Denmark on Music Theory Print

Aage Stentoft

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Aage Stentoft (1 May 1914 – 8 July 1990) was a Danish composer, film score composer and theatre director. He composed over 700 melodies during his lifetime. Biography Stentoft was born in Holbæk, where he graduated from the Stenhus Kostskole (now ). Initially, he planned to study law, but due to lack of money, he started to compose music for commercials. In 1934, he began working as an accompanist and composer for the revue troupe Co-Optimisterne. A lot of his tunes quickly achieved widespread popularity, and he earned good money by composing and, later on, by producing revues. During his career, Stentoft also managed various theatres: Frederiksberg Teater (now ) in Frederiksberg and three theatres in Copenhagen, , Det Ny Scala and . In 1961, he emigrated to Spain. In 1973, he returned to Denmark as leader of the Tivoli Gardens theatre, a job he kept until his retirement in 1981, when he returned to Spain. He died at his home near Málaga in 1990. Popular tunes * (1935) * (1936) * (1936) * (1936) * (1937) * (1937) * (1938) * (1939) * (1939) * (1940) * (1942) * (1944) * Jacobsen (1948) * (1954) * (1977) Sources * Kraks Blå Bog online *

Aksel Agerby

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Aksel Agerby (29 May 1889 – 20 March 1942) was a Danish composer, organist, and music administrator. He also operated his own music publishing company, which published both his work and those of others. The majority of Agerby’s work as a composer was written for keyboard instruments. His most enduring work, the melody for Jeg er havren, was one of many Danish folk songs that he created music for. Personal life Aksel Andersen was born in Viborg on 29 May 1889 to Christian Andersen (1848–1913) and Mette Marie Jensen (1858–1896). His father, Christian, was a cobbler at the time, though he later became an archivist. Aksel and his father changed their surname in 1905 from Andersen to Agerby. Work Agerby was blind and was trained as an organist and pianist at the Institute for the Blind and Partially Sighted. He also studied under Nicolaj Hansen, , and Victor Bendix. From 1921, he was an organist at the Copenhagen Funeral service. From 1930 until his death, he played the organ at Brønshøj Church. A few other songs of his were recorded, some with Aksel Schiøtz. His musical output also included some songs and a few instrumental compositions, sometimes backed up by an orchestra. Most of his

Andreas Hallager

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Andreas Hallager (28 August 1796 – 9 December 1853) was a Danish musician, orchestra leader, and composer. Most of Hallager’s career as a musician was spent in the service of the Danish Military. He was awarded the Swedish Medal of Merit, the Order of the Dannebrog, and the Dannebrogordenens Hæderstegn. Career Hallager began receiving music lessons at the age of 7. In 1810, he became an oboist in the military as part of the borgerlige infanteri. In 1815, he traveled to Stockholm where he served for 8 months in the Kongelige Gardes Musikkorps, before returning to Copenhagen. He served as an oboist in the Danish military again as part of the Livjægerkorps. On 9 February 1816, he married Karen Hohanne Nicoline Liebert. They divorced on 4 December 1827. In 1828, he moved in with Anne Margrethe Degen with whom he had previously had a daughter, Thora Hallager, in 1821. Hallager then became the stepfather to Anne’s son Søffren Degen, who later became a well-known Danish guitarist. As Hallager was very interested in guitar music, it is likely that he taught Søffren to play. His biological son, Jens Giulliani Hallager, was named after the guitar virtuoso and composer Mauro Giuliani. On 18 O

Andreas Peter Berggreen

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Andreas Peter Berggreen (March 2, 1801 – November 8, 1880) was a Danish composer, organist, and pedagogue. Berggreen was born and died in Copenhagen. As a child Peter began composing songs and melodies for the flute. He initially studied law before pursuing a career in music, studying under Christopher Ernst Friedrich Weyse. In addition to Weyse, Berggreen was also heavily influenced by the German musician Johann Abraham Peter Schulz. Berggreen was the organist at Trinitatis Church in Copenhagen from 1838 and taught singing at Metropolitanskolen from 1843. In 1859 he was appointed a song inspector by the Danish government. Apart from several pieces of incidental music, a cantata, solo piano works, and songs, he published the folk song collections Melodier til Salmebog (1853) and Folk Sange og Melodier (1842–71). The latter comprises eleven large volumes, and includes folk songs in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, German, English, French and Italian. Volume 8 (1868) features Slavic folk music in four sections: Russian; Polish; Bohemian and Moravian; and Sorbian. Musical compositions *Songs with Accompaniment of Guitar (1823) *Cantata for Rege’s Tohundredaarsfest (1823) *Cantata for Princ

Anthony Lledo

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Anthony Lledo (born 11 January 1972) is a Danish composer. He has composed music for several films and tv-series and made his feature film debut with the score for the Swedish film Frostbite. His dark thematic orchestral score received widely critically acclaim and won the Best Score Award at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Music from Frostbite was later performed in concert by the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, Lledo moved to Los Angeles upon being invited by film composer Harry Gregson-Williams, and did additional music and arrangements for several major films, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, DreamWorks’ Shrek Forever After, Ben Affleck’s The Town, Cowboys & Aliens, and the Tony Scott films The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Unstoppable. Lledo has scored the four-time Emmy Award winning Civil War film Gettysburg (exec. produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott), the horror/thriller Darkroom starring Kaylee DeFer and Elisabeth Röhm, as well the animated fantasy TV series Legends of Chima which received widely critical acclaim and was named one of the best scores for television in 2013 by several reviewers – winn

Arthur Ivan Allin

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Arthur Ivan Allin (3 December 1847 – 31 January 1926) was a Danish violinist, organist, conductor, and composer. Arthur Allin has never specialized as a musician. As his interests have been many-sided, his field of work has been extensive, more so presumably than he dreamed when he, as a 12-year-old boy, stepped into Tivoli Gardens and beat the little drum in “Old Lumbye’s” orchestra. Arthur Ivan Allin was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on 3 December 1847. In the days of his childhood, he had music instructions from Adolf Hartmann (piano), Valdemar Tofte (violin), and Peter Rasmussen (theory). Career In Tivoli, he played on and off until 1874. Then he wanted to move away from the capital and became an organist in Rønne (1875–1880), at St. Peter’s Church in Næstved (1881–89), and at Aarhus Cathedral (1888–1915), where he succeeded Robert Allen. While in Aarhus, he also took a job as conductor of the Centralized “Jyske Sang” Associations from 1189-1914. Allin’s name has been attached firmly to the latter city’s musical life through these 26 years. Arthur Allin became a symbol of unity within various musical undertakings. Thus, he was once the president of the Aarhus Music Association an

Asger Hamerik

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Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) (April 8, 1843 – July 13, 1923) was a Danish composer of the late romantic period. He was aged 80 at the time of his death. Life and career Born in Frederiksberg (near Copenhagen), he studied music with J.P.E. Hartmann and Niels Gade, being related to the former through his mother, a cousin of Emma Hartmann. He wrote his first pieces in his teens, including an unperformed symphony. His family were friends with Hans Christian Andersen, with whom Hamerik corresponded regularly. Later, he left Denmark in 1862 to study music in Berlin, with Hans von Bülow, and Paris where he was a protégé of Hector Berlioz. In 1864 he began using the more unmistakably Danish version of his last name, rather than Hammerich, in the swell of Danish national feeling after the Danish-Prussian war. He left Paris in 1869 for Italy, and then Vienna. In 1871 he was offered the post of director of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, where his influence won praise from influential visitors including Tchaikovsky and Arthur Sullivan. He composed most of his large-scale concert works for the Institute’s orchestra. His students at Peabody included Eliza Woods. He left his position

August Enna

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August Enna (13 May 1859 – 3 August 1939) was a Danish composer, known mainly for his operas. Biography Enna was born in Nakskov, Lolland, Denmark, but his ethnic origins lay in Sicily. His grandfather, an Italian by birth, had emigrated to Denmark with his German-born wife after the Napoleonic Wars (in which he served as a soldier). In 1870 the family moved to Copenhagen, where Enna became a shoemaker’s apprentice (his father was a shoemaker) and received music lessons. He became a violinist and performed in Finland and Sweden. In 1883 he returned to Denmark to become music director at Werner’s Theatre Company, a travelling touring theatre. In 1884, he composed his first opera, Agleia, some piano pieces and instrumental works, and in 1886 a symphony (in C minor) which attracted the interest of Niels Gade. In 1890/91 he was conductor at the Dagmar Theatre in Copenhagen. After that he lived from composing and short-term engagements. In 1908 he became an adjunct professor. In 1892, his groundbreaking work, the opera The Witch, was premiered. He then had great success with other operas, including Cleopatra (1894), The Little Match Girl (1897), Gloria Arsena (1917) and The Comedians (1

