Nielsen: Symphony No4; Symphony No5

'Only music can give an abstract expression of life, in contrast to the other arts which must construct models and symbolise. Music solves the problem only by remaining itself; for music is life whereas the other arts only depict life. Music is life and, as such, inextinguishable.' Thus Nielsen explained the title of his Fourth Symphony, a work in which the vital life-forces overcoming all obstacles is externalised in the finale with the fearsome duel of two sets of timpani placed on either side of the orchestra, and surely one of the most remarkable works of its genre.

The Fifth is equally life-affirming and close listening will reveal emotions felt by Nielsen during its composition in the course of the First World War. And then there is the Sixth, an extraordinary work which the composer had wanted to be "of completely idyllic character" but one in which a shadowy introversion seems to be fighting the original sense of innocence. Recommended, particularly to all those who enjoy the mighty symphonies of Sibelius and Mahler.