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Alto and tenor saxophone reeds

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator (usually a column of air) to vibrate. Most of these instruments are made of wood but can be made of other materials, such as metals or plastics.

Types of woodwind instruments[link]

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Woodwind instruments can further be divided into two groups: flutes and reed instruments.

Flutes[link]

• Flutes produce sound when air is blown across an edge. There are two sub-families:
  • The open flute family, in which the player's lips form a stream of air that goes directly from the players lips to the edge, such as transverse flutes and end-blown flutes. Ancient flutes were made from tubular sections of plants such as grasses, reeds, and hollowed-out tree branches. Later, flutes were made of metals such as tin, copper, or bronze. Modern concert flutes are usually made of high-grade metal alloys, usually containing nickel, silver, copper, and/or gold.
  • The closed flute family, in which the musical instrument has a channel to form and direct the air stream over an edge. This family includes fipple-based devices such as whistles and the musical recorder family.

Reed instruments[link]

• Single-reed instruments use a reed, which is a thin-cut piece of cane or plastic that is held against the aperture of a mouthpiece with a ligature. When air is forced between the reed and the mouthpiece, the reed vibrates, creating the sound. Single reed instruments include the clarinet and saxophone families, and others like the duduk and the chalumeau.
• Double-reed instruments, use two precisely cut, small pieces of cane joined together at the base. The finished, bound reed is inserted into the top of the instrument and vibrates as air is forced between the two pieces. There are two sub-families:
  • Exposed double-reed instruments, where the reed goes between the player's lips. In this family include Western classical instruments the oboe, cor anglais (also called English horn) and bassoon, and many types of shawms throughout the world.
  • Capped double-reed instruments, where the player just blows through a hole in a cap that covers the reed. This family includes the crumhorn and the cornamuse.

A piper playing the bagpipes

• Bagpipes can have single and/or double reeds. These are functionally the same as capped reed instruments as the reeds are not in contact with player's lips.
• Free reed aerophone instruments that has its sound produced as air flows past a vibrating reed in a frame. Air pressure is typically generated by breath like a harmonica or with bellows such as an accordion.

Modern symphony orchestra woodwinds[link]

The modern symphony orchestra's woodwinds section typically includes: 1 piccolo, 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, and 1 contrabassoon. The section may also on occasion be expanded by the addition of saxophones.^[1]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Woodwind instruments

• Brass instrument
• Musical instrument
• Wind instrument

References[link]

External links[link]

• How do Woodwind Instruments work
• Woodwind Fingering Chart
• Woodwind Reference – ClassicalMusicHomepage.com

Carl Nielsen in 1910

Carl August Nielsen (Danish pronunciation: [kʰɑːl ˈnelsn̩]), (9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931), widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist.^[1] Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. While it was some time before his works were fully appreciated, even in his home country, Nielsen has now firmly entered the international repertoire.^[2] Especially in Europe and the United States, Nielsen's music is ever more frequently performed, with interest growing in other countries as well.^[3] Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and a considerable number of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage.^[4] While his early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, he soon started to develop his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time. For many years, he appeared on the Danish hundred-kroner banknote.^[5][6]

Life[link]

Early years[link]

Carl Nielsen's childhood home

Nielsen was the seventh of 12 children in a poor peasant family in Nørre Lyndelse near Sortelung south of Odense on the Danish island of Funen. His father, Niels Jørgensen, was a house painter and amateur musician who, with his abilities as a fiddler and cornet player, was in strong demand for local celebrations. All the children bore the surname Nielsen despite regulations by the Ministry of Church Affairs.^[7] Nielsen's own description of his childhood in his autobiography Min Fynske Barndom (My Childhood in Funen) written in his later life appears to be a rather over-romanticised account. His mother whom he recalls singing folk songs during his childhood was in fact the daughter of a well-to-do family of sea captains and his uncle was a composer and performer of popular music.^[8] Nevertheless, Nielsen's own account of his introduction to music where he tells us: "I had heard music before, heard father play the violin and cornet, heard mother singing, and, when in bed with the measles, I had tried myself out on the little violin" is probably authentic.^[9]

Nielsen aged about 14 in Odense.

Nielsen learned the violin and piano as a child and wrote his earliest compositions at the age of eight or nine: a lullaby, now lost, and a polka which the composer notated in his autobiography. However, his parents apparently did not believe he had any future as a musician as he was apprenticed to a shopkeeper from a nearby village at age 14.^[7] By midsummer the shopkeeper had gone bankrupt and Carl had to go home to his parents. He also learned how to play brass instruments, which led to a job as a bugler and alto trombonist in the 16th Battalion at nearby Odense that opened up around the time his apprenticeship ended. Carl took up his new positions in the 16th Battalion on the first of November 1879.^[7]

While Nielsen did not give up the violin during his time in the military, for his first two years he usually only played it when he went home to appear at dances with his father.^[7] In 1881, he began to take his violin playing more seriously and began to take private lessons from Carl Larsen, who was the sexton at Odense Cathedral. It is not known how much Carl Nielson composed during his time in the military, but from his autobiography, it can be deduced that he wrote some trios and quartets for brass instruments, and that he had difficulty in coming to terms with the fact that brass instruments were tuned in different keys. One of his overseers, Klaus Berntsen, introduced him to Niels Gade, who was director of the Royal Conservatory.^[7] He was well received by Niels Gade, and Carl Nielson made sure that he could be released at a short notice from the military band. In January 1884, he went to Copenhagen for further studies at the conservatory.

He studied at the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen from the beginning of 1884 until December 1886. Though not an outstanding student there and composing little, he progressed well in violin under Valdemar Tofte and received a solid grounding in music theory from Orla Rosenhoff, who would remain a valued adviser during Nielsen's early years as a professional composer. He also studied composition under Niels Gade, Denmark's revered composer, whom he liked as a friend but not for his music.^[2] Contacts with fellow students and cultured families in Copenhagen, some of whom would become lifelong friends, would become equally important. The patchy education resulting from his country background left Nielsen insatiably curious about the arts, philosophy and aesthetics. But, as David Fanning writes, it also left him "with a highly personal, common man's point of view on those subjects".^[10]

By September 1889, only three years after graduating from the conservatory, Nielsen had progressed well enough on the violin to gain a position with the second violins in the prestigious Royal Danish Orchestra which played at Copenhagen's Royal Theater. This position would sometimes cause Nielsen considerable frustration but he continued to play there until 1905. In between graduation and attaining this position, he gave violin lessons, made a modest income as a teacher and enjoyed continued support from patrons. Some of Nielsen's string chamber works were performed at this time, including a Quartet in F which he considered his official debut as a professional composer. However, the greatest impression was made by the Suite for Strings, which was performed at Tivoli Hall on 8 September 1888. Nielsen would designate this work his Opus 1.^[10]

Marriage[link]

Nielsen's wife Anne Marie

After less than a year at the Royal Theater, Nielsen won a scholarship of 1,800 kroner (£90^[a]), giving him the means to spend several months traveling in Europe. During this time he discovered and abandoned Richard Wagner's music dramas, heard many of Europe's leading orchestras and soloists and sharpened his opinions on both music and the visual arts. While revering the music of Bach and Mozart, he remained ambivalent about much 19th century music. In Paris, he met the Danish sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen, who was also traveling on a scholarship. They toured Italy together, marrying in the English Church of St Mark's in Florence on 10 May 1891 before returning to Denmark.^[11]