August Winding

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August Winding (24 March 183516 June 1899) was a Danish pianist, teacher and composer. Life Early life and education August Henrik Winding was born in Tårs, near Sandby on the island of Lolland. His father was a clergyman who collected and arranged Danish folk songs, and also an excellent pianist who became his son’s first music teacher. August’s three brothers were equally highly musical, most of all his brother Peter Buonaventura who, despite his early death at the age of 16, had some of his works published. In 1847, August’s parents sent the 12 year old to Copenhagen for musical education. He stayed there at the house of Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann and was given piano lessons by Carl Reinecke until the latter’s departure for Paris in 1848, and then by Anton Rée (1820–1886), who had been an acquaintance of Frédéric Chopin. He also was taught theory and composition by Niels Gade. In 1856 he went to Leipzig for further studies, and then had lessons with Alexander Dreyschock in Prague. *** 1. in C major: Poco Adagio, maestoso e con nobilità *** 2. in A minor: Allegro agitato ed affetuoso *** 3. in F major: Comodo *** 4. in D minor: Allegro risoluto e energico *** 5. in B major: All

Axel Borup-Jørgensen

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Axel Borup-Jørgensen (22 November 1924 – 15 October 2012) was a Danish composer. He was born in Hjørring in Denmark, but grew up in Sweden. He died in Birkerød. He studied piano at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. As a composer, apart from studies in instrumentation with Poul Schierbeck and Jørgen Jersild, he is self-taught. He emerged on the international spotlight when his Nordisk Sommerpastorale, Op. 51 (Nordic Summer Pastoral, 1964) won first prize in the competition for a short orchestral work held by Denmarks Radio in 1965. Borup-Jørgensen was one of the first Danish composers to go to the Darmstädter Ferienkurse (1959 and 1962), but he never composed serial music. While the avant-garde of the sixties exerted a strong influence on his sound world, he always followed his own intuition and obeyed his extraordinary sense of organizing sound combined with a passionate, almost mystical regard for nature. Nevertheless, his encounter with Ligeti’s early orchestral works and the works of the Swedish composer Bo Nilsson left traces in his output from the 1960s, primarily in the orchestral work Marin (‘Marine’) op.60 (1963–70), a large symphonic suite that includes 44 i

Benna Moe

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Benna Olufine Charlotte Moe (December 15, 1897 - Dec. 27, 1983) was a Danish composer and musician. In addition to her compositional gifts, Benna Moe was an organ soloist, pianist and singer. She composed music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and organ music. Most known among her works is the ballet Hybris, which was premiered in Copenhagen in 1930. Her compositions, Hymn of Praise (4th movement of Alpine Suite), Shepherds’ Flutes (2nd movement of Alpine Suite) and Cantilena have been used at royal weddings. Early life Moe entered the Moltke Citizen School for girls, and it was here that her special musical abilities stimulated her musical participation. Moe often played at school party events and family gatherings, and began to compose at the age of 12. Eventually, she delved into larger compositions, such as an overture to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Johanne Luise Heiberg’s birth in 1913. She maintained contact with the school long after she was grown. At Moltke’s funeral in 1928, she played his elegy on the Frederik church organ. She played at numerous charity events before, during and after World War II, and for many family celebrations. She wrote music for fe

Benny Andersen

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Benny Andersen (7 November 1929 – 16 August 2018) was a Danish poet, author, songwriter, composer and pianist. He is often remembered for his collaboration with the singer Povl Dissing; together they released an album with Andersen’s poems from the collection Svantes viser. This album and Andersen’s book “Svantes viser” (Svante’s Songs) from 1972 were included by the Danish Ministry of Culture in the Danish Culture Canon in 2006, in the category “Popular music”. Andersen’s “Samlede digte” (Collected poems) have sold more than 100,000 copies in Denmark. In Denmark, Benny Andersen was also a well-known author of children’s literature and in 1971, he was awarded the Ministry of Culture’s children book prize (“Kulturministeriets Børnebogspris”). In the 1980s, his books about the fantastical creature Snøvsen, became widely popular and later inspired two films in the early 90s. Andersen became a member of the Danish Academy (Det Danske Akademi) in 1972. His wife, the jurist Elisabeth Ehmer, reported that Benny Andersen died in the family home in Sorgenfri, north of Copenhagen, on 16 August 2018. Selected bibliography Some of Benny Andersen’s notable poem collections, includes: * Den musi

Bent Fabric

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Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (7 December 1924 – 28 July 2020), better known internationally as Bent Fabric, was a Danish pianist and composer. Biography Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He started a jazz ensemble after World War II and founded a label, Metronome Records, in 1950. He released a series of ten inch albums on the Metronome label entitled 50 Years Of Evergreens in 1955, under the pseudonym Frank Barcley. However, he is best known for his 1961 instrumental “Omkring et flygel” (literally, “Around a Grand Piano”) which became a hit in Denmark. The song was re-released worldwide under the name “Alley Cat” on Atco Records the following year, and went to No. 1 in Australia and No. 49 in Germany. The tune also became a hit in the United States; the song hit No. 2 on the AC chart and no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the LP of the same name hit No. 13 on the Billboard 200. “Alley Cat” also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The follow-up single, “Chicken Feed”, hit No. 63 in the U.S. Fabricius-Bjerre had done extensive work in film scores prior to the success of his singles, and co

Bent Lorentzen

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Bent Lorentzen (11 February 1935, Stenvad – 3 October 2018, Copenhagen) was a Danish composer. He was one of the outstanding figures in contemporary Danish music. His works are frequently performed at festivals at home and abroad, and he had established particularly close links with musical life in Poland and Germany. He was honoured with several international prizes and was named Choral Composer of the Year in Denmark in 1989 (Source: Edition·S – music¬sound¬art – Denmark). Bent Lorentzen was born in Stenvad, a village on Djursland, East Jutland. He studied musicology at the university in Aarhus and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He was a pupil of Knud Jeppesen, Finn Høffding, Vagn Holmboe and Jørgen Jersild. After his final examination he taught at the Academies of Music in Aarhus and Copenhagen for several years. (Source: Bonde 2005) Lorentzen was one of the earliest pioneers in the field of Danish electronic music (The Bottomless Pit in 1972 for the Nordic Music Days in Oslo, and Visions 1978), which was also introduced with an educational aim: the LP Elektronmusikkens materiale The Material of Electronic Music, 1968 and the LP Water – electronic music for

Bent Sørensen (composer)

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Bent Sørensen (born 18 July 1958) is a Danish composer. He won the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 2018 for L’isola della Città (2016). He studied composition with Ib Nørholm at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and with Per Nørgård at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Works Organ * Lais (1985) Piano * Angelus (?) * The Shadows of Silence (2002) * The Masque of the Red Death (1990) * Lullabies (2000) * Berceuse No.2 (2007) * Twelve Nocturnes (2000–2014) * Fantasia Appassionata (2017) Solo * The Songs of the Decaying Garden for clarinet (?) * Troldspil for clarinet (1982) * The Lady of Shalott for viola (1987) * The Bells of Vineta for trombone (1990) * The Shadows of the Shepherds for oboe (1990) * Plainte d’un Troubadour for oboe (1993) * Angelus Waltz for guitar (1996) * Shadow Siciliano for guitar (1997) * Sliding Sarabande for guitar (1999) * Looking on Darkness for accordion (2000) * The Hill of the Heartless Giant for double bass (2001) * Midnight Mazurka for guitar (2006) * Doll March & Dark Jig for guitar (2008) Chamber music (2 to 6 players) * Trotto for violin, cello, oboe, bassoon and horn (1983) * Mädelein for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1985)

Birgitte Alsted

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Birgitte Alsted (born 15 June 1942) is a Danish violinist, teacher and composer. Life and career Alsted was born in Odense, and was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and in Warsaw. She has done much within the electronic music and often uses creative expressions, which includes other forms. Thus, she has been a part in theater and performance / dance in Denmark. Her work list, besides the music theater includes works for soloists and chamber ensembles, often unconventional compositions and the use of acoustic instruments. Birgitte Alsted also worked some with multimedia performances in which the use of electronic resources, poetry, dance and slides have been compounded in experimental fashion. Literature and poetry, both old and new have been an important source of inspiration for her. Birgitte Alsted was a founder of the “Gruppen for Alternativ Musik”, which was important for her career as a composer. The group experimented with alternative forms and collective improvisation and performed the members’ own compositions in unusual places, such as the Nørreport Station and Copenhagen Zoo. Alsted has worked as a teacher in Hørsholm municipality in St. Annæ Gymnasium and in

