The title The Inextinguishable … is meant to express the appearance of the most elementary forces among human beings, animals and even plants. We can say: in case all the world were to be devastated by fire, flood, volcanoes, etc. and all things were destroyed and dead, then nature would still begin to breed new life again. … Soon the plants would begin to multiply, the breeding and screaming of birds would be seen and heard, the aspiration and yearning of human beings would be felt. These forces, which are ‘inextinguishable,’ are what I have tried to present.

— Carl Nielsen

From the night and negation of d minor to an E major peroration of light and affirmation, Nielsen’s 4th symphony is a paen to the indomitable nature of being.

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