A New Piano Reduction of the Nielsen Flute Concerto

The purpose of this research is to create a new piano reduction of Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto. Danish composer Carl Nielsen was born in 1865 and died in 1931. His compositional focus on orchestral writing made him renowned for his symphonies and concerti for flute and clarinet. Today his concerti are often performed by both professional musicians and students.

The first published piano reduction of the Flute Concerto was issued in 1952 by the composer’s son-in law, Emil Telmányi, who was a Hungarian violinist and conductor. This reduction was published by Samfundet til Udgivelse af Dansk Musik. In 2003, as part of The Carl Nielsen Edition, Edition Wilhelm Hansen published a new revised edition of the concerto. The piano reduction of this edition was written by Danish pianist Per Salo, and is the most frequently used by pianists today. This edition contains much information pertaining to the orchestration, but this often causes the piano part to become challenging or unplayable in many passages.

For collaborative pianists, playing concerti requires both the ability to imitate the orchestral sound, and to understand and show the main ideas of each passage. However, as this concerto is often performed in universities by flutists and pianists of different skill levels, creating a simplified version of the piano reduction will support many pianists by helping them to learn this music in a more approachable and easily performable context.