Niels Viggo Bentzon

Niels Viggo Bentzon (24 August 1919 – 25 April 2000) was a Danish composer and pianist. Biography Bentzon was born and died in Copenhagen. He was the son of Viggo Bentzon (1861-1937), Rector of Copenhagen University, and Karen Hartmann (1882-1977), concert pianist. Through his mother, Bentzon was descended from the Danish composer Johann Hartmann and was the great-grandson of the Danish composer J.P.E. Hartmann. From 1938 to 1942, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Knud Jeppesen and Christian Christiansen. He then taught at The Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus (1945–50) and at The Royal Danish Academy (1950–88). As a pianist, he left many recordings of works by Beethoven, Scriabin, Busoni, Schoenberg, Petrassi and others, as well as himself. He is also well known for the three-note jingle D/Eb/Bb (pronounced D/S/B in Danish) on the acronym of DSB, the Danish Railroad Company “Danske Statsbaner”, his most performed piece as it is played on arrival of any train in Danish rail stations. Niels became well-known in Denmark as a composer, as he has over 650 works to his credit, often times experimenting with avant-garde techniques. Works Niels Viggo Bentz