C. F. E. Horneman

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Christian Frederik Emil Horneman (December 17, 1840 – June 8, 1906) was a Danish composer, conductor, music publisher, and music instructor. Biography C. F. E. Horneman was born in Copenhagen, the son of the composer Emil Horneman and of Camilla Scheuermann (a cousin of composer Emma Hartmann). He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory with Ignaz Moscheles, Ernst Friedrich Richter, Moritz Hauptmann, and Julius Rietz. After his return to Denmark he composed divertimenti and opera fantasies and began work on the opera Aladdin, the composition of which occupied him for more than twenty years. The overture, completed in 1864, is Horneman’s best known work, along with the four-movement suite drawn from incidental music for the Holger Drachmann drama Gurre. Together with composers Gottfred Matthison-Hansen, Edvard Grieg, and others he founded in 1865 the music institute Euterpe to encourage newer Danish music. This was in reaction to the Music Society (Musikforeningen), which was controlled by Niels Wilhelm Gade and was regarded by the younger composers as too conservative. Horneman conducted the organization’s concerts. During a trip to Germany in 1867 he wrote his Ouverture héroïque and l

Camilla Gottschalck

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Camilla Gottschalck is a Danish composer, singer, and musician. She has a musical education as a singer and musician (drums, piano). Camilla Gottschalck has also many years of experience as a composer. She has been a lead singer in several soul/pop/acoustic bands, a member of various choirs and she is often hired as a backing singer on studio recordings. She has worked with many internationally known producers, songwriters and musicians throughout the past years. Composer Camilla Gottschalck has written songs for many international artists. Amongst them is Hera Björk, with whom she co-wrote Heras winning song “Because You Can” in Vina Del Mar 2013. during the years she has worked with artists such as Icelandic Erna Hrönn, the Swedish group Titanix and DQ. In ESC 2013 she has co-written songs like “Fool In Love” performed by Dāvids Kalandija and Dināra in the Latvian national final and in Moldova, Svetlana Bogdanova performed the song “Conquer My Heart” in the first semifinal. In 2012 she had the song “Run” with Eva Boto, in the Slovenian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. And back in 2011 Camilla had her ESC Debut by participating in the Irish preselection with the song

Carl August Thielo

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Carl August Thielo (February 7, 1707 – December 3, 1763) was a Danish composer. theatre entrepreneur, music teacher, organist from the Electorate of Saxony. He spent most of his life in Copenhagen from the 1720s onwards and founded the first opera house there in 1746. A student of Johann Gottfried Walther, he was the author of a Danish treatise, Tanker og Regler fra Grunden af om Musiken, published in 1746. Thielo was also the German court organist under Christian VI. He was the father of Caroline Thielo. Partial works * (1744) Der andere Zuschauer in Fabeln geschrieben und herausgegeben in Copenhagen * (1746) Tanker og Regler Fra Grunden af om Musiken, For dem som vil lære Musiken til Sindets Fornøyelse Saa og for dem Som vil gjøre Fait af Claveer, General-Bassen, og Synge-Kunsten * (1747) Spøgelset med klokken : een nach-comœdie i een act for den danske skue-plads * (1747) Fruentimmer huusholdning : forrestillet udi en comoedie af tre acter, for den danske skue-plads * (1751) Første Samling af de Oder, som paa den Danske Skueplads udi Kiøbenhavn ere blevne opførte * (1753) Grund-regeln wie man, beÿ weniger information, sich selbst die fundamenta der music und des claviers, lernen

Carl Christian Møller

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Carl Christian Møller (2 June 1823 – 2 April 1893) was a Danish concertmaster and composer. His father was a musician and early in his life Carl Christian was hired in the Danish Civil Artillery Music Corps and later became a musician in the 2nd Brigade Music Corps while also playing in Hans Christian Lumbye’s orchestra. He participated in the First Schleswig War as a musician but from the 1850s and the rest of his life he worked as leader of different orchestras, initially travelling ensembles but in 1857-64 and 1875-85 he led the orchestra of Folketeatrets in Copenhagen. From 1875 until his death he was a popular leader of Tivoli’s concert band. Musical works Carl Christian Møller composed some 300 works, mostly in the style of Lumbye or music for concert bands but he has also written ballet and other theater music. Today he may be best known for Århus Tappenstreg which may paradoxically not entirely be his own composition but is most likely an arrangement of 2 older melodies. * (stage music) * (stage music) * (stage music) * (stage music) * (stage music) * (stage music) * (ballet by August Bournonville, 1876) * (1886–88) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * References External links * *

Carl Cohn Haste

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Carl Cohn Haste (December 7, 1874 – June 4, 1939) was a Danish pianist, organist and composer. Blind from the age of 5, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. He was concert pianist, a music teacher at the Blind Institute, the first president of the Danish Association of the Blind, and the editor of the magazine “Nordens Musik”. Most of the blind organists who were employed in the early 20th century were trained by him. Early life and education Haste was born in 1874. He went blind when he was 5 after an eye inflammation. From 1883 to 1892, he was a pupil at the Blind Institute. Then, he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1893 to 1895 under Victor Bendix and Orla Rosenhof. Career In 1896, Haste made his debut as a concert pianist and, from 1898, he was employed as the Blind Institute as a music teacher. Most of the blind organists who were employed in the early 20th century were trained by him. Alongside his teaching work and organization work, he was regularly away on concert tours across Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Haste was a member of the Danish Authors’ Society for Composers and Songwriters (KODA). He became the first president of the Danish Associati

Carl Nielsen

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Early years#

Nielsen was born on 9 June 1865, the seventh of twelve children in a poor peasant family, at Sortelung near Nørre Lyndelse, south of Odense on the island of Funen. The surname Nielsen was originally a patronymic meaning ‘son of Niels’. His father, Niels Jørgensen, was a house painter and traditional musician who, with his abilities as a fiddler and cornet player, was in strong demand for local celebrations. Nielsen described his childhood in his autobiography (My Childhood on Funen). His mother, whom he recalls singing folk songs during his childhood, came from a well-to-do family of sea captains, while one of his half-uncles, Hans Andersen, was a talented musician. Nielsen gave an account of his introduction to music: “I had heard music before, heard father play the violin and cornet, heard mother singing, and, when in bed with the measles, I had tried myself out on the little violin.” He had received the instrument from his mother when he was six.

Carl Viggo Meincke

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Fritz Carl Viggo Meincke (8 March 1902 – 27 September 1959) was a Danish composer, revue author, theater manager and actor. Early years Carl Meincke was born on 8 March 1902 on Frederiksborggade 5, Copenhagen, in the parish Trinitatis. He was the biological son of oil trader Carl Christian Viktor Bang Rasmussen (born 28 October 1861 in Fredensborg) and his wife Olga Johanne (née Christensen, born 12 December 1873 in Copenhagen). His biological parents were married on 2 April 1892 in Frederiksberg Kirke. Meincke was adopted by wholesale trader Carl Vilhelm Harald Viggo Meincke (born 30 July 1860 in Copenhagen) and his wife Regina Augustine Christensine (née Olsen born 15 July 1876 in Helsingør) and baptized on 29 June 1902 in Vor Frue Kirke, Copenhagen by Rev. Hoffmeyer. For several years, the family lived on Studiestræde 34, Copenhagen. By 1916, the family had moved to Gentofte (Jernbanevej 3), where Carl was confirmed on 1 October 1916. He graduated in 1919 from Sankt Andreas Kollegiet in Ordrup (near Charlottenlund). Carl grew up as an only child. Personal life In the 1930s, Meincke married a woman called Dolly Helstrup, a Danish revue and theater actress. After World War II, Mei

Carsten Bo Eriksen

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Carsten Bo Eriksen (born 2 October 1973) is a Danish composer, pianist, guitarist, vocalist, and producer. He works both under his own name and under the artist monikers My Beautiful Decay 1973 and Secretly Dead . His music ranges from neoclassical and electroacoustic works to dark, experimental rock, and he is known for a personal and distinctive sonic signature that blends acoustic and electronic elements. Eriksen’s music has been streamed many millions of times on streamingplatforms, and in 2025 he received his first gold record for streaming under the name My Beautiful Decay 1973. Education and Background Eriksen holds a degree in composition from the Royal Academy of Music as a composer (1997–2003), pupil of Professor Ib Nørholm, Ivar Frounberg and Hans Abrahamsen and he has also studied at Berklee College of Music, Massachusetts, US. He works within contemporary music, electroacoustic music, neoclassical music, and experimental pop, and has distinguished himself with a style that combines melodic clarity, timbral depth, and both pulsating and atmospheric structures. Eriksen has additionally studied the Balinese gamelan music in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, with the musician Pak Tam

