Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 9, 2015
Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) was a Danish musician, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's greatest composer. Brought up by poor, musically talented parents, he attended the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen from 1884 through 1886, and premiered his Op 1, Suite for Strings at the age of 23. The following year, he began a 16-year stint as a second violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra under the conductor Johan Svendsen, and later taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1916 until his death. While his symphonies, concertos and choral music are now internationally acclaimed, Nielsen's career and personal life were marked by many difficulties, often reflected in his music. The works he composed between 1897 and 1904 are sometimes ascribed to his "psychological" period, resulting mainly from a turbulent marriage with the sculptor Anne Marie Brodersen. Nielsen is especially noted for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. For many years, he appeared on the Danish hundred-kroner banknote. The Carl Nielsen Museum in Odense documents his life and that of his wife. Many performances of his works are scheduled in 2015, the 150th anniversary of his birth. (Full article...)