"As well as being a love match," Fanning writes, "it was also a meeting of minds. Anne Marie was a gifted artist.... She was also a strong-willed and modern-minded woman, determined to forge her own career."^[12] This determination would strain the Nielsens' marriage, as Anne Marie would spend months on location during the 1890s and 1900s, leaving Carl to raise their three young children in addition to composing and coping with his duties at the Royal Theater. While Carl suggested divorce in March 1905, the Nielsens remained married for the remainder of the composer's life. Carl sublimated his anger and frustration over his marriage in a number of musical works, most notably between 1897 and 1904, a period to which he sometimes referred as his "psychological" period.^[12] Fanning writes, "At this time his interest in the driving forces behind human personality crystallized in the opera Saul og David and the Second Symphony ("De fire temperamenter") and the cantatas Hymnus amoris and Søvnen.^[12]

Mature composer[link]

Carl Nielsen at his childhood home (1927)

At first, he did not gain enough recognition for his works to be able to support himself. During the concert which saw the premiere of his first symphony on 14 March 1894 conducted by Johan Svendsen, Nielsen played in the second violin section. However, the symphony was a great success when played in Berlin in 1896, contributing significantly to his reputation. Nielsen became increasingly in demand to write incidental music for the theater and cantatas to mark special occasions, both of which provided a welcome source of additional income. "A reciprocal relationship grew up between his programmatic and symphonic works," Fanning writes; "sometimes he would find stageworthy ideas in his supposedly pure orchestral music; sometimes a text or scenario forced him to invent vivid musical imagery which he could later turn to more abstract use."^[12]

Beginning in 1901, Nielsen received a modest state pension—800 kroner at first, growing to 7,500 kroner by 1927—to augment his violinist's salary. This allowed him to stop taking private pupils and left him more time to compose. From 1903, he also had an annual retainer from his principal publisher, Wilhelm Hansen Edition. Between 1905 and 1914 he served as second conductor at the Royal Theatre. From 1914 to 1926, he conducted the orchestra of Musikforeningen or the Music Society. In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and continued to work there until his death, in his last year as director of the institute.

The strain of dual careers and constant separation from his wife led Nielsen to more than one extra-marital affair. When the last one came to light, between Nielsen and his children's governess, the result was an eight-year breach in his marriage. During much of this time Carl and Anne Marie lived apart. The period led to a creative crisis for Nielsen, bringing about a powerful reappraisal of himself as a composer. This, along with World War I and professional developments in his life, would strongly influence his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, arguably his greatest works.^[13]

For his son-in-law, the Hungarian violinist Dr. Emil Telmányi, Nielsen wrote his Violin Concerto, Op. 33 (1911).

After suffering a serious heart attack in 1925, Nielsen was forced to curtail much of his activity, although he continued to compose until his death. In 1927, he wrote My Childhood on Funen (Min Fynske Barndom), a delightful memoir of his childhood . He also produced a short book of essays entitled Living Music (1925). Both have been translated into English, and Min Fynske Barndom was made into a docu-drama in 1994. Nielsen died in Copenhagen in 1931.

Music[link]

Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen where many of Nielsen's compositions were premiered

Nielsen is best known for his six symphonies. Other well-known pieces are the incidental music for Adam Oehlenschläger's drama Aladdin, the operas Saul og David and Maskarade, the three concertos for violin, flute and clarinet, the Wind Quintet, and the Helios Overture, which depicts the passage of the sun in the sky from dawn to nightfall.

The music initially had a neo-classical sound but became increasingly modern as Nielsen developed his own approach to what Robert Simpson called progressive tonality, moving from one key to another. Typically, he would end on a different key, sometimes as the outcome of a struggle as in his symphonies. His frequently blended melodic passages inspired by folk music with more complicated stylings including counterpoint and modern variations.^[14]

Like his contemporary, the Finn Jean Sibelius, he studied Renaissance polyphony closely, which accounts for much of the melodic and harmonic "feel" of his music.

Nielsen's works are sometimes referred to by FS numbers, from the 1965 catalogue compiled by Dan Fog and Torben Schousboe.

Symphonies[link]

Nielsen is perhaps most closely associated with his six symphones, which were written between 1892, when he was an aspiring young composer, and 1925, when he was already beginning to suffer from poor health. The works have much in common: they are all just over 30 minutes long, brass instruments are a key component of the orchestration, and they all exhibit unusual changes in tonality, which heightens the dramatic tension.^[15]

From its opening bars, Symphony No. 1 in G minor (1890–92), while reflecting the influence of Grieg and Brahms, shows Nielsen's individuality. Surprisingly, it begins in C major and hints at what Robert Simpson calls evolving or progressive tonality or the practice of beginning a work in one key and ending in another.^{[16][clarification needed]} The composer, who was playing in the second violins at the work's premiere, must have been gratified at the work's highly enthusiastic reception.^[17] From his manifestation of personal strength in the First Symphony, in the Second Nielsen embarks on the development of human character. Inspiration came from a painting in an inn depicting the four temperaments (choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine).^[18] The first and the third movements are reminiscent of the doleful style of Mahler.^{[citation needed]}

The Sinfonia Espansiva is understood by Robert Simpson to mean the "outward growth of the mind's scope". It fully exploits Nielsen's technique of confronting two keys at the same time and includes a peaceful section with soprano and baritone voices, singing a tune without words.^[15] Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable", written during the First World War is perhaps the most popular. In the last movement two sets of timpani are placed on opposite sides of the stage as a sort of musical duel. Nielsen described the symphony as "the life force, the unquenchable will to live".^[1][19] Almost as popular is the equally dramatic Fifth Symphony, presenting another battle between the forces of order and chaos. A snare drummer is given the task of interrupting the orchestra, playing ad lib and out of time, with the intention of destroying the music. Performed by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Erik Tuxen at the 1950 Edinburgh International Festival, it caused a sensation, inspiring interest in Nielsen's music outside Scandinavia.^[15][20] Finally, the Sixth Symphony, written 1924–25, is less aurally accessible than the previous five. The tonal language is similar to Nielsen's other symphonies, but the symphony soon degenerates into a number of cameos, some sad, some grotesque, some humorous. Even Robert Simpson was confused.^[21][15]

Operas and cantatas[link]

Carl Nielsen with the cast of Saul og David, Stockholm 1931

Nielsen's two operas are in very different styles. The four-act Saul og David (Saul and David), written in 1902 to a libretto by Einar Christiansen tells the Biblical story of Saul's jealousy of the young David while Maskarade (Masquerade) is a comic opera in three acts written in 1906 to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg.^[22][23] While Saul og David is one of Denmark's most important musical works for the theatre, it is difficult to stage as the really dramatic episodes are often separated by longer, less dynamic sequences. The choral scenes are certainly among the opera's highlights. The music, which is both dramatic and lyrical, is free of any late Romantic effects.^[24] The much lighter Maskarade, on the other hand, is considered to be Denmark's national opera as a result of its lasting success and popularity. Its many strophic songs and wonderful dances have great appeal for Danish audiences as has its underlying "old Copenhagen" atmosphere. The ensembles such as the striking wind quartet at the end of the first act are full of life while the orchestration is the most balanced in all of Nielsen's works.^[25]