Christian Geisler

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Christian Peder Wilhelm Geisler (28 April 186919 August 1951) was a Danish organist and composer. He graduated at the Conservatory of Music in the years 1887–1890 of, among others, Niels W. Gade, J.P.E. Hartmann and Gottfred Matthison-Hansen and studied 1895–96 with Max Bruch in Berlin. After his return, he acted as a composer, vocalist and organist. He was a teacher at the United Church Schools and Ingrid Jespersen School. From 1893 to 1911 he was employed as an organist at Reformed Church and from 1911 to 1939 at the church of Garnison. He was a temporary with both Hartmann and Gade, who both embraced his musical attitude. His music is in the same style as theirs, and most of it was composed before the First World War. He composed in many genres. Notable works * Arnes Sange, 3 Songs of Björnetjerne Björnsons Arne, Op. 1 (1889) * Sonatine in G major for piano, Op. 2 (1897) * String Quartet in B minor, Op. 3 (1893) * Foraar (Spring), Poem Cycle for soprano and piano, Op. 4 (1910); words by Christian Richardt * O, welch ein Tiefe for chorus, Op. 5 (1902) * Julekantate for chorus, Op. 8a * Ode til den menneskelige stemme for chorus, Op. 8b * Under Egetræet for soloist, chorus and orc

Christian Julius Hansen

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Christian Julius Hansen (6 May 1814 – 15 March 1875) was a Danish composer, organist, voice teacher and choirmaster. He studied with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann; his works include songs, choral and orchestral pieces as well as light operas. In several of his song compositions Hansen revealed an uncommon sense of choral movement and considerable melodic vein, sometimes used fresh and cheerfully, sometimes on a quiet, slightly melancholic way. Life Christian Hansen was born in Christianshavn, the son of stonemason Nicholas Hansen (1775–1834) and his second wife Frederikke Christine, née Hess (1775–1850). He was admitted to the Giuseppe Siboni Conservatory when he was 11 years old, but soon had to focus his attention on composition because his beautiful voice began to change. He was encouraged by both J.P.E. Hartmann and Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, to whom he dedicated his first printed work Six Romances written in 1835. In 1840 he took part in the Musikforeningen’s overture competition in Copenhagen, where Gade won first prize with his Echoes of Ossian. Hansen’s Overture in E major received “honorable mention”. It was performed by the Music Society on 6 April 1842 and posthumou

Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse

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Christoph(er) Ernst Friedrich Weyse (5 March 1774 – 8 October 1842) was a Danish composer during the Danish Golden Age. Biography Weyse was born at Altona in Holstein, which was in a personal union with Denmark. He gained much interest in music in his hometown and Hamburg, where C. P. E. Bach was the municipal director of music. Works He was best known for his vocal works, which included numerous singspiele, Christmas carols, a setting of the Te Deum and of the Miserere, over 30 cantatas, Cantatas Unlike Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas, Weyse’s cantatas were designed to be played after the service, rather than used as liturgical music during the service. His Easter Cantata No. 1, , was written in 1836 and its words are based on works by poet Thomas Thaarup. The work premiered on 22 April in Trinitatis Church. Singspiel * (1809) * (1812) * (1816) * (1825) * (1827) * (1836) Songs * Julen har bragt velsignet bud (1841) References External links *“Opera Composers: W – Weyse, Christoph Ernst Friedrich”, OperaGlass, Stanford University *

Claus Schall

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Claus Nielsen Schall (28 April 1757 – 10 August 1835) was a Danish violinist and composer living much of his life as a subject of Denmark–Norway. Life and career Niels Pedersen Schall’s father, initially a cobbler’s apprentice, later established his own dance school. His mother was Christiane Pedersdatter, née Salling. He had two brothers, Andreas Schall and Peder Schall, who were also musicians. Early years His father, keen on involving him in dance, arranged violin lessons for him. Later, he briefly worked in an office but found it unsuitable. In 1772, he independently enrolled in the Theatre’s dance school, becoming a supernumerary in 1773. Engaging in ballets, he had the opportunity to hear various pieces of music, which he memorized on the violin due to his excellent musical memory. He supported himself by teaching dance in Roskilde and Holbæk during summers and giving music lessons in Copenhagen during winters. In 1776, during a rehearsal for the ballet “Kongen paa Jagt,” the rehearsal director fell ill, and the key to the music cabinet was misplaced. Schall played the entire music from memory and even conducted the ballet that evening when no violinist from the orchestra dar

Cornelius Gurlitt (composer)

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Gustav Cornelius Gurlitt (10 February 1820 – 17 June 1901) was a German composer. He was a classmate of Carl Reinecke, whose father was head of the Leipzig Conservatory. Gurlitt studied with Reinecke’s father for six years. His first public appearance at the age of seventeen was well received, and he decided to go to Copenhagen to continue his studies. There he studied organ, piano, and composition under Curlander and Weyse. While in Copenhagen he became acquainted with the Danish composer Niels Gade, and they remained friends until Gade’s death. In 1842, Gurlitt moved to Hørsholm, where he resided as an organist and a music teacher for four years. He then moved to Leipzig, Germany, where Gade was the musical director for the Gewandhaus concerts. Gurlitt next traveled to Rome, where his brother, Louis Gurlitt, a well-known painter, was studying. Cornelius Gurlitt’s abilities as a musician were quickly recognized in Rome, and the papal Accademia di Santa Cecilia nominated him an honorary member, and later graduated him as a Professor of Music in 1855. While in Rome he also studied painting with excellent results. On his return to Altona, the Duke of Augustenburg engaged him as teach

Dan Folke

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Dan Folke (March 11, 1906 – September 16, 1954) was a Danish composer, lyricist, publisher, and theater director. Biography Folke was born in Frederiksberg. Together with Arvid and Børge Müller, Folke wrote the lyrics for “Glemmer du” References External links *Dan Folke at the Danish Film Database

Dieterich Buxtehude

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Dieterich Buxtehude (; born Diderich Hansen Buxtehude, ; – 9 May 1707) His parents were Johannes (Hans Jensen) Buxtehude and Helle Jespersdatter. His father originated from Oldesloe in the Duchy of Holstein, which at that time was a part of the Danish realms in Northern Germany. Scholars dispute both the year and country of Dieterich’s birth, although most now accept that he was born in 1637 in Helsingborg in the province of Scania/Skåne, which was part of Denmark at the time (but it is now part of Sweden). His obituary stated that “he recognized Denmark as his native country, whence he came to our region; he lived about 70 years”. Others, however, claim that he was born at Oldesloe. Later in his life he Germanized his name and began signing documents Dieterich Buxtehude. Lübeck: Marienkirche Buxtehude’s last post, from 1668, was at the Marienkirche, Lübeck which had two organs, a large one for big services and a small one for devotionals and funerals. There he succeeded Franz Tunder and followed in many of the footsteps of his predecessor. He married Tunder’s daughter Anna Margarethe in 1668 – it was not uncommon practice that a man marry the daughter of his predecessor in his occ

Édouard Du Puy

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Jean Baptiste Édouard Louis Camille Du Puy (17703 April 1822) was a Principality of Neuchâtel-born singer, composer, director, and violinist. He lived and worked in Copenhagen and Stockholm from 1793 until his death in 1822. Early years Édouard Du Puy was born in Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Principality of Neuchâtel, around the year 1770, although sources differ on the exact year. From the age of four, he was raised by his uncle, a city musician in Geneva, Republic of Geneva. Edouard later took the last name of this uncle. Seeing that his nephew had talent, the uncle made sure that Edouard received a musicial education. In 1786, Du Puy was sent to Paris, where he was taught to play the piano by Jan Ladislav Dussek, and the violin by François Chabran. In 1789, he was appointed concertmaster at the court of Heinrich of Prussia in Rheinsberg, replacing J. A. P. Schulz, who was called to Denmark as a choir director at the Royal Danish Orchestra (Danish: Det Kongelige Kapel). Du Puy worked in Rheinsberg for four years while studying harmonies under Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch. Stockholm and Copenhagen Still in his early twenties, in 1793 Du Puy traveled throughout the Holy Roman Empire,

Eduard Holst

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Eduard Holst (1843 – 4 February 1899) was a Danish playwright, composer, actor, dancer, and dance master. His name is spelled sometimes Edward Holst or Edvard Holst. Holst was born in Copenhagen. His compositions include songs and piano solo works. He was very prolific and a 1907 biography states he produced over two thousand works. He died in New York City. Works *Ilma, Grande Valse de Concert (1878) (later republished/renamed in the U.S. as “Diana”) *Bloom & Blossom, a Waltz (1887) *Autumn Leaf, a Polka for Children (1887) *Dance of The Demon (Grand Galop de Concert) (1888) *Shower of Melodies, part of a six work series for children *Our National Guardsmen, ded. to: Col. Emmons Clark 7th Regiment N.G.S.N.Y. (1889) *Follow Me (March) (1890) *La Tanda (Spanish Dance) (1892) *Young Hearts (Polka) (1892) *Marine Band March (1893) *Lily Waltz (1895) *Violet Galop (1895) *Lilac York Dance (1895) *Carnation March (1895) *Pansy Polka (1895) *Rose Gavotte (1895) *Brocken Revels (Grand Galop De Concert) (1896) *Our Flats, a comic opera, premiered in 1897 in New York *Bicycle Race (Galop) (1897) *Shooting Stars Galop (1897) *Battle of Manila (1898) *Hot Water, a comedy *The Little Maid in P

