Symphony No. 3 (Nielsen)

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Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 3 or Symphony Espansiva is one of Nielsen's most successful compositions and symphonies.

The symphony was written over a two year span from 1910 to 1911 — directly after Nielsen's tenure as bandmaster at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. Nielsen himself conducted the premiere of the work on February 28, 1912 with Copenhagen's Royal Orchestra.

The character designation of the first movement (Allegro espansivo) served as the symphony's subtitle.

As a testament to the piece's popularity, within two months of its premiere the symphony was being performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and by 1913 it had seen performances in Stuttgart, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland.

Nielsen received 5,000 marks for publishing rights (C.F. Kahnt, Leipzig), a sum significantly higher than Nielsen usually received from his publishers.