter Jensen was a bright, good child with a positive attitude - "with his cheerfulness, willingness to learn and talent for the musical art, loved by all", the school principal noted. He developed into a splendid musician, and at the age of 15 he made his debut as a soloist with the Royal Danish Orchestra in a charity concert where the profits went to the school for the blind. In short, he was a success story. The school gave him this report:

"Peter has been publicly acclaimed as a flute player with loud applause. He easily learns whole concertos, and remembers faithfully what he has learned. He has even himself composed a trio for flute, violoncello and clarinet, which musical experts have considered good and committed to paper; in addition he sings very well. In handwork too - spinning, knitting and weaving selvages - he has great abilities and skills. On the Østrup spinning-wheel he spins one pound of flax in five days; almost as on the spinning-wheel he used before.

Sympathetic complaints soften his heart; he does not affect them and resigns himself to his fate."

Niels Peter Jensen was so talented that he was given extra instruction by some of the leading lights of the musical scene. August Wilhelm Hartmann, the father of the Golden Age national composer J.P.E. Hartmann, taught him the organ, and no less a figure than Friedrich Kuhlau gave him lessons in music theory. Kuhlau (who himself lacked one eye) was one of the most important cultural personalities of the age in Denmark. He was an excellent pianist and known in the rest of Europe for his operas and his piano and chamber music. But Kuhlau had in particular found himself a niche as a composer of flute music, even though he was not a performer on the instrument, and one can imagine that the meetings between Kuhlau and Jensen were an inspiration to both. Throughout his life Niels Peter Jensen had Kuhlau's flute works on the programme when he performed.

In 1827 Niels Peter Jensen began working as an unsalaried deputy organist at the Skt. Petri Church. He had no problems carrying out his duties, but in 1838 when he formally applied for the post, the church was reluctant to engage a blind organist.

Fortunately Niels Peter Jensen was supported by the great names of musical life, including the composers Weyse, Claus Schall and his own teachers Kuhlau and August Hartmann, and the post was his. This was the first time a blind man was given an official post in Denmark.

In the early years the organist post was not well paid work, for part of Niels Peter Jensen's salary had to be spent repairing the organ and supporting the widow of the late chairman of the parish council. Since Niels Peter Jensen also had to support his old mother, he had to supplement his income by teaching music and the languages, including Hebrew, that he had learned at the school for the blind.

He must have been an able music teacher, for his pupils included the composer Herman Løvenskjold, known for the music for the ballet Sylfiden, and J.P.E. Hartmann, whom he taught instrumentation. Jensen was only three years older than Hartmann, but for the rest of his life Hartmann was grateful for Jensen's teaching, and he dedicated his op. 1, a large flute sonata written in 1825, to him.

How Niels Peter Jensen managed to write down his compositions we do not know, but he must have had good assistance, for as early as his teenage years he was composing a good deal. In 1820 he had a cantata with a text by the great pastor-poet B.S. Ingemann performed, and Adam Oehlenschläger, the leading author in the country, had also seized upon the new talent. Oehlenschläger came to see him in person to propose a collaboration, and in 1827 this led to the Viking play The Varangians in Constantinople and later to a number of cantatas. One of these cantatas was for the opening of the large synagogue in Copenhagen in 1833, another was the University cantata marking the engagement of the Crown Prince in 1828 - the same occasion for which Niels Peter Jensen's teacher Kuhlau wrote the national play The Elf-Hill.

The largest work Niels Peter Jensen wrote for the Royal Danish Theatre was the singspiel Robinson, a Danish version of the tale of Robinson Crusoe, the man who was shipwrecked on a desert island. The production was chosen to open the theatre season of 1834, but folded after just three performances. The theatre historian Thomas Overskou considered the piece a failure - among other reasons because the author, Gottlieb Siesbye, had written in a number of extra roles which meant that Robinson Crusoe was no longer a solitary figure on the island - and the performances of the actors on the first day after the summer holiday was beneath contempt. "The music, by the blind organist Peter Jensen, did not elevate the text: it may well have been without errors in the grammar of composition, but it was also without poetic flights," was his judgement of the music. The songs for The Varangians in Constantinople appeared as sheet music, but Robinson sank into oblivion.

Of instrumental music Niels Peter Jensen wrote a symphony for organ and winds and a large quantity of piano music, including sonatas and a range of variation works and fantasias. Most of his works, however, are for flute. His Flute Concerto in A minor is a striking work lasting over half an hour, first performed in 1830. To these we can add two sonatas op. 6 and op. 18, fantasias and variation works as well as many duets and trios. For a mixed ensemble he wrote among other works a Trio for Flute, Cello and Clarinet, a Quintet for Flute and Strings and a Trio for Flute, Violin and Viola.