Eduard Lassen

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Eduard Lassen (13 April 183015 January 1904) was a Belgian-Danish composer and conductor. Although of Danish birth, he spent most of his career working as the music director at the court in Weimar. A moderately prolific composer, Lassen produced music in a variety of genres including operas, symphonic works, piano works, lieder, and choral works among others. His most successful pieces were his fine vocal art songs for solo voice and piano which often used elements of German and Belgian folk music. Biography He was born in Copenhagen, but was taken as a child to Brussels to which his father was president of the Jewish Consistor of Belgium. He was educated at the Brussels Conservatory where he earned prizes for piano (1844) and composition (1847). He won the Prix de Rome in 1851, which provided him with the opportunity to make a long tour in Germany and Italy. While touring he met Louis Spohr and Franz Liszt and composed much of his first opera Le roi Edgard. After returning to Brussels in 1855, Lassen actively sought to get his opera performed but was unable to do so. Liszt, however, agreed to produce the opera at the Grossherzogliches Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) and the

Else Marie Pade

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Else Marie Pade (2 December 1924 – 18 January 2016) was a Danish composer of electronic music. She was educated as a pianist at the Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (Royal Danish Academy of Music) in Copenhagen. She studied composition first with Vagn Holmboe, and later with Jan Maegaard, from whom she learned twelve-tone technique. In 1954, she became the first Danish composer of electronic and concrete music. She worked with Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as Pierre Boulez. Pade was active in the resistance during the Second World War, and was interned at the Frøslev prison camp from 1944 until the end of the war. Early life Pade was born in Aarhus. In her childhood, she was often bedridden with pyelonephritis. She listened to the outside world and created “aural pictures” out of the sounds. These sounds, real sounds, became the basis of her actual musical works. As a protected child, she came with her mother outside of town and went to the theatre. The first music lessons took place in the home where the mother tried to teach her piano playing, but when she did not bother practising scales, she got her mother’s piano teacher, Miss Moller. Later she had mu

Emil Hartmann

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Emil Hartmann (21 February 1836–18 July 1898) was a Danish composer of the romantic period, fourth generation of composers in the Danish Hartmann musical family. His music is distinctly Nordic and tuneful and won great popularity in his time. Early life and education Hartmann was born on 21 February 1836 in Copenhagen, the eldest son of composer Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann and of his composer wife Emma Hartmann. He grew up in the Zinn House in Copenhagen. Emil Hartmann got his first education from his father Johan Peter Emilius and brother-in-law Niels Gade. His piano teachers were Niels Ravnkilde (1823–1890) and Anton Rée (1820–1886). Letters from Hans Christian Andersen show that he was composing even before he could talk properly. Career Emil Hartmann was a composer of the Danish Golden Age. He wrote seven symphonies, concertos for respectively violin, cello and piano, several ouvertures, a symphonic poem (Hakon Jarl), orchestral suites, serenades, ballets, operas and singspiels, incidental music and cantatas. He was also the author of multiple works of chamber music (nonet, piano quintet, string quartets, clarinet quartets, piano trios, serenade for clarinet, cello and piano,

Emil Reesen

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Emil Reesen (30 May 1887 – 27 March 1964) was a Danish composer, conductor and pianist. Aside from composing for ballets and operas he was also a noted film score composer. He is remembered mainly for his operetta Farinelli (1942), which is still popular today. Life Emil Reesen studied with private tutors such as the composer Vilhelm Rosenberg and the pianist Siegfried Langgaard (a pupil of Franz Liszt). He made his debut as a concert pianist in 1911 and was employed as a conductor for the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1927. In 1931 he also began working as a ballet conductor at the Royal Danish Theatre. Later in his life he conducted the Vienna Symphony and recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic. Emil Reesen was the father of the composer Morten Reesen (1928–1961) and the great-uncle of the composer Frederik Magle (his sister’s grandson). Notable works * 1926 Rapsodien Himmerland * 1928 Variationer over et tema af Schubert * 1931 Gaucho, ballet * 1933 Gudindernes Strid, ballet * 1934 Zaporogerne, ballet * 1941 Trianon. Suite i gammel stil * 1941 Historien om en Moder, opera (Det kgl. Teater) * 1942 Farinelli, operetta (text: Mogens Dam) * 1948 Gadeprinsessen, operette * 1950 V

Emilius Bangert

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Emilius Bangert (19 August 1883 – 19 August 1962) was a Danish composer, organist, and professor. He played the organ at Roskilde Cathedral and also composed orchestral and chamber music. Biography Emilius Ferdinand Caspar Bangert was born in Copenhagen, the son of Conrad Bangert and Ida Anderson. In 1902, he graduated from Borgerdydskolen (School of Civic Virtue), Copenhagen’s most prestigious private school. He acquired a cand. phil. degree in 1903. He was a private pupil in theory and composition with Carl Nielsen 1902–07. He contributed several times to compositions that Nielsen had received orders for either transcript, instrumentation, or directly as a composer. Emilius Bangert also had piano lessons with Henrik Knudsen and organ lessons with Edgar Henrichsen and Eugene Gigout in Paris. In 1913 he received the Ancker Award scholarship (Det anckerske Legat) and went on study tour to Germany and Italy. In 1908 he took the exam organist. From 1915, he was organist at various churches, the first being Skovshoved church (Skovshoved kirke) and the last being Roskilde Cathedral (Roskilde Domkirke) to 1955. In the years 1908–09, he conducted Bangert Academic Orchestra. From 1912, he

Emma Hartmann

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Amalia Emma Sophie Hartmann née Zinn (22 August 1807 – 6 March 1851) was a Danish composer who composed under the pseudonym Frederik H. Palmer. She was married to the composer Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (1805–1900). They lived on the second floor of the Zinn House at Kvæsthusgade 3 in Copenhagen. Early life Emma Zinn was born into a wealthy merchant family in Copenhagen. She was the daughter of Johann Friederich Zinn (1779–1838) and Eva Sophie Juliane Oldeland (1779–1812). Her father had inherited the family’s trading house after the death of his father Johann Ludvig Zinn in 1802, initially in a partnership with his brother Carl Ludvig Zinn who died in 1808. Emma grew up in the Zinn House at Kvæsthusgade 3 and studied singing and piano with composer Andreas Peter Berggreen (1801–1880). Compositions Her first published composition was music for a Student Association dance in February 1841. Five pamphlets with a total of 22 Romances and Songs were later published with lyrics by prominent names including Christian Winther, Frederik Paludan-Müller and Swedish Johan Ludvig Runeberg. The first pamphlet was published in 1848 by Horneman & Erslev but the last two were published posthumou

Erling Brene

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Niels Erling Emmanuel Brene (14 November 1896 – 17 May 1980) was a Danish composer. He was born and died in Copenhagen. In 1948, he won a bronze medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his orchestral composition Vigeur (Vigour). Erling Brene was an accomplished composer and music teacher from 1950–70 at The Ellebjerg School in Copenhagen. Selected works Opera * Mordet i værtshuset (Murder at the Inn), chamber opera/puppet comedy, Op.12 (1930) * Drengen med fløjten, school opera, Op.50 (1950) * Peter Pan, school opera, Op.54 (1953) * Under Piletræt, opera after Hans Christian Andersen, Op.55 (1954) * Besøgeren, opera, Op.66 (1964) Incidental music * Trommer i natten (1930) * Suite af Musik for marionetteater, Op.18b (1932) Orchestra * Symphony (1920) * Junkeren og Møllerpigen (1921) * Sommer, symphony (1924) * Sinfonietta (1925) * Tre Stykker (3 Pieces) for chamber orchestra (1926) * Suite for chamber orchestra, Op.5 (1928) * Soldatens Ballade (1930) * Suite from Mordet i værtshuset, Op.14b (1930) * Suite for string orchestra, Op.21 (1934) * Ouverture, Op.22 * 3 Epigrammer (3 Epigrams) for string orchestra (1936) * Capriccio, Op.27 (1936) * Rapsodi, Op.28 (1936) * Ove