Nielsen wrote a considerable number of choral works but most of them were composed for special occasions and were seldom repeated. Three fully-fledged cantatas for soloists, orchestra and choir have, however, become part of the modern repertoire. Hymnus amoris (Hymn of Love) (1897) is inspired by Titian's painting "The Miracle of a Jealous Husband" which Nielsen saw on his honeymoon in Italy in 1891. On one of the copies, Nielsen wrote: "To my own Marie! These tones in praise of love are nothing compared to the real thing."^[26] Nielsen composed the work after studying the choral style of the old polyphonic masters. Its premiere at the Music Society in April 1897 was a great success.^[17] Søvnen (The Sleep), Nielsen's second major choral work, sets to music the various phases of sleep including the terror of a nightmare in its central movement which, with is unusual discords, came as an unwlecome shock to the reviewers at its premiere in March 1905.^[27] Fynsk Foraar (Springtime on Funen), completed in 1922, is often cited as the most Danish of all Nielsen's compositions as it extols the beauty of Funen's countryside.^[28][29]

Concertos[link]

Nielsen wrote three concertos: the Violin Concerto is a middle-period work, from 1911, which lies within the tradition of European classicism, whereas the Flute Concerto of 1926 and the Clarinet Concerto which followed in 1928 are late works, influenced by the modernism of the 1920s and the product of "an extremely experienced composer who knows how to avoid inessentials."^[30] Unlike Nielsen's later works, the Violin Concerto has a distinct, melody-oriented neo-classical structure. There are three movements. The calm "Praeludium" is followed by a catchy tune for the orchestra providing opportunities for violin virtuosity. The long, slow Adagio leads to the final Scherzo which, as Nielsen commented, "renounces everything that might dazzle or impress."^[31][32] The Flute Concerto, in two movements, was written for the flautist Holger Gilbert-Jespersen, a member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet who had performed in Nielsen's Wind Quintet (1922).^[33] In contrast to the rather traditional style of the Violin Concerto, it reflects the modernistic trends of the 1920s. The first movement, for example, switiches between D minor, E flat minor and F major before the flute comes to the fore with a cantabile theme in E major.^[34] Similarly, the Clarinet Concerto was specifically written for a member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet, namely the clarinetist Aage Oxenvad. Nielsen seems to have had an uncanny understanding of the clarinet, stretching its abilities to the utmost. Unusually, the Clarinet Concerto has just one continuous movement and contains a struggle between the soloist and the orchestra and between the two principal competing keys, F major and E major.^[35]

Orchestral music[link]

One of Nielsen's earliest works for orchestra is the immediately successful Suite for Strings (1888), rather reminiscent of Scandinavian Romanticism as expressed by Grieg and Svendsen. The waltzing Intermezzo develops an appealing sparkle leading into the Finale where Nielsen demonstrates his mastery of form by cleverly reintroducing the opening theme.^[36] The work marked an important milestone in Nielsen's career as it was not only his first real success but it was also the first of his pieces he conducted himself when it was played in Odense a month later.^[37]

The Helios Overture (1903) stems from Nielsen's stay in Athens which gave him the inspiration of a work depicting the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea.^[38] The score is written for three flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings. A great showpiece for orchestra, it has been one of Nielsen's most popular works ever since.^[39] Saga-Drøm (Saga Dream), sometimes known as Gunnar's Dream, is a tone poem for orchestra based on the Icelandic Njal's Saga. In Nielsen's words: "There are among other things four cadenzas for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and flute which run quite freely alongside one another, with no harmonic connection, and without my marking time. They are just like four streams of thought, each going its own way — differently and randomly for each performance — until they meet in a point of rest, as if flowing into a lock where they are united."^[40]

At the Bier of a Young Artist (Ved en ung Kunstners Baare) for string orchestra was written for the funeral of the Danish painter Oluf Hartmann in January 1910. The four-minute piece in E flat minor was first performed by the Gade Quartet at Oluf Hartmann’s funeral on 21 January in the chapel at Holmen’s Cemetery in Copenhagen and was also played at Nielsen's own funeral.^[41] Pan and Syrinx (Pan og Syrinx), a vigorous nine-minute symphonic poem inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, was particularly well received at its premiere in 1911, Charles Kjerulf of Politken commenting: "For each note that was added it became more and more sublime."^[42]

The Rhapsodic Overture, An Imaginary Trip to the Faroe Islands (En Fantasirejse til Færøerne), is an occasional work which depicts a sea voyage from Denmark to the Islands. It draws on Faroese folk tunes but also contains freely composed sections.^[43]

Among Nielsen's orchestral works for the stage are Aladdin (1919) and Moderen, Opus 41 (1920). Aladdin was written to accompany a production of Adam Oehlenschläger’s fairy tale at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. The complete score, lasting over 80 minutes, is Nielsen's longest work apart from his operas but is now often performed as the shorter orchestral suite consisting of the Oriental March, Hindu Dance and Negro Dance.^[44] Moderen, written to celebrate the reunification of Southern Jutland with Denmark, was first performed on 30 January 1921 at the Royal Danish Theatre where it was well received. The text was basically a collection of generally patriotic verses written by Helge Rode for the occasion.^[45]

Chamber music[link]

	Wind Quintet, Op. 43 1. Allegro ben moderato 2. Menuetto 3. Praeludium: Adagio. Tema con variazioni: Un poco andantino Performed by James Galway (flute) with the Carion quintet
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Nielsen composed a number of chamber music works, some of them still high on the international repertoire. The Wind Quintet, one of his most popular pieces, was composed in 1922 specifically for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet. Robert Simpson writes, "Nielsen’s fondness of wind instruments is closely related to his love of nature, his fascination for living, breathing things. ... He was also intensely interested in human character, and in the Wind Quintet composed deliberately for five friends; each part is cunningly made to suit the individuality of each player."^[46]

The Fantasy Pieces for Oboe and Piano (Fantasistykker for obo og klavier) consists of two pieces which were first performed at the Royal Orchestra Soirée in Copenhagen on 16 March 1891. The oboist was Olivo Krause (to whom they are dedicated) and the pianist Victor Bendix. Transcriptions by Hans Sitt for violin and piano and for violin and orchestra have also remained popular.^[47] Nielsen's four string quartets are all part of the current repertoire. The First String Quartet No. 1 in G minor (1889) was innovative in the "Résumé" section which Nielsen included in the finale, bringing together themes from the first, third and fourth movements.^[48] The Second String Quartet No. 2 in F minor (1890) provides evidence of Nielsen's early experiments with tonality.^[49] The Third String Quartet in E flat major (1898) has remained one of Nielsen's more popular works, particularly in Denmark. The Fourth String Quartet in F major (1904) was initially criticised by the reviewers but is now recognised for its innovative approach.^[50]

Keyboard works[link]

