Editing Carl Nielsen (section)

=== Keyboard works ===
Although Nielsen came to compose mainly at the piano, he only composed directly for it occasionally over a period of 40 years, creating works often with a distinctive style which slowed their international acceptance.{{sfn|Skjold-Rasmussen|1966|p=57}} Nielsen's own piano technique, an echo of which is probably preserved in three [[wax cylinders]] marked "Carl Nielsen" at the State Archives in [[Aarhus]], seems to have been mediocre.{{sfn|Grimley|2005|p=203}} Reviewing the 1969 recording of works by the pianist [[John Ogdon]], John Horton commented on the early pieces: "Nielsen's technical resources hardly measure up to the grandeur of his designs", whilst characterising the later pieces as "major works which can stand comparison with his symphonic music".{{sfn|Horton|1969|p=499}} The anti-romantic tone of the ''Symphonic Suite'', Op. 8 (1894) was described by a later critic as "nothing less than a clenched fist straight in the face of all established musical convention".<ref>Tørsleff, Hans. Cited in {{harvnb|Grimley|2005|p=205}}.</ref> In Nielsen's words, the ''Chaconne'', Op. 32 (1917) was "a really big piece, and I think effective".{{sfn|''Carl Nielsen Edition: Piano and Organ Works''|pp=xxiii–xxvi}} It is not only inspired by the work of Bach, especially the [[Partita for Violin No. 2 (Bach)#The Ciaccona|chaconne for solo violin]], but also by the virtuoso piano arrangements of Bach's music by composers such as [[Robert Schumann]], Johannes Brahms and Ferruccio Busoni.{{sfn|Grimley|2005|pp=210–212}} Also on a large scale, and from the same year, is the ''Theme and Variations'', Op. 40, in which critics have discerned the influences of Brahms and also of [[Max Reger]], of whom Nielsen had earlier written to a friend "I think that the public will be utterly unable to grasp Reger's work and yet I am a lot more sympathetic towards his efforts than towards&nbsp;... [[Richard Strauss]]".{{sfn|Grimley|2005|pp=218–219}}

All Nielsen's organ works were late compositions. The Danish organist [[Finn Viderø]] suggests that his interest was prompted by the {{lang|de|Orgelbewegung}} ([[Organ reform movement]]), and the renewal of the front pipes of the [[Schnitger organ (Hamburg)|Schnitger organ]] in the [[St. Jacobi, Hamburg|St. Jacobi Church]], Hamburg, from 1928 to 1930.{{sfn|Viderø|1966|p=69}} Nielsen's last major work&nbsp;– {{lang|la|Commotio}}, Op. 58, a 22-minute piece for organ&nbsp;– was composed between June 1930 and February 1931, only a few months before his death.{{sfn|''Carl Nielsen Edition: Piano and Organ Works''|page=xlix}}