Eva Noer Kondrup

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Eva Noer Kondrup (born 23 April 1964) is a Danish composer of classical music who has written piano pieces, chamber music, orchestral works and operas. As resident composer with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra in the early 2000s, she wrote Ulvemælk (for viola and symphony orchestra) and Salt strøm salt (for soprano and orchestra). She is however associated above all with her operas, Neja (1999) and Den Rejsende or The Traveller (2018). Biography Born in 1964, Eva Noer Kondrup enjoyed listening to music and playing folk music as a child but it was first when she was 18 that she became seriously interested in classical music. Despite following an introductory course to music at Holsterbro Musikskole, it was not until her late twenties that she started to study composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, graduating in 1997. In addition, she attended master classes with Iannis Xenakis, George Crumb and Louis Andriessen and studied composition under Hans Gefors at the Malmö Academy of Music. Compositions Noer Kondrup’s compositions include: *3 Studies for Piano, 1993 *Wave piece, chamber music, 1993 *3 sange fra Det, mezzo-soprano solos with instrumental accompaniment, 1995 *Epilog

Eyvin Andersen

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Eyvin (Ejvin) Andersen (24 February 1914 – 18 October 1968) was a Danish organist, violist, and composer. In the course of his career, Andersen was an organist at Vartov Church, a violist in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, a teacher at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Esbjerg, and the founder of the School for Old Music. Biography Eyvin (or Ejvin) was born 24 February 1914 in Colorado, USA. He later studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Andersen performed as a violist in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Andersen specialized in baroque music and worked to make 18th-century music accessible in his time. He established the School for Old Music () which focused on music from before 1750. He taught vocal music, music theory, and the baroque violin at the school. Among the school’s other teachers was composer Tage Nielsen, who taught lute and guitar. He died in Copenhagen on 18 October 1969. At the time he had been the organist at , a position which his brother, Aksel, took over after Eyvin’s death. References

Fini Henriques

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Valdemar Fini Henriques (baptized Finni) (20 October 1867 at Frederiksberg - 27 October 1940 in Copenhagen) was a Danish composer and violinist. His parents were hospital inspector and justice counsel Vilhelm Moritz Henriques (1828-1889), who was of Jewish origin, and Marie Christine Rasmussen (1826-1913). He was brother-in-law to the doctor and philosopher Severin Christensen. Fini Henriques’ son, musician Johan Henriques, was the concert master of the 2nd violin group in the Royal Chapel, where his father had worked for almost four years as a violinist. Career Henriques became a private student of the violinist Valdemar Tofte, who was the concert master of the chapel and professor at the Conservatory of Music, and of the chief director of the Royal Chapel, Johan Svendsen, after Niels W. Gade had advised him to go through the Conservatory of Music. From 1888 - 1891 he was in Berlin, where he studied at violinist Joseph Joachim and composer Woldemar Bargiel, who was half brother to Clara Schumann and himself student of Niels W. Gade. After his time in Copenhagen, he returned for one year to Germany and Austria. At the time of his return, he was employed in the Royal Chapel in 1892,

Finn Høffding

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Niels Finn Høffding (10 March 1899 – 29 March 1997) was a Danish composer. Høffding was born and died in Copenhagen. He studied composition under Knud Jeppesen and Thomas Laub, and then under Joseph Marx in Vienna from 1921-22. His works first became well known in Denmark in the 1920s, particularly the piece Karlsvognen (chorus and orchestra, 1924). He began to study folk music about 1930, and founded the Copenhagen School of Folk Music in 1931. From 1931 he also taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he served as director after 1954. In 1956 and 1958 he was awarded the Nielsen Prize. His pupils include Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Vagn Holmboe, Bent Lorentzen, and Leif Thybo. In addition to composing, Høffding also wrote several theoretical treatises. Works Note:This list is incomplete Opera *Kejserens nye klæder (1928) *Kilderejsen op. 15 (1942) Choral * 4 DIAPSALMATA (Søren Kierkegaard words, four diapsalmata (aphorism) from Either/Or vol. I. 1977 *Karlsvognen (chorus and orchestra, 1924) *Christofer Columbus (1937) *Kantate til Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatoriums årsfest (1948) *Giordano Bruno (1968) Orchestral *Romance for Violin and String orchestra (1918) *C

Flemming Weis

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(Carl) Flemming Weis (15 April 1898 – 30 September 1981) was a Danish composer. He was born in 1898 in Copenhagen, Denmark and died in Hellerup, Denmark in 1981. When studying, he specialized in the organ. Music Weis was heavily influenced by teacher Carl Nielsen. Starting in 1926 he was a board member of the Danish branch of the International Society for Contemporary Music. He also joined the board of the Danish Composers’ Society in 1956 and became its chairman in 1967. Weis was also Chairman of the board for the Society for the Publication of Danish Music. See also *List of Danish composers References *This article was initially translated from the Danish Wikipedia.

Frans Bak

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Frans Bak (born 7 February 1958 Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish composer, choral conductor, saxophonist, and pianist. He is a graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Music and has worked as a jazz performer and composer of film music. Bak has scored commercials, short films, and feature films, including three Academy Award-nominated shorts: Ernst & The Light, Sweethearts?, and Helmer & Son. In 2016 Bak released the album Sound of North which featured new compositions plus selections from The Killing. He went on to perform the album live in Beijing’s Danish Cultural Centre in March 2017. In 2020 Bak released the album PIANO. He discovered the piano he learned to play on as a child in a Copenhagen music shop window for sale, and bought it. Playing on this piano again, he revisited his childhood years and his love of creating simple and beautiful piano melodies. In March2025, alongside Laura Illeborg, released an album entitled . It was released posthumously following Illeborg’s death in 2024. Discography * Hymn to the Rainbow (L+R, 1992) * Live in Copenhagen (Olufsen, 1993) * Natsange (Stunt, 1999) * Bossa Nuts (Stunt, 2011) * The Killing (Decca, 2012) *Doctor Foster OST (Drama Repu

Franz Joseph Glæser

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Franz Joseph Glæser (19 April 1798 - 29 August 1861), also spelt as Glaeser and Gläser, was an Austrian-Danish composer. Born in Obergeorgenthal, Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire, Glaeser’s work as a composer was mostly done before he migrated to Denmark, to spend much of his later life in Copenhagen. He gained his first position as a Kapellmeister at the Leopoldstadt Theater in 1817 and his last at Copenhagen in 1842, retaining the position until his death in 1861. Work * Die vier Haimonskinder (1809) * Bärnburgs Sturz (1817) * Das Mädchen ohne Zunge (1819) * Das Felsenmädchen (1820) * Der geraubte Schleier (1820) * Der Tambour (1820) * Sküs, Mond und Pagat (1820) * Wenn’s was ist, so ist’s nichts und ist’s nichts, so sind’s 36 Kreuzer (1820) * Arsenius der Weiberfeind (1823) * Dank und Undank (1823) * Der rasende Roland (1823) * Stumme Liebe (1823) * Der Brief an sich selbst (1824) * Der Erlenkönig (1824) * Die kurzen Mäntel (1824) * Die Rettung durch die Sparkassa (1824) * Liebe und Haß (1824) * Sauertöpfchen (1824) * Sieben Mädchen in Uniform (1825) * Der Bär und das Kind (1825) * Die sonderbare Laune (1825) * Die Weiber in Uniform (1825) * Die Zauberin Armida (1825) *

Franz Syberg

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Franz Adolf Syberg (5 July 1904 - 11 December 1955) was a Danish composer. Life Syberg was born in Kerteminde, Funen, to the painters Anna and Fritz Syberg. He moved to Leipzig in 1922 where he studied musical composition and music theory at the Leipzig Conservatory with Sigfrid Karg-Elert and Werner Hübschmann. He left for Copenhagen in 1928, where he studied organ with Peter Thomsen. He was appointed organist at Kerteminde in 1932, where he remained for the rest of his life. His 1931 Quintet for flute, clarinet and string trio was chosen in 1938 to be performed at the International Society for Contemporary Music in London and the Nordic Music Days in Copenhagen. The years following this saw the composition of his most mature works, ending in 1942, when he stopped composing. His work was largely forgotten until 1990, when seven of his compositions were performed at the Musikhøst festival in Odense. Much of his work has now been published and performed. His music has much in common with German neo-classicism similar to Hindemith, with much counterpoint and dense linearity, resulting in some harsh and dissonant harmonies. His more mature works show the influence of Carl Nielsen. Com

Franz Xaver Neruda

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Franz Xaver Neruda (or František) (3 December 1843 – 19 March 1915) was a Czech-Danish cellist and composer of Moravian origin. Life Franz Xaver Neruda was born in Brno into a musical family. He was the fifth child of the organist of Brno Cathedral Josef Neruda. He grew up in Vienna and first learned violin with father (from 1852) and after the death of his brother Viktor, who played cello, he learned playing it himself. With his father and four siblings he performed through Europe in the Neruda Quartet and also as a soloist. In 1859, he studied cello for half a year with Adrien-François Servais. Later Neruda became a member of the royal chapel in Copenhagen. On 3 December 1868, he founded there a chamber music society and the next year, he was named royal chamber musician. In 1869, he married ballet dancer Camilla Cetti. After engagements in London and Manchester, he moved back to Copenhagen until he became appointed by Anton Rubinstein as a successor of cello professor Karl Davydov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1891, he was appointed conductor of the Stockholm music society and in 1892, conductor of the Copenhagen music society, succeeding Niels Gade and Emil Hartmann.