Although Nielsen came to compose mainly at the piano,^[b] he only composed directly for it occasionally over a period of 40 years, creating five major works and several others, often with a distinctive style which slowed their international acceptance.^[51] One of his most successful compositions for piano is Chaconne, Opus 32, which Nielsen qualified as "a really big piece, and I think effective". It was premiered by Alexander Stoffregen on 13 April 1917 and was generally well received by its reviewers. On 11 February 1918, Christian Christiansen received an ovation when he played the piece during a concert of Nielsen’s orchestral works. Charles Kjerulf described the work as "a genuine Carl Nielsen piano-experiment".^[52]

All Nielsen's organ works were late compositions. Danish organist Finn Viderø suggests that this reflects the relative neglect of the organ during most of his life.^[53] This situation changed with the Orgeltagung (Organ Meeting) in Hamburg organised by Hans Henny Jahnn in 1925,^[54] which was a major stimulus for the Orgelbewegung (Organ reform movement), and the renewal of the front pipes of the Schnitger organ in the St. Jacobi Church by Karl Kemper from 1928–1930.^[54][55][53] Nielsen's last major work, Commotio, Opus 58, a 22-minute piece for organ, was composed between June 1930 and February 1931. The composer considered it to be one of his most important works.^[56]

Songs and hymns[link]

Over the years, Nielsen wrote the music for over 290 songs and hymns, most of them for poems written by well-known Danish authors such as N.F.S. Grundtvig, B.S. Ingemann, Poul Martin Møller, Adam Oehlenschläger and Jeppe Aakjær. In Denmark, many of them are still popular today, both with adults and children.^[57] Among the more popular ones are Farvel min velsignede Fødeby! (1914), Havet omkring Danmark (1907), Hvem sidder der bag Skjærmen (Jens Vejmand) (1907), Jeg ved en Lærkerede (c. 1924), Op al den Ting, som Gud har gjort' (c. 1914), Som en rejselysten Flaade (1921), Spurven sidder stum bag Kvist (1914) and Vi Sletternes Sønner har Drømme i Sind (1908).

Reception[link]

The Carl Nielsen memorial sculpted by his wife Anne Marie

Unlike his contemporary, the Finn Jean Sibelius, Nielsen's reputation abroad did not start to evolve until after World War II. For some time, international interest was largely directed towards his symphonies while his other works, many of them highly popular in Denmark, have only recently started to become part of the world repertoire.^[3][58]

Writing in the New York Times on the occasion of Nielsen's 125th anniversary in 1990, Andrew Pincus explained that 25 years earlier Leonard Bernstein had believed the world was ready to accept the Dane as the equal of Sibelius. He had spoken highly of "his rough charm, his swing, his drive, his rhythmic surprises, his strange power of harmonic and tonal relationships — and especially his constant unpredictability." But even in 1990, despite sporadic performances of his works, this "constant unpredictability" was still a bit too much for foreign tastes.^[59]

In London, the symphonies at least now appear to be well accepted. Paul Driver comments enthusiastically on the Colin Davis and London Symphony Orchestra performance of the Inextinguishable in May 2010: "Movement boundaries have become fluid; the expressive raison d’être is an evolving structure articulated by its emotional necessities rather than an externally valid architecture; and the journey from harmonic ambiguity at the opening to a stable key at the end is no mere vehicle for carrying ideas, but the whole point of the piece."^[60]

Within two months of its successful premiere at the Odd Fellows Concert Hall in Copenhagen on 28 February 1912, the Third Symphony was in the repertoire of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and by 1913 it had seen performances in Stuttgart, Stockholm and Helsinki. The symphony was the most popular of all Nielsen's works during his lifetime and was also played in Berlin, Hamburg, London and Gothenburg.^[61]

An international breakthrough was made in 1962 when Leonard Bernstein recorded the Fifth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for CBS. This recording helped Nielsen's music to achieve appreciation beyond his home country, and is considered one of the finest recorded accounts of the symphony.^[62][63][64]

Historical recordings[link]

Nielsen did not record any of his works as he did not believe in the medium. However, three younger contemporary conductors who had worked with him, Thomas Jensen, Launy Grøndahl, and Erik Tuxen, did record his symphonies and other orchestral works, and their recordings are therefore considered to be the most "authentic" Nielsen available.

• Symphony No. 1: Thomas Jensen - 1952 (Decca)
• Symphony No. 2: Thomas Jensen - 1947 (EMI)
• Symphony No. 3: Erik Tuxen - 1946 (Decca)
• Symphony No. 4: Launy Grøndahl - 1951 (EMI)
• Symphony No. 5: Erik Tuxen - 1950 (EMI); Thomas Jensen - 1954 (Decca — first LP recording)
• Symphony No. 6: Thomas Jensen - 1952 (Tono, a Danish label)

These recordings are all with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and all have been re-released on CD by Dutton Records (GB), except No. 6 which was transferred to CD by Denmark's DANACORD Records.

"Objektivering"[link]

By this term Nielsen meant an aesthetic approach wherein the instruments, or the players operating them, are given leave to assert their individual intentions, as interpreted by the composer. At the time Nielsen was writing the Fifth Symphony, with its sometimes violent disruption by the snare drum, he also produced the Wind Quintet, Op. 43 for a group of wind players whom he knew well personally. He resolved to write a concerto for each man, but completed only the ones for flute and clarinet. The latter (1928) immortalizes a clarinettist known for being irascible, and uses this character as a means of commenting on the anxious world condition at the time.

Carl Nielsen's students[link]

From 1915, Nielsen taught at the Royal Conservatory where he became director in 1931, shortly before his death.^[58] He also had a number of private students in his earlier days in order to supplement his income. As a result of his teaching, Nielsen has exerted considerable influence on classical music in Denmark. Among his most successful pupils were:

• Thorvald Aagaard (1877–1937), who collaborated with Nielsen and Thomas Laub in publishing Folkehøjskolens Melodibog, a highly popular work grouping melodies for hymns and folksongs.^[65]
• Emilius Bangert (1883–1962), who assisted Nielsen in notating and transcribing a number of his compositions, wrote a symphony, overture, string quartet, sonatas, choral works and songs.
• Jørgen Bentzon (1897–1951) who composed a considerable number of works ranging from chamber music to a symphony.
• Nancy Dalberg (1881–1949), who was the first Danish woman to compose a symphony, helped Nielsen with orchestration and notation work, especially in connection with Fynsk Foraar. Her chamber music has become part of the Nordic repertoire.
• Knud Jeppesen (1892–1974), a composer and internationally recognised musicologist, who did much to promote Nielsen's music outside Denmark.
• Herman Koppel (1908–1998) who wrote 13 symphonies, numerous concertos, and 20 string quartets.
• Rudolph Simonsen (1889–1947), a disciple of Nielsen's, who became chairman of the Conservatory after Nielsen's death in 1931.
• Mogens Wöldike (1897–1988), one of Denmark's most influential conductors and choirmasters in the late 20th century, who made recordings of many of Nielsen's works.

Carl Nielsen concerts today[link]

Carl Nielsen's music is frequently performed not only at a host of venues around Denmark but also throughout the world, especially in Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On the basis of information from the Carl Nielsen Society, the works currently most often performed are:^[3]

• Wind Quintet
• Helios Overture
• Symphony No. 5
• Masquerade Overture
• Symphony No. 4
• Aladdin Suite
• Suite for Strings
• Clarinet Concerto
• Flute Concerto
• Symphony No. 2
• String Quartet in G Minor

Family[link]

Carl Nielsen and his family at Fuglsang Manor, c. 1915

Carl Nielson headstone in Vestre Cemetery.

