Symphony No. 2, “The Four Temperaments”
- Allegro collerico (The Choleric)
- Allegro comodo e flemmatico (The Phlegmatic)
- Andante malincolico [sic] (The Melancholic)
- Allegro sanguineo — Marziale (The Sanguine)
Throughout his career Nielsen had an abiding interest in human nature and characteristics, but the music he wrote at the turn of the 20th century concerns itself so directly with the portrayal of character and personality that it is sometimes referred to as Nielsen’s “psychological period.” This reaches its apotheosis in the opera Saul and David and his Second Symphony. In the opera, composed between 1899 and 1901, the drama is built on the contrast between David the youthful, joyful and obedient servant of god, and the proud, impulsive and melancholic Saul. The Second Symphony, begun in 1901 as he was finishing the opera, takes as its inspiration the four “humours” that medieval philosophers defined as the four fundamental character types: the choleric, the phlegmatic, the melancholic and the sanguine.
This fascination with human character had a number of roots. In common with most artists of the time Nielsen was intrigued by the new ideas of the subconscious expounded by Freud and Jung (he read Freud’s early writings keenly, although was more dismissive of The Interpretation of Dreams). Beyond his awareness of being alive in a period of radical new ideas, Nielsen’s life at this time was filled with turbulence. His wife, the sculptor Anne-Marie Brodersen, was building her own career; she was often away for extended periods leaving Nielsen to cope with their three young children as well as attend to his duties at the Royal Opera, a situation that Nielsen found difficult and frustrating. His work at the Opera was not untroubled either: he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his role as a second violinist in the orchestra. He was by now established as a composer and often deputised as a conductor, but felt that he management continued to dismiss him as a mere orchestral player, and nurtured ambitions to conduct and establish himself as a composer. Saul and David was premiered in November 1902 to a good reception, but was given only two performances. These tensions would eventually lead to his resigning from the orchestra in 1905. He overcame the setback with his second opera, Maskarade, which was a triumph at its premiere in 1906 and established itself as the quintessential Danish opera.
His disappointment over the treatment of Saul and David was alleviated by the premiere of the Second Symphony three days after the opera. This was received well by the audience if less so by the critics. It was dedicated to Busoni, whom Nielsen had met and befriended on a trip to Berlin, and who had promised to secure a German performance of the new symphony. thus in 1903 Nielsen found himself conducting the berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The German audience was considerably more lukewarm than the Danish though, and the reaction of the Berlin press was so hostile that Nielsen had trouble composing for a while, although like the sanguine temperament of the last movement, he eventually bounced back.
The inspiration for the symphony came from a picture Nielsen saw hanging in a village pub while on a walking trip in Zealand. This featured four caricatures of the medieval temperaments: “The choleric man was on horseback; he had a long sword in his hand, with which he slashed wildly at the empty air, his eyes were nearly rolling out of his head, his hair flew madly around his face; it was so full of fury and devilish hate that involuntarily I burst into laughter,” he recalled. The other three portraits were similarly exaggerated and comical, and provided much amusement for Nielsen and his friends. But the images stayed with Nielsen, and he began to consider the deeper implications. Eventually ideas for a new symphony came to him, which he completed in December 1901.
The Four Temperaments may have its roots in caricature, but Nielsen’s symphony is altogether more sophisticated. Each movement aims to portray a credible character, and each contains an element of of some of the other characters; and the whole symphony is perhaps a rounded portrayal of all the facets of a single personality. So the choleric temperament can certainly be heard wildly wielding his sword in the opening movement, but also has his more reflective and noble moments when he rues his own temper.
The phlegmatic temperament of the second movement is more settled in his easy-going nature: “I have never seen him dance; he wasn’t active enough for that, though he might easily have got the idea to swing himself in a gentle slow waltz rhythm,” wrote Nielsen. “Only once is there a forte. What’s that? Did a barrel fall into the harbour from a ship disturbing the young chap lying on the pier dreaming? Maybe. So what? In a moment everything is quiet again: the lad falls asleep, the world dozes, and the water is again smooth as a mirror.”
The third movement expresses “the basic character of a heavy, melancholy man,” beginning with a cry of despair , followed by a plaintive sighing on the oboe. The Melancholic is allowed his quieter, resigned moments too, until the anguish of the opening returns before a gentle, searching coda.
After this tentative close, there is a rude awakening as the Sanguine bursts in. The Sanguine, says Nielsen is “a man who storms thoughtlessly forward in the belief that the whole world belongs to him, that fried pigeons will fly into his mouth without work or bother.” The music thus marches boldly forth without much regard for the niceties of staying in any one key for long. Suddenly the mood changes: “just for once... it seems he has met with something really serious; at least he cogitates about something or other that seems foreign to his character.” However, the Sanguine temperament is irrepressible, and soon reasserts itself in a final march which nevertheless suggests that the protagonist has learned something and has acquired a certain dignity as a result.
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