Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote his Fourth Symphony at the height of the First World War. It is about "the elemental will to live."
The title "Inextinguishable" of this dramatic work from 1916 does not refer to the symphony itself but to the idea, as the composer put it, of "the spirit of life or manifestation of life, that is: everything that moves, that wants to live...."
This evening on Symphony @ 7, I'll have a recent recording of this great symphony from the New York Philharmonic conducted by Alan Gilbert. This release on the Da Capo label is part of their "Nielsen Project" with all six symphonies and the complete concertos. The timpani drums battling the rest of the orchestra in the final movement of this performance leave no doubt that there is an epic struggle going on--and yes, against all odds, the will to live wins out in the end.
The other piece on the program this evening is Peter Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, inspired by William Shakespeare's tragedy of two young lovers whose lives were ended much too soon. Tchaikovsky's 20 minute musical expression of this well-known story has long been the most popular symphonic work expressing the passion and drama of this immortal tale.