Nielsen's parents were Maren Kirstine Jørgensen, née Johansen (9 April 1833 – 28 January 1897) and Niels Jørgensen (22 January 1835 - 22 November 1915). He was one of 12 children. The brothers and sisters were Jørgine Caroline (1854–1879), Mathilde Sophie (born 1856), Karen Marie (1857–1876), Jørgen Peter (born 1859) emigrated to Australia, Johan Sophus (1861–1942) emigrated to USA, Christian Albert (born 1863) emigrated to USA, Carl August (1865–1931), Anders Jacob (born 1867) emigrated to USA, Helene Christine Louise (born 1869) emigrated to USA, Valdemar Emil (1871–1965), Julie Christine (born 1872), Anna Dusine (8 January to 2 April 1875).^[66]All the children bore the surname Nielsen despite regulations by the Ministry of Church Affairs.^[7]

He and his wife Anne Marie had two daughters and a son. Irmelin, his eldest daughter, had studied music theory with her father. In December 1919, she married Eggert Møller (1893–1978), a medical doctor who became a professor at the University of Copenhagen and director of the polyclinic at Rigshospitalet, the national hospital. Anne Marie, who graduated from the Copenhagen Academy of Arts, married the Hungarian violinist Emil Telmányi (1892–1988) in 1918 who contributed to Nielsen's music, both as a violinist and a conductor. Nielsen's son, Hans Børge, was handicapped as a result of meningitis and spent most of his life away from the family. He died near Kolding in 1956.^[67]

Shortly before Carl Nielsen met his wife, he had a son Carl August Hansen (8 January 1888 - 4 April 1963) by a housemaid, Karen Marie Hansen (4 September 1865 - 17 March 1949). Mother and son emigrated in December 1901 to New York, where Carl August qualified as a pharmacist. Although he returned to Denmark for a few years, he returned to the United States in June 1921 where he resumed his career as a pharmacist. He had three children by two different wives. There are living descendants.^[66]

See also[link]

• Serenata in vano

Notes[link]

References[link]

Citations

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carl Nielsen

• The Carl Nielsen Edition – index page to introductory information on many of Nielsen's works from the Royal Danish Library
• Carl Nielsen at Allmusic
• Carl Nielsen bibliography 1985–2005 at Det Kongelige Bibliotek (English).
• The Danish Carl Nielsen Society – provides lots of detailed information on the composer and his works, including an overview of upcoming concerts
• The Carl Nielsen Museum, Odense – "is a museum dedicated to the composer Carl Nielsen and to his wife, the sculptor Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen."
• Article about Nielsen's late music
• Carl Nielsen International Music Competition & Festival – an annual music event in Odense, celebrating the composer. Organised by the Odense Symphony Orchestra
• List of works
• Free scores by Carl Nielsen in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Carl Nielsen at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Carl Nielsen in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• The Mutopia Project has compositions by Carl Nielsen
• Carl Nielsen String Quartet Nos.1–4, sound-bites and discussion of works
• Listen to a free MP3 recording of Förunderligt och märkligt with Umeå Akademiska Kör
• Carl Nielsen at Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music
• European Archive Copyright free sound files of Carl Nielsen LPs at the European Archive (for non-American users only)

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga performing on The Monster Ball Tour in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Born	(1986-03-28) March 28, 1986 (age 26) New York, New York, U.S.
Genres	Pop, dance, electronic
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	LadyGaga.com Lady Gaga's signature

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (/ˈstɛfəniː dʒʌrməˈnɑːtə/ STE-fə-nee jurr-mə-NAH-tə; born March 28, 1986), known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was signed with Streamline Records by the end of 2007. During her employment as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.

Lady Gaga came to prominence as a recording artist following the release of her debut album The Fame (2008), which was a critical and commercial success that topped charts around the world and included the international number-one singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". After embarking on the The Fame Ball Tour, she followed the album with The Fame Monster (2009), which spawned the worldwide hit singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro". The album's success allowed her to embark on the eighteen-month long Monster Ball Tour, which later became one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Her most recent album Born This Way (2011) topped the charts of most major markets and generated more international chart-topping singles, including "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory". Besides her musical career, she involves herself with humanitarian causes and LGBT activism.

Influenced by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen, Lady Gaga is recognized for her flamboyant, diverse and outré contributions to the music industry through her fashion, performances and music videos. She has sold an estimated 23 million albums and 64 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and her singles are some of the best selling worldwide.^[1] Her achievements include five Grammy Awards and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga has consecutively appeared on Billboard magazine's Artists of the Year (scoring the definitive title in 2010), ranked fourth in VH1's list of 100 Greatest Women in Music, is regularly placed on lists composed by Forbes magazine and was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine.^[2][3] In 2012, Gaga was ranked at number four on Billboard's list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than $25 million.^[4]

Biography[link]

1986–2004: Early life[link]

Manhattan's Upper West Side, where Gaga grew up, has been an inspiration for many of her songs.

Lady Gaga was born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta on March 28, 1986 in New York City to parents Cynthia (née Bissett) and Joseph Germanotta, an Internet entrepreneur.^[5][6] Descending from Italian and more distant French-Canadian roots, Gaga is the elder of two children.^[7][8] Her sister, Natali, a fashion student, was born in 1992.^[9][10] Despite her seemingly affluent upbringing in the family home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Gaga has stressed that she did not come from a wealthy background, stating that her parents "both came from lower-class families, so we've worked for everything—my mother worked eight to eight out of the house, in telecommunications, and so did my father."^[11][12]

From the age of 11, Gaga – who was raised Roman Catholic – attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private all-girls Roman Catholic school on Manhattan's Upper East Side.^[13][14][15] She described her academic life in high school as "very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined" but also "a bit insecure": "I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn't fit in, and I felt like a freak."^[16][17] Acquaintances dispute that she did not fit in at school. "She had a core group of friends; she was a good student. She liked boys a lot, but singing was No. 1," recalled a former high school classmate.^[18] Gaga began playing the piano at the age of 4, went on to write her first piano ballad at 13, and started to perform at open mike nights by the age of 14.^[19][20] Her passion for musical theatre brought her lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in Guys and Dolls and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.^[21] She also appeared in a very small role as a mischievous classmate in the television drama series The Sopranos in a 2001 episode titled "The Telltale Moozadell" in addition to unsuccessfully auditioning for parts in New York shows.^[11][22]

When her time at the Convent of the Sacred Heart came to an end, her mother encouraged her to apply for the Collaborative Arts Project 21 (CAP21), a musical theatre training conservatory at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.^[11] After becoming one of twenty students to gain early admission, she eventually lived in an NYU dorm on 11th Street by the age of 17.^[21] CAP21 prepared her for her future career focus in "music, art, sex and celebrity" where, in addition to sharpening her songwriting skills, she composed essays and analytical papers on art, religion, social issues and politics, including a thesis on pop artists Spencer Tunick and Damien Hirst.^[20][23][24] With CAP21, she also tried out for and won auditions, including the part of an unsuspecting diner customer for MTV's Boiling Points, a prank reality television show.^[11][25] But Gaga felt more creative than some of her classmates. "Once you learn how to think about art, you can teach yourself," she said.

