It was on this date 100 years ago that an audience at the Copenhagen Musical Society was treated to the unusual experience of dueling kettle drums positioned at opposite sides of an orchestra. Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4, “The Inextinguishable,” was given its premiere under the direction of its creator.

Nielsen himself was responsible for the symphony’s nickname. Written against the backdrop of the First World War, the composer wished to express “the elemental will to live.” In the forward of the published score, he states, “Music is Life, and, like it, Inextinguishable.”

At the climax of the piece, the thrilling clash of timpani gives way to a euphoric proclamation by the brass. Over strife and turmoil rises that which will endure. Nielsen, the eternal optimist, manages to convey that which is optimistically eternal.