Frederik Magle

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Frederik Reesen Magle (; born 17 April 1977) is a Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist. He writes contemporary classical music as well as fusion of classical music and other genres. His compositions include orchestral works, cantatas, chamber music, and solo works (mainly for organ), including several compositions commissioned by the Danish royal family. Magle has gained a reputation as an organ virtuoso, and as a composer and performing artist who does not refrain from venturing into more experimental projects – often with improvisation – bordering jazz, electronica, and other non-classical genres. His best-known works include his concerto for organ and orchestra The Infinite Second, his brass quintet piece Lys på din vej (Light on your path), composed for the christening of Prince Nikolai, The Hope for brass band and choir, his symphonic suite Cantabile, a collection of improvisations for organ titled Like a Flame, and his fanfare for two trumpets and organ The Fairest of Roses. Life Frederik Magle was born in Stubbekøbing, the son of actress and writer Mimi Heinrich and organist, painter and sculptor Christian Reesen Magle (1925–96). He is the great-nephew of the compo

Frederik Thorkildsen Wexschall

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Frederick Thorkildsen Wexschall (born 9 April 1798 in Copenhagen, died 25 October 1845) was a Danish classical composer, violinist, and concertmaster of the Copenhagen Royal Orchestra. A pupil of Bohemian composer František Martin Pecháček and German conductor Louis Spohr, Wexschall was married to the Danish stage actress and mezzo-soprano opera singer Anna Nielsen. Life He was the son of John Thorkildsen Wexsal, a Norwegian farmer’s son who became chief huntsman to the Danish Crown Prince, and later manager of the Amalienborg Palace, and Jacobine Caroline, née Holm. In 1823 he was married to the Danish actress and opera singer Anna Nielsen; the marriage was dissolved in 1831, and later he married Caroline, née Dam (d. 1848). Taught on violin, first by his father and later by music professor Peter Mandrup Lem, he was already appearing at concert halls at a very young age. In June 1812 he became a pupil in the chapel of concert master , evolving to an excellent violin player. Between 1820 and 1822 he traveled with abroad, where he studied under masters such as Karl Moser in Berlin, Pecháček in Vienna and Spohr in Kassel, The music scene suffered a great loss as a corrosive disease l

Friedrich Kuhlau

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Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau, sometimes written as Frederick Kulav, (11 September 1786 – 12 March 1832) was a Danish pianist and composer during the late Classical and early Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age and is immortalized in Danish cultural history through his music for Elves’ Hill, the first true work of Danish National Romanticism and a concealed tribute to the absolute monarchy. During his lifetime, Kuhlau was known primarily as a concert pianist and composer of Danish opera, but was responsible for introducing many of Beethoven’s works, which he greatly admired, to Copenhagen audiences. Kuhlau was a prolific composer, as evidenced by the fact that although his house burned down, destroying all of his unpublished manuscripts, he still left a legacy of more than 200 published works in most genres. Early life and education Kuhlau was born on 11 September 1786 just south of Lüneburg in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony (Germany). At the age of seven, he lost his right eye when he slipped on ice and fell. His father, grandfather, and uncle were military oboists. Even though Kuhlau was born to a poor family, his parents managed to pay for pi

Georg Carl Bohlmann

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Georg Carl Bohlmann (1838 – 1920) was a Danish music teacher, music director, organist and composer. He composed a number of major and minor compositions, including two symphonies, and several overtures. He also arranged music for other artists. Biography Bohlman was born on 8 April 1838, the son of tobacco manufacturer Reinhard Georg Carl Bohlmann. Bohlmann studied with Charles Kjerulf, likely at the Mariboes School. Bohlmann lived in Bremen from 1851–1859 and trained as a musician under conductor Carl Heinemann. He returned to Copenhagen, where he worked as a music teacher and arranger and a music theater director. In 1865, he received the Anckerske scholarship and considered using it to studied in Rome. From 1872 to 1876, Bohlmann was an organist in Svendborg. His own Vikingefærd (Viking Expedition) was also performed at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Beginning in 1887, Bohlmann received an annual grant from the state. He also received a grant from the Raben-Lewetzauske Fund for the publication of instrumentation illustrations. From 1892 until his death, he was an organist at the Vestre Kirkegaards Chapel in Copenhagen. Bohlmann died in 1920; he was 82. References

Georg Høeberg

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Georg Valdemar Høeberg (27 December 1872 – 3 August 1950) was a Danish violinist, conductor and composer. He was the brother of the opera singer Albert Høeberg and cellist Ernst Høeberg and grandson of Hans Christian Lumbye. He was born in Copenhagen. In 1888 he became a student at the Music Academy with George Ditleff Bondesen, Gade and Valdemar Tofte as teachers. The violin was his main instrument and he also studied the piano and composition. After further violin studies in Berlin he got a job as a violinist in the Royal Chapel from 1897 - 1901. At the same time he began composing, and in 1899 he received the Anckerske Scholarship. From 1900 he was additionally violin teacher at the Conservatory until 1914 when he became conductor of the Royal chapel as a replacement for Choquan Deez. He held this post until 1930. In the years from 1910 to 1914 he was head of the concerts in the Danish Concert Association and there proved his abilities as a conductor. He died in Vedbaek. His musical output was small. List of works * op. 1 Sonata in G major (violin and piano) * op. 2 Sonata in A minor (cello and piano) * op. 3 Romance (Violin and Orchestra / Piano) * op. 4 Cinq Morceaux (piano) *

Gregers Brinch

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Gregers Brinch (born 2 June 1964) is a Danish composer. Biography Gregers Brinch was born in Esbjerg, Denmark. He was drawn to become a composer upon watching the film Amadeus by Miloš Forman and Peter Shaffer in 1984, at the age of 20. After an initial period of aided self-study in England with the singer and composer Cecil Cope, he studied piano with Louis Demetrius Alvanis in London before moving to Hamburg, Germany to study composition with Elmar Lampson and piano with Alan Newcome and later Ulrike Bauer. Brinch’s use of a number of styles with an authentic quality stems from his wide musical background. He feels equally at home with the blues, as with the music of Beethoven or Gregorian Chants. His consistent use and exploration of tonality is supported by his finding nuances in harmony and melody which is accessible to the listener without being easy listening. Nature and drama also feature as inspirations for Brinch’s work, but it is his study of intervals that has served to lend him his own unique voice as a composer. Central themes permeating a number of his works include Human Rights and the Holocaust. His work Lieder aus Leid was 18 years in preparation before receiving

Gunnar Berg (composer)

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Gunnar Berg (11 January 1909 – 25 August 1989) was a Swiss-born Danish composer. A leading exponent of serialism in Denmark, he is considered to have written the first Danish serial piece, his Cosmogonie for two pianos, in 1952. Biography Early life and education in Switzerland The son of a Swedish mother and a Danish father, Gunnar Berg was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland on January 11, 1909. His father died when he was five years old. He lived in Copenhagen from the years 1921 to 1924 during which time he battled severe illness and spent most of his time in sanatoriums. Berg began studying the piano at the age of 14. He spent a short time in Paris before settling again in Copenhagen again in 1928. In 1931 he made the decision to devote his life to music and he managed to earn a place studying music at the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 1932. He later returned to that program for further studies in 1935. He studied privately with Knud Jeppesen who aided him in matriculating to the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1936. There the composition program mirrored Danish tastes for the style of Carl Nielsen for which Berg had no interest. His compositions from the mid to late 1930s d

Gustav Helsted

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Gustav Carl Helsted (30 January 1857 - 1 March 1924) was a Danish organist and composer. Helsted was the son of composer Carl Helsted, brother of painter Viggo Helsted, and nephew of composer Edvard Helsted. He was a student of Gottfred Matthison-Hansen. Helsted was the first organist of the Jesus Church in Copenhagen. He was paid 600 Danish crowns a year for the position. He was also the music director of the Danish Musical Society. Notable works * Overture in C minor (piano four hands 1875) * Scherzo in C♯ minor (for 2 pianos/eight hands 1880) * String quartet in B minor (1881) * op. 1 Erotiske Sangtekster (voice and piano, 1883) * op. 2 Symphony no. 1 in D minor (1883) * op. 3 String quartet no. 1 in D minor (1884) * Romance in G major (violin and piano 1884) * Romance in A major (violin and piano 1885) * op. 4 En Kærlighedshistorie (piano 1886) * op. 5 Paa Fodtur en Sommerdag (suite for orchestra 1885) * op. 6 piano trio in E minor (1886) * op. 7 Six songs (1886) * op. 8 Violin concerto in C major (1887) * op. 9 En Bryllupsfest (orchestral suite 1887) * op. 10 Suite no. 2 in A major (orchestra 1887) * op. 11 Romance for violin and orchestra in G major (1888) * op. 12 Fem sange