2005–07: Career beginnings[link]

Gaga (right) performing with Lady Starlight (left) at Lollapalooza 2007

Gaga withdrew from CAP21 at 19, in the second semester of her sophomore year, deciding to focus on her musical career.^[26] Her father agreed to pay her rent for a year, on the condition that she re-enroll at Tisch if unsuccessful. "I left my entire family, got the cheapest apartment I could find, and ate shit until somebody would listen," she remembers.^[21] Settled in a small apartment on Rivington Street towards the summer of 2005, Gaga recorded a couple of songs with hip-hop singer Grandmaster Melle Mel, for an audio book accompanying the children's book The Portal in the Park, by Cricket Casey.^[11][27] She also began a band called the Stefani Germanotta Band (SGBand) with some friends from NYU – guitarist Calvin Pia, bassist Eli Silverman, drummer Alex Beckham and booking manager Frank Fredericks – in September of that year.^[11][21] The band played a mixture of songs: some self-penned alongside classic rock numbers like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er".^[11] Playing in bars like the Greenwich Village's The Bitter End and the Lower East Side's the Mercury Lounge, the band developed a small fan base and caught the eye of music producer Joe Vulpis.^[11] Soon after arranging time in Vulpis' studio in the months that followed, SGBand were selling their extended plays Words and Red and Blue (both 2005) at gigs around New York while becoming a local fixture of the downtown Lower East Side club scene.^[21]

SGBand reached their career peak at the 2006 Songwriters Hall of Fame New Songwriters Showcase at The Cutting Room in June where Wendy Starland, a musician, appeared as a talent scout for music producer Rob Fusari. Starland informed Fusari – who was searching for a female singer to front a new band – of Gaga's ability and contacted her. With SGBand disbanded, Gaga traveled daily to New Jersey to work on songs she had written and compose new material with the music producer.^[11] While in collaboration, Fusari compared some of her vocal harmonies to those of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen.^[28] It was Fusari who helped create the moniker Gaga after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". Gaga was in the process of trying to come up with a stage name when she received a text message from Fusari that read "Lady Gaga."^[29] He explained, "Every day, when Stef came to the studio, instead of saying hello, I would start singing 'Radio Ga Ga'. That was her entrance song" and that the text message was the result of a predictive text glitch that changed "radio" to "lady". She texted back, "That's it," and declared, "Don't ever call me Stefani again."^[29][30] The New York Post, however, has reported that this story is incorrect, and that the name resulted from a marketing meeting.^[18]

Gaga performing in a bar, sporting one of her earlier looks (2008)

Although the musical relationship between Fusari and Gaga was unsuccessful at first, the pair soon set up a company titled Team Lovechild in which they recorded and produced electropop tracks and sent them to music industry bosses.^[11] Joshua Sarubin, the head of A&R at Def Jam Recordings, responded positively and vied for the record company to take a chance on her "unusual and provocative" performance. After having his boss Antonio "L.A." Reid in agreement, Gaga was signed to Def Jam in September 2006 with the intention of having an album ready in nine months.^[11] However, she was dropped by the label after only three months – an unfortunate period of her life that would later inspire her treatment for the music video for her 2011 single "Marry the Night".^[31][32] Devastated, Gaga returned to the solace of the family home for Christmas and the nightlife culture of the Lower East Side.^[11]

She became increasingly experimental: fascinating herself with emerging neo-burlesque shows, go-go dancing at bars dressed in little more than a bikini in addition to experimenting with drugs.^[11][14] Her father, however, did not understand the reason behind her drug intake and could not look at her for several months.^[14][30] "I was onstage in a thong, with a fringe hanging over my ass thinking that had covered it, lighting hairsprays on fire, go-go dancing to Black Sabbath and singing songs about oral sex. The kids would scream and cheer and then we'd all go grab a beer. It represented freedom to me. I went to a Catholic school but it was on the New York underground that I found myself."^[23] It was then when she became romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer in a relationship and break-up she likened to the musical film Grease: "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny, and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of her later songs.^[33]

During this time, she met performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped mold her on-stage persona.^[34] Starlight explained that, upon their first meeting, Gaga wanted to perform with her to songs she had recorded with Fusari. Like SGBand, the pair soon began performing at many of the downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. Their live performance art piece was known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue" and, billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow", was a low-fi tribute to 1970s variety acts.^[35][36] Soon after, the two were invited to play at the 2007 Lollapalooza music festival in August that year.^[37] The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received positive reviews.^[20][35] Having initially focused on avant-garde electronic dance music, Gaga had found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into her music.^[38]

While Gaga and Starlight were busy performing, producer Rob Fusari continued to work on the songs he had created with Gaga. Fusari sent these songs to his friend, producer and record executive Vincent Herbert.^[39] Herbert was quick to sign her to his label Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, upon its establishment in 2007.^[40] Gaga later credited Herbert as the man who discovered her, adding "I really feel like we made pop history, and we're gonna keep going."^[39] Having served as an apprentice songwriter under an internship at Famous Music Publishing, which was later acquired by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Gaga subsequently struck a music publishing deal with Sony/ATV.^[41] As a result, she was hired to write songs for Britney Spears and labelmates New Kids on the Block, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.^[41] At Interscope, singer-songwriter Akon recognized her vocal abilities when she sang a reference vocal for one of his tracks in studio.^[42] Akon then convinced Interscope-Geffen-A&M Chairman and CEO Jimmy Iovine to form a joint deal by having her also sign with his own label Kon Live, making her his "franchise player."^[31][43]

As 2007 came to a close, her former management company introduced her to songwriter and producer RedOne, whom they also managed.^[44] The first song she produced with RedOne was "Boys Boys Boys", a mash-up inspired by Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.".^[30][44] Gaga continued her collaboration with RedOne in the recording studio for a week on her debut album and also joined the roster of Cherrytree Records, an Interscope imprint established by producer and songwriter Martin Kierszenbaum, after co-writing four songs with Kierszenbaum including the singles "Christmas Tree" and "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)".^[41] Despite her secure record deal, she admitted that there was fear about her being too "racy", "dance-orientated" and "underground" for the mainstream market. Her response: "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next."^[15]

[edit] 2008–10: The Fame and The Fame Monster

Gaga performing at The Fame Ball Tour in 2009

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles in order to work extensively with her record label to complete her debut album and set up her own creative team Haus of Gaga, modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory.^[30][45] The Fame was first released on August 19, 2008 to slow radio play. Gaga supported it by performing around Europe and in small gay clubs around the US in addition to being billed as a supporting artist on the North American leg of New Kids on the Block's reunion concert tour.^[46][47] A sleeper hit, lead single "Just Dance" had preceded the album's release by four months but only hit the summit of the international charts in January 2009, provoking the instant success of the album, earning her first Grammy Award nomination (for Best Dance Recording) and becoming one of the best-selling singles worldwide.^[46][48] Gaga achieved a greater unexpected success when "Poker Face", another sleeper hit, reached number one in most major music markets worldwide in early 2009, selling 9.8 million singles worldwide.^[49][50] The follow-up single won the award for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Grammy Awards over nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

