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Love Conquers All
Pianist Rikke Sandberg’s new complete recording of Carl Nielsen’s piano music is a monumental achievement.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Thomas Michelsen
Carl Nielsen: The Ultimate Solo Piano Collection
Rikke Sandberg, OUR Recordings
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"Greatest of all is love," wrote Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians. Love conquers all, and it was Paul's praise of love and its tireless energy that came to mind as I listened to pianist Rikke Sandberg’s new album release.

This release is a monumental achievement. Rikke Sandberg has recorded everything Carl Nielsen ever wrote for piano, and every minute of it is a joy to hear.

The reason is love. Carl Nielsen was not a great pianist himself. The booklet accompanying the release openly acknowledges that opinions about his piano music and its quality have always been divided, and it is true that much of Nielsen’s piano writing presents considerable challenges for performers.

A great deal of love is required to overcome these difficulties and transform all that effort into beautiful music, and Rikke Sandberg clearly loves Carl Nielsen’s music.

Having previously recorded Nielsen’s long-forgotten arrangement of his own Sinfonia Espansiva for two pianists with her colleague Kristoffer Hyldig, she now presents his complete solo piano works.
The collection comprises three and a half hours of music, a truly enormous undertaking.

The Henhouse

The extensive playing time is the result of Sandberg’s determination to record absolutely everything Carl Nielsen wrote for piano, whether published or unpublished.

Everywhere, her interpretations display character, tonal mastery, authority, and deep musical understanding.
The first work I listened to was the famous Chaconne, which, in Nielsen’s characteristic voice, attempts to pick up the thread from Bach.

Strictly speaking, it is not a work that appears frequently in pianists’ repertoires today, but under Sandberg’s fingers the music feels completely fresh.

The cackling "henhouse" that so many commentators have associated with Nielsen’s music becomes just as beautiful as the most consonant intervals. As the music wound its way forward, I found myself, to my surprise, drifting into a wonderful dream.

The Chaconne is a mature work, written during the First World War after Nielsen, by then a fully mature composer facing personal crises, had largely abandoned writing for piano for some fifteen years.
At the other end of the spectrum stand the early Op. 3 pieces. Sandberg gives them the space and tranquillity needed to reveal the romantic traces of the past that the young Nielsen combined with folk-inspired elements and youthful exuberance.
Throughout the set, Sandberg’s performances are marked by character, tonal control, authority, and empathy.

A Few Intimate Bars
The Symphonic Suite, which demands both large hands and intense concentration from the pianist, completely captivated me. I was absorbed by its four ambitious movements, which transfer orchestral thinking to the keyboard.

For me, Nielsen is at his greatest in his folk-inspired songs. They are his masterpieces.

Yet despite all its quirks, the collection Piano Pieces for Young and Old, Op. 53, with its 24 simple miniatures, offers a fascinating experience.

Sandberg brings together romantic remnants, folk-music influences, impressionistic touches, and echoes of ancient musical modes, presenting Nielsen’s works with remarkable conviction.

A category of its own is the incidental music Nielsen composed in abundance.

Apart from a few popular exceptions, such as The Mist Is Lifting for flute and harp, originally written for Helge Rode’s play The Mother, this music is rarely heard. But wherever Nielsen arranged it for piano, it is included in Carl Nielsen: The Ultimate Solo Piano Collection.

Drawing upon the complete Carl Nielsen Edition and extensive study of the surviving manuscripts, Rikke Sandberg has simply recorded everything Nielsen ever wrote for two hands and a keyboard.

Thus, the journey can begin with four intimate bars, perhaps written as a private greeting to his wife Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen during their time in Italy, and culminate in powerful and dramatic outbursts.

A piano version of The Mist Is Lifting is also included, and it sounds beautiful.

Whether one is a devoted admirer of Nielsen or not, one must take one’s hat off to this extraordinary achievement. Thomas Michelsen, June 10, 2026

Original Danish Text

Kærligheden overkommer alt

Pianisten Rikke Sandbergs nye, samlede indspilning af Carl Nielsens musik for klaver er en monsterbedrift.

KLASSISK
THOMAS MICHELSEN

Carl Nielsen, The Ultimate Solo Piano Collection. Rikke Sandberg, OUR Recordings.

