Scandinavian Chamber Players. Lars Graugaard, flute Ole-Henrik Dahl, oboe Hans Christian Bræin, clarinet Jens Tofte-Hansen, bassoon Henning Hansen, french horn Per Egholm, alto saxophone Carsten Tagmose, cello,Michael Dabelsteen, double-bass Carl August Nielsen, (9 June 1865 -- 3 October 1931), widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. While it was some time before his works were fully appreciated, even in his home country, Nielsen has now firmly entered the international repertoire. Especially in Europe and the United States, Nielsen's music is ever more frequently performed, with interest growing in other countries as well. Carl Nielsen is especially admired for his six symphonies, his Wind Quintet and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. In Denmark, his opera Maskarade and a considerable number of his songs have become an integral part of the national heritage. While his early music was inspired by composers such as Brahms and Grieg, he soon started to develop his own style, first experimenting with progressive tonality and later diverging even more radically from the standards of composition still common at the time. Nielsen composed a number of chamber music works, some of them still high on the international repertoire. The Wind Quintet, one of his most popular pieces, was composed in 1922 specifically for the Copenhagen Wind Quintet. Robert Simpson writes, "Nielsen's fondness of wind instruments is closely related to his love of nature, his fascination for living, breathing things. ... He was also intensely interested in human character, and in the Wind Quintet composed deliberately for five friends; each part is cunningly made to suit the individuality of each player."