The Fame itself was nominated for Album of the Year while winning Best Dance/Electronica Album at the same ceremony.^[51] Contemporary critics lauded the album, describing it as an exploration of her obsession with fame and the intricacies of a rich and famous lifestyle, noting its combination of genres "from Def Leppard drums and hand claps to metal drums on urban tracks", the inspiration drawn from 1980s synthpop and incorporation of dance music with clear hooks.^[31] The Fame went to number one in Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK and appeared in the top five in Australia, the US and 15 other countries.^[52][53] It also stayed atop the Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 106 non-consecutive weeks and, since its release, has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.^[54] The album's success spawned many 2009 honors including Billboard magazine's Rising Star award and the accumulation of 3 of 9 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, winning Best New Artist with the video for her single "Paparazzi" gaining Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects.^[55][56] In addition to being an opening act on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination Tour during the first half of 2009 in Europe and Oceania, she also embarked on her own six-month critically appreciated worldwide concert tour The Fame Ball Tour which ran from March to September 2009.^[57][58]

While she traveled the globe, she wrote The Fame Monster, an EP of eight songs released in November 2009. Each song, dealing with the darker side of fame from personal experience, is expressed through a monster metaphor. Making Gaga the first artist in digital history to have three singles (alongside "Just Dance" and "Poker Face") to pass the four million mark in digital sales, its lead single "Bad Romance" topped the charts in eighteen countries and reached the top two in the US, Australia and New Zealand while accruing the Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video.^[59] The second single "Telephone", which features singer Beyoncé, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and became Gaga's fourth UK number one single; its accompanying music video, although controversial, received positive reception from contemporary critics who praised her for "the musicality and showmanship of Michael Jackson and the powerful sexuality and provocative instincts of Madonna."^[60][61] Her following single "Alejandro" paired Gaga with fashion photographer Steven Klein for a music video similarly as controversial – critics complimented its ideas and dark nature but the Catholic League attacked Gaga for her alleged use of blasphemy.^[62] Despite the controversy surrounding her music videos, they made Gaga the first artist to gain over one billion viral views on video-sharing website YouTube.^[63] At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Gaga won 8 of her 13 nominations, including Video of the Year for "Bad Romance" (with "Telephone" also nominated), which made her the first female artist to be nominated twice for the award.^[64][65] In addition, The Fame Monster garnered a total of six nominations at the 53rd Grammy Awards – equating to the amount of Grammy nominations her debut received – winning Best Pop Vocal Album and earning her a second-consecutive nomination for Album of the Year.^[66][67]

Gaga performing at The Monster Ball Tour in 2010

The success of the album allowed Gaga to start her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour, just weeks after the release of The Fame Monster and months after having finished The Fame Ball Tour.^[68] Upon finishing in May 2011, the critically acclaimed and commercially accomplished tour ran for over one and a half years and grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist.^[69] Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a HBO television special titled Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden. The special accrued one of its five Emmy Award nominations and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray.^[70] Gaga also performed songs from the album at international events such as the 2009 Royal Variety Performance where she sang "Speechless", a power ballad, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II; the 52nd Grammy Awards where her opening performance consisted of the song "Poker Face" and a piano duet of "Speechless" in a medley of "Your Song" with Elton John; and the 2010 BRIT Awards where a performance of an acoustic rendition of "Telephone" followed by "Dance in the Dark" dedicated to the late fashion designer and close friend, Alexander McQueen, supplemented her hat-trick win at the awards ceremony.^[71] Other performances may have included her participation in Michael Jackson's This Is It concert series at London's O2 Arena. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she stated. "We were going to open for him at the O2 and we were working on making it happen. I believe there was some talk about us, lots of the openers, doing duets with Michael on stage."^[72]

In 2009 she collaborated with consumer electronic company Monster Cable Products to create a pair of in-ear jewel-encrusted headphones titled Heartbeats. "They are designed to be the first ever fashion accessories that double as the absolute best sonically sounding headphones in the world," she commented.^[73] Gaga also partnered with Polaroid in January 2010 as their Creative Director.^[74] Excited about "blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era," Gaga unveiled the first trio of new products called Grey Label: a pair of picture-taking sunglasses, a paperback-sized mobile printing unit and an updated version of the traditional Polaroid camera at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.^[75] But her collaboration with past producer Rob Fusari led to her production team, Mermaid Music LLC, being sued in March 2010 when he claimed that he was entitled to a 20% share of the company's earnings. Gaga's lawyer, Charles Ortner, described the agreement with Fusari as "unlawful" and declined to comment, but five months later, the New York Supreme Court dismissed both the lawsuit and a countersuit by Gaga.^[76][77] In addition to such strife, Gaga was tested borderline positive for lupus, but claimed not to be affected by the symptoms. The revelations caused considerable dismay among fans, leading to Gaga addressing the matter in an interview with Larry King, saying she hopes to avoid symptoms by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.^[78][79]

[edit] 2011–present: Born This Way

Gaga performing on the 2011 Good Morning America Summer Concert Series

Gaga released her second studio album and third major release, Born This Way, on May 23, 2011. Described as a marriage of electronic music with metal, rock 'n' roll, pop and anthemic style melodies with sledge-hammering dance beats and referred to as an album "about what what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid," Gaga characterized it as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress" and, upon hearing it, Akon remarked that she is taking music to the "next level."^[80][81] Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its range of different styles and her vocals.^[82][83] Born This Way sold 1.108 million copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and topped the charts in more than 20 other countries.^[84] In addition to exceeding 8 million copies in worldwide sales, Born This Way received 3 Grammy Award nominations, including her third consecutive for Album of the Year.^[85]

In the months prior to its unveiling, Gaga released the singles "Born This Way", "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory" alongside promotional single "Hair". The eponymous lead single, first sung live at the 53rd Grammy Awards in a performance that saw Gaga emerge from an egg-like vessel, deals with self-acceptance regardless of race or sexual orientation. The single debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 19th number-one debut and the 1,000th number-one single in the history of the charts.^[86] It sold more than 3 million digital copies in the US by October 2011, becoming her eighth consecutive single to exceed sales of 2 million and, with worldwide sales of 8.2 million copies by November 2011, one of her five best-selling singles worldwide.^[87] Critics noted artistic and cultural references and praised the concept of the song's accompanying music video, in which Gaga gives birth to a new race amidst surrealistic images.^[88][89] The video for "Judas", in which Gaga portrays Mary Magdalene, and Biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot are also featured, was criticized for its religious references but received acclaim for its overall delivery and praise from others who claimed that there was nothing offensive about it.^[90] "Judas" also peaked within the top ten in several major musical markets, while "The Edge of Glory", first a commercial success in digital outlets, was later released as a single to critical appreciation, accompanied by a video which was notably stripped down from her usually "extravagant" efforts.^[91][92] She released "You and I" and "Marry the Night" as the following singles from Born This Way. Although their "crazy and ambitious" videos were praised for their audacity, both songs failed to match the similar international success that their predecessors achieved.^[93]