Hakon Børresen

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Axel Ejnar Hakon Børresen (2 June 1876 – 6 October 1954) was one of the foremost Danish composers of the 20th century. Life Børresen was born and died in Copenhagen, and was descended from a merchant family. As a child, he was given violin, cello and piano lessons. When Børresen made clear to his father that he wished to become a composer, the latter arranged for him to study at the Royal Danish Conservatory in 1895. There he studied composition with Johan Svendsen. After further private studies, his First Symphony was privately premiered in 1901. It made his name as an up-and-coming composer. There followed travels in Germany, France and Belgium, where he made many useful connections. From 1902 on he divided his time between Copenhagen and Skagen where he maintained a second home. Børresen was an important organizer of several Danish music festivals and served as the president of Danish Composers Union between 1924 and 1949. At the time of his death, he was widely regarded as one of Denmark’s most important musicians. His opera The Royal Guest is widely regarded as the best early 20th-century Danish opera, and his chamber music works received considerable critical praise. His work

Hans Abrahamsen

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Hans Abrahamsen (born 23 December 1952) is a Danish composer born in Kongens Lyngby near Copenhagen. His Let me tell you (2013), a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, was ranked by music critics at The Guardian as the finest work of the 21st-century. His opera The Snow Queen was commissioned and premiered by the Royal Danish Theatre in 2019. Biography Early life His interest in composition and piano began after hearing his father playing piano. His first attempts at “little melodies” were designed to be played with the only two fingers on his right hand that were capable of playing the instrument. After realizing that he would not be able to progress, he shifted his focus to the French horn. From 1969 to 1971, he studied horn, music theory, and music history at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. While at the conservatory, his music was inspired by his mentors Per Nørgård and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. In the 1980s, he continued his studies attending seminars with György Ligeti. Early career Abrahamsen is considered to have been part of a trend called the “New Simplicity”, which arose in the mid-1960s as a reaction against the complexity and perceived aridity of the

Hans Christian Lumbye

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Hans Christian Lumbye (; 2 May 1810 – 20 March 1874) was a Danish composer of waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and galops, among other things. Life and career As a child, he studied music in Randers and Odense, and by age 14 he was playing the trumpet in a military band. In 1829, he joined the Horse Guards in Copenhagen, still continuing his music education. In 1839, he heard a Viennese orchestra play music by Johann Strauss I, after which he composed in the style of Strauss, eventually earning the nickname “The Strauss of the North”. From 1843 to 1872, he served as the music director and in-house composer for Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen. Such was his popularity in the Danish capital that many Danes revered him and considered Johann Strauss II as the “Lumbye of the South”. Works Lumbye is best known for his light compositions, many of which evoke non-musical sources. The Champagne Galop, for example, begins with the “pop” of a champagne cork, and the Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop faithfully recreates the sounds of a train chugging out of a station and grinding to a halt at the next stop. He honored the Swedish Nightingale with a “Souvenir de Jenny Lind, Vals” from 1845. Galops * Jubel-Gal

Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck

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Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck (also: Hartenack; 2 July 1746 in Husum – 15 February 1832 in Copenhagen) was a German-Danish composer. Early years At the age of 5, the young Otto performed for King Frederick V of Denmark, and before he turned 12 his father had taught him to play violin, flute and piano. Until he was 19, he attended Latin school in Husum, Germany and traveled to Hamburg around the age of 21–22 where he sang in a church choir. He studied music, and sang under the guidance of music director Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who became his idol. Hamburg 1767 Zinck participated in the musical life, becoming an important flute player in Hamburg and composing flute pieces. In 1774–76 he gave subscription concerts, a few at a time, at which large vocal concerts were held. He also tutored, and married his pupil Susanne Elisabeth Pontet (born in 1745 of French origin) on 27 September 1774. On 17 December 1777, the coupe were employed at the chapel of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Ludwigslust, where Zinck became flutist, and his wife a soprano singer. Here he composed six piano sonatas (1782). Copenhagen 1786 In September 1786, Zinck and his wife traveled to Copenhagen, where they performed a

Henning Christiansen

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Henning Christiansen (28 May 1932 in Copenhagen – 10 December 2008) was a Danish composer and an active member of the Fluxus-movement. He worked with artists such as Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, Bazon Brock and Wolf Vostell as well as with his wife Ursula Reuter Christiansen. Other collaborators include Bjørn Nørgaard, Carlo Quartucci, Carla Tato, Ernst Kretzer, Ben Patterson, David Moss, Ute Wassermann, Andreas Oldörp, Christophe Charles, Bernd Jasper, Henrik Kiel, Vilem Wagner, Vladimir Tarasov, Niko Tenten, and many others. His overall goal was to work collaboratively and to trespass conventional boundaries. He resented the idea of an isolated artistic genius and his entire production can be seen as a subsequent and vibrant example of praxis in a constant flux. He believed in the need to trespass conventional boundaries between artistic disciplines. This is visible from his engagement in Fluxus, over numerous collaborative performances to his position as a professor at the Art Academy in Hamburg (Hochschule für Bildende Künste – HfBK). Christiansen lived almost 40 years on the Danish Island Møn. He presented a retrospective exhibition in Copenhagen and participated in the music

Henriette Wienecke

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Sigrid Ingeborg Henriette Wienecke ( Stadfeldt; March 13, 1819 – April 18, 1907) was a Norwegian-Danish composer who produced over 140 psalms and musical pieces. Biography Wienecke was born in Frederikshald, Norway to Asgeir Johnson Stadfeldt (1786-1831) and Anna Bruun Tordenskjold (1781-1848). Wienecke moved to Oslo with her mother after the death of her father, and in 1834 married her singing teacher, Friedrich Ferdinand Wienecke (1809-1877), who was employed by the Christiania Theater; the couple had one daughter, who died as an infant. Wienecke wanted to become an actress, but her husband did not consider it suitable for a person of her social class. She did, however, take piano lessons. The couple moved, with her mother, to Copenhagen in 1839, where both Friedrich and Henriette unsuccessfully tried to get jobs at the Royal Theater. In 1840, she moved permanently to Copenhagen with her mother and husband. In 1848, after having lost her mother, she retired from social life, had a religious conversion, and started to compose psalms, and songs based on texts by Hans Christian Andersen and others. She and her husband became followers of N.F.S. Grundtvig and Nicolai Gottlieb Blædel

Henrik Carlsen

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Henrik Carlsen (born 30 November 1959) is a Danish composer, record producer, singer, and keyboardist. Background Carlsen was born in Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and grew up in Brøndby. He was a founding member of Street Beat in 1982 and led it until it was disbanded in 1993. As a composer, he has written or co-written pop-songs like “Ring A Ling” (Tiggy), “Diddley-Dee” (Cartoons), “Easy Come Easy Go” (Los Umbrellos), and worked as producer or re-mixer with Barcode Brothers, E-Type, Blå Øjne and others. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001. He retired from the music business and worked as a school teacher until 2016. In 2016, he returned to music and released his first solo album, Street Beat Revisited. The album was a homage to his former band Street Beat, and he played all instruments himself, recording the entire album in his own bedroom. He is permanently in a wheelchair and has lost all walking ability. In November 2019, Carlsen released the instrumental album WXYZ, again composing, arranging, performing, and producing all music by himself in his home studio. Another instrumental jazz-rock fusion album was released in November 2022. This was a follow-up and named WXY

Henrik Rung

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Henrik Rung (March 30, 1807 – December 12, 1871) was a Danish composer. Early life and education Henrik Rung was born in Copenhagen. Rung received training with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. He received a travel grant to study in Germany, Italy and Paris (1837-1840). Career In 1842, Rung became a singing master and held a lifelong position as a director of the opera at the Royal Danish Theatre. Personal life In 1841 he married the opera singer Pauline Lichtenstein. His son Frederik Rung (1854-1914) was also a composer and his daughter Sophie Keller (1850–1929) was an opera singer at the Royal Danish Theatre. Compositions * I Danmark er jeg født (1850) * Kirkeklokke, ej til Hovedstæder (1853) * Alt står i Guds faderhånd (1856) Recordings * Songs on Roses and Love. Helene Wold (Soprano), Per Andreas Tonder (Baritone), Eugene Asti (Piano), Vegard Lund (Guitar) Lawo 2011 * Waltz Serenade. Mair-Davis Duo, Marilyn Mair, mandolin; Mark Davis, guitar: “Vienna Nocturne” North Star Records, 1991 References *This article was initially translated from the Danish Wikipedia. Link *Henrik Rung - A Danish Counterpart to Fernando Sor, by Jens Bang-Rasmussen

Herman David Koppel

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Herman David