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Størst af alt er kærligheden, skrev Paulus i sit Første Korintherbrev. Kærligheden overkommer alt, og det var Paulus’ lovprisning af kærligheden og dens utrættelige energi, jeg endte med at tænke på, mens jeg lyttede til pianisten Rikke Sandbergs nye albumudgivelse.

Udgivelsen er en monsterbedrift. Alt, hvad Carl Nielsen har skrevet for klaver, har Rikke Sandberg indspillet, og det hele er en glæde at lytte til.

Det skyldes kærligheden, for Carl Nielsen var ingen god pianist. Noterne til udgivelsen begynder med åbent at erkende, at holdningerne til hans musik og kvaliteten af den er delte, og det er et faktum, at der er meget i hans måde at skrive for klaver på, der giver grå hår, når man skal spille musikken.

En stor portion kærlighed er nødvendig, hvis man vil overkomme udfordringerne og forvandle alt besværet til smuk musik, og Rikke Sandberg elsker Carl Nielsens musik.

Efter at have indspillet hans glemte arrangement af hans egen ‘Espansiva’-symfoni for to pianister med kollegaen Kristoffer Hyldig, kan hun nu præsentere soloværkerne.

Der er tale om tre en halv times musik. En kæmpe mundfuld.

Hønsegården

Når den samlede spilletid løber så højt op, skyldes det, at Sandberg har insisteret på at indspille alt, hvad Carl Nielsen har skrevet ned på noder for klaver. Offentliggjort eller ej.

Overalt viser Rikke Sandbergs fortolkninger karakter, klangbeherskelse, autoritet og indlevelse

Det første, jeg lyttede til, var den kendte ‘Chaconne’, der med komponistens karakteristiske tonefald prøver at tage tråden op fra Bach.

Det er ret beset ikke et stykke, der figurerer på så mange pianisters repertoire længere, men under Sandbergs fingre finder musikken frisk.

Den kaglende hønsegård, så mange har talt om i forbindelse med Nielsens musik, bliver lige så smuk som de mest konsonerende intervaller, og mens musikken snoede sig af sted under min lytning, følte jeg til min overraskelse, at jeg drømte en dejlig drøm.

‘Chaconne’ er et modent værk. Skrevet under Første Verdenskrig, da den granvoksne Nielsen og på det tidspunkt kriseramte komponist ellers i halvandet årti havde droppet at skrive for klaver.

I den anden ende af skalaen er de tidlige små stykker opus 3. De får tid og ro til at stå ved det romantiske anstrøg af fortid, den unge Nielsen har integreret med folketone og sprælskhed.

Overalt viser Rikke Sandbergs fortolkninger karakter, klangbeherskelse, autoritet og indlevelse.

Få intime takter

‘Symfonisk suite’, der kræver store hænder og stor koncentration af pianisten, overrumplede mig. Jeg var opslugt af de fire ambitiøse satser, der flytter det orkestrale over til tangenterne.

For mig er Carl Nielsen bedst i sine folkelige sange. De er hans mesterværker.

Men trods det quirky er hans 24 simple små stykker ‘Klaverstykker for små og store’ opus 53 en interessant oplevelse.

Rikke Sandberg smelter romantiske relikter, folkemusikinspiration, impressionistiske træk og inspiration fra ældgamle musikalske skalaer sammen, så komponistens værker præsenteres stærkt.

En sag for sig er den skuespilmusik, Carl Nielsen skrev meget af.

Bortset fra nogle populære undtagelser som ‘Tågen letter’ for fløjte og harpe, der oprindelig indgik i musikken til Helge Rodes ‘Moderen’, høres den ikke ofte. Men i det omfang, Carl Nielsen har gjort musikken til at spille på klaver, er den med på ‘Carl Nielsen, The Ultimate Solo Piano Collection’.

Med den samlede Carl Nielsen-nodeudgave som baggrund og studier af nodemanuskripterne har Rikke Sandberg simpelthen indspillet alt, hvad Nielsen har skrevet ned for to hænder og tangenter.

På den måde kan det hele begynde med fire intime takter, der må være skrevet som en privat velkomst til hustruen Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, da parret var i Italien, og kulminere med voldsomme udladninger.

En klaverversion af ‘Tågen letter’ er også med, og smukt lyder den. Uanset om man er Nielsen-tilbeder eller ej, må hatten af for denne enorme præstation. Thomas Michelsen, June 10th 2026