Niels Peter Jensen died at the age of 44 in 1846, leaving his two-year-older wife Louise, who was also blind, and their daughter Ida. He was buried in the churchyard of Skt. Petri. His old pupil J.P.E. Hartmann, who was now a person of consequence, took the lead in collecting financial support for the widow.

Several of Jensen's flute works had been published, especially by German publishers, and in this way his name was kept alive for some years. In the twentieth century, however, his music was almost completely forgotten. The music for The Varangians in Constantinople was used at the Royal Danish Theatre as late as 1931. The Flute Concerto was looked out again at the end of the 1970s and in 2004 it was recorded on CD by Rune Most. The Flute Sonata Op. 18 was recorded on an American LP in 1986, but otherwise Niels Peter Jensen's music has not been performed in public to any great extent for the last hundred years.

The Flute Duets

Over the years Niels Peter Jensen has been known by various forms of his name. In his own time he was called Peter Jensen and several of his works were published under the composer name "P. Iensen". This has not made it easier to get an overview of who the composer was and what he had written.

Of his works, 25 were given opus numbers, but it is not possible to date his compositions precisely, partly because of the inadequacies of the printed editions and partly because Jensen's stylistic development is not clear. His Flute Concerto bears the marks of several different styles, for example of contemporary Italian music, while his Classicist flute duets are a little more retrospective and sometimes have an archaic touch of the Late Baroque. The varying styles of the works may be due to the limited opportunities for Niels Peter Jensen to draw inspiration from other composers. He never travelled abroad and as a blind man had difficulty finding his way around new works. Or perhaps it was the demands of the hungry market for flute works that determined the style. Both before and after he took up his permanent organist post he needed extra earnings and wrote a number of flute works suitable for amateurs. The duets from op. 4 and 11 on this CD are however among the most demanding that Niels Peter Jensen wrote in this genre.

His treatment of the flute is highly idiomatic. The parts are well pitched, with a full sound that brings out the best in the instrument. In terms of instrumentation, counterpoint and form, the craftsmanship is very solid. Jensen also knew about the psychology of a flute duo and ensured that the material was shared so that the second flute took over at regular intervals.

The duets in op. 4 and op. 11 have several features in common. Each of them begins with a movement in the sonata form, and most have a second movement in 3/4 time and a rondo as finale. Niels Peter Jensen had no problems giving each of the duets its own character, and now and then he also deviated from the usual movement pattern. His music is not hack work.

The duet Op. 11 no. 2 in E minor is calm and rather melancholy. The first movement has an ample exposition that begins with the second flute. The subsequent Adagio in C major is a very melodious movement where the two flutes exchange roles in the middle section. The duet ends with a Rondo that could have been written by the famous Kuhlau; it is both brilliant and catchy with a theme that has a touch of folk music. Op. 4 no. 1 in D major is much more carefree music with a bright, gay first movement and a humorous rondo finale in 6/8. The second movement is a theme in A major with three variations. The initial theme seems to be inspired by the master of Danish Classicism C.E.F. Weyse, but the ornamented variations are rhythmically more sophisticated and clearly belong to a later period. Op. 4 no. 3 in F major begins with a bountiful, charming movement in 6/8 that dances off full of inspiration. The second movement in A major is a true Minuet with a Trio section in A minor, while the final movement is in sonata form and teems with life such that one wishes Niels Peter Jensen had left us more large chamber works or perhaps symphonies. Op. 11 no. 3 in D minor has an expansive first movement that is quite melancholy like the E minor duet in the same opus. It is in 3/4 and develops finely in a rather slow Allegro. The subsequent Minuet in D major is ostensibly bright and simple, but gradually becomes more curious and has an unusual Trio section: it is in 6/4 and the first flute plays a meditative melody in long note values, marked piano e dolce. The final movement is dramatic and rich with counterpoint work that is both learned and captivating.

Niels Peter Jensen's mentor Kuhlau, who wrote innumerable flute works, perhaps had a wilder and more surprising imagination than his pupil, but Jensen's pieces have their own special charm. There is never any lack of ideas and musical material, his form is assured and concise, and the sensitive melancholy of the slow movements is perhaps a reflection of his own temperament - "Sympathetic complaints soften his heart," as they said at the school for the blind.

Jens Cornelius, 2006

                   THIS IS ANOTHER GENEROUS COLLABORATION FROM DAFFY!!