Gaga continued her musical endeavors by pairing with veteran artists like Tony Bennett to record a jazz version of "The Lady Is a Tramp".^[94] She also recorded a duet with Cher on a "massive" and "beautiful" track, which Gaga "wrote a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason."^[95] Gaga also lent her vocals to an original duet with Elton John for the animated feature film Gnomeo & Juliet. The song, "Hello, Hello", was released without Gaga's vocals but the duet version features in the film.^[96][97] She also continued her live appearances throughout 2011, performing a one-of-a-kind concert at the Sydney Town Hall on July 13 in promotion of Born This Way and at the celebration of former US president Bill Clinton's 65th birthday, wearing a blond wig as a nod to the famous performance of Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy and changing the lyrics to "You and I" specifically for the performance.^[98] Televised appearances comprised her own Thanksgiving Day television special entitled A Very Gaga Thanksgiving which was critically lauded, attained 5.749 million American viewers, and spawned the release of her fourth extended play A Very Gaga Holiday.^[99] Her second performance on Saturday Night Live saw her singing a selection of Born This Way songs alongside appearing in number of sketches with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg.^[100] In March 2012, Gaga was ranked at number four on Billboard's list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing $25,353,039 dollars, which includes sales from Born This Way and her Monster Ball Tour.^[4]

In early 2012, Gaga stated that songs for a new album were "beginning to flourish" as she worked with producer Fernando Garibay, while the accompanying tour for Born This Way was materializing.^[101][102] Gaga's manager, Vincent Herbert, revealed that Gaga will is working on her upcoming album during the tour, stating that the material is "insane, great records."^[103] The Born This Way Ball Tour began on April 27, 2012, at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.^[104] The tour was met with protests from several religious groups who denounced the tour as satanic and against religious values, resulting in protests mainly from the Islamic Defenders Front, causing a cancellation in the Indonesian city of Jakarta, where Gaga was denied a license to perform. The concert however was still in question as concert promoters were optimistic that the performance will in fact go on. However, due to threats of violence from Muslim hardliners, Gaga decided to cancel the concert although 52,000 tickets have sold out in just a few days.^{[105][106][107]} On May 20, 2012, Gaga guest-starred on the 23rd season finale of The Simpsons entitled "Lisa Goes Gaga".^[108]

Artistry[link]

Influences[link]

Gaga's parents, who exposed her to artists like The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and Elton John had significant influence on her childhood and, presently, still do.^[109] "I am a real family girl. When it comes to love and loyalty, I am very old-fashioned. And I am quite down-to-earth for such an eccentric person," she insists.^[110] "I'm quite traditional in the family sense. I've always been that way."^[109] According to Gaga, Joanne Germanotta – her aunt who died of lupus aged 19 – lives on through her and inspires all of her music and art.^[111] Joanne's date of death is tattooed on Gaga's body and, despite dying 12 years before her birth, Gaga commented, "I really believe I have two hearts. I think I actually carry two souls in my body, and that I'm living out the rest of her life and her goodness – she died a virgin, she died never having experienced all these things that we all get to love and experience in our lives."^[112] Another spiritual influence on Gaga has been the Indian physician, public speaker and writer Deepak Chopra. Labeling him a "true inspiration", she stated that "he's always reminded me to work in a life of service to my fans and to fulfill my vision and my destiny" in addition to thinking about Chopra when it comes to her work as a musician: "I want so much for it to go beyond the music for my fans."^[113]

Musically, Gaga takes influence from numerous musicians from dance-pop singers like Madonna and Michael Jackson to glam rock artists like David Bowie and Queen whilst employing the theatrics of artists like Andy Warhol and of her musical theatre roots in performance.^{[31][114][115]} The Queen song "Radio Ga Ga" inspired her stage name: "I adored Freddie Mercury and Queen had a hit called 'Radio Gaga'. That's why I love the name [...] Freddie was unique—one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music," she commented.^{[18][114][116]} Gaga receives regular comparisons to recording artist Madonna who admits that she sees herself reflected in Gaga.^[117] In response to the comparisons, Gaga stated, "I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I've made it my goal to revolutionize pop music. The last revolution was launched by Madonna 25 years ago" in addition to commenting that "there is really no one that is a more adoring and loving Madonna fan than me. I am the hugest fan personally and professionally."^[114][118] Like Madonna, Gaga has continued to reinvent herself and, over the years of her career, has drawn musical inspiration from a diverse mix of artists including Whitney Houston, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Scissor Sisters, Prince, Marilyn Manson, Yoko Ono, and Britney Spears.^[119]

Gaga has been influenced by a wide-range of artists as to which she has played homages to, including Madonna (left) and Bruce Springsteen. (Right)

Gaga has mentioned Spears in several interviews, and revealed, "Britney certainly doesn’t need any freakin’ tips from me! Britney Spears is the queen of pop. I was learning from her."^[120] Gaga also paid tribute to Spears during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards with the MTV Video Vanguard Award, adding that the pop singer "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her."^[121]

Gaga has identified fashion as a major influence and has been stylistically compared to English eccentrics Leigh Bowery and Isabella Blow and to American recording artist Cher.^{[14][26][110][122]} She commented that "as a child, she somehow absorbed Cher's out-there fashion sense and made it her own."^[122] She has considered Donatella Versace her muse and the late British fashion designer and close friend Alexander McQueen as an inspiration, admitting that "I miss Lee every time I get dressed" while channeling him in some of her work.^[14][78] Modeled on Andy Warhol's Factory, Gaga has her own creative production team, which she handles personally, called the Haus of Gaga, who create many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos.^[123] Her adoration of fashion came from her mother, who she stated was "always very well kept and beautiful."^[6] "When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us."^[26] The Global Language Monitor named "Lady Gaga" as the Top Fashion Buzzword with her trademark "no pants" a close third.^[124] Entertainment Weekly put her outfits on its end of the decade "best-of" list, saying, "Whether it's a dress made of Muppets or strategically placed bubbles, Gaga's outré ensembles brought performance art into the mainstream."^[125] Gaga made her runway debut at Thierry Mugler's Paris fashion show in March 2011 where she wore items from Nicola Formichetti's debut women's wear collection.^[126] In June of the same year, she won the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for Fashion Icon.^[127] Time Magazine placed Gaga on their "All-Time 100 Fashion Icons List" amongst some of Gaga's inspirations such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the The Beatles, stating: "Lady Gaga is just as notorious for her outrageous style as she is for her pop hits. After all, Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta, has sported outfits made from plastic bubbles, Kermit the Frog dolls, and raw meat."^[128] She has since devoted her time as a fashion columnist for V magazine, where she has written about her creative process, her studying of the world of pop culture, and her ability to tune into the evolution of pop-culture meme.^[129]

In August 2011 she sent to her 15 millions followers that she had at that time on Twitter, a quote about creativity from the book "Creativity"^[130] by Osho,^[131] which led journalists, on October 28, of the same year, on her arrival to India for the inauguration of a big Formula One motorsport event,^[132] to ask her about her connection to him, to which Gaga said she was influenced by his work and that for her, "the creativity is the greatest way of rebellion": "Equality", she concluded, "is one of the most important things in my life".^[133]

Musical style[link]