Carl Nielsen Museum
The Man Behind the Music
- Programme
- 2021 – 2023
- Scale
- 445m²
- Client
- Odense City Museums
- Locations
- Programme
- 2021 – 2023
- Scale
- 445m²
- Client
- Odense City Museums
Music is life and, like it, inextinguishable.
Carl Nielsen
The man behind the music
Odense City Museums commissioned us to create a new visitor experience dedicated to Carl August Nielsen, Denmark’s most celebrated composer. The ambition was to create a place where visitors discover the man behind the music and feel his music as a living force, full of Nielsen’s spirit.
The Carl Nielsen Museum won European Museum Academy's main prize, the Micheletti Award in 2024, and was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award that same year.
Images: Gareth Gardner
Calibration, Exploration and Immersion
The central challenge of the brief was to create a visitor journey that reveals the man through his approach to music. Marred by a turbulent marriage and the struggle to be recognised, Nielsen’s life was complex. He poured those experiences into his art.
His unique style, approach to structure and creative process reflect Nielsen himself. We chose to focus on his craft, leaving the visitors to interpret the meaning of his music. To allow space for visitors own interpretations of Nielsen’s oeuvre, we created a narrative framework that focuses on the work itself, its quality and artistry, rather than the meaning behind the music.
Representing Nielsen's life force
The visit is composed of three movements. The opening movement, Calibration, is when visitors to tune into the experience. They are introduced both to Nielsen and the exhibition’s visual language. The second movement, Exploration, delves into individual fragments of Nielsen's music. The third and final movement, Immersion, brings the journey to a dramatic climax. Here, visitors embrace the music in its totality.
Partner
Coda to Coda
Partner
Nulty
Partner
University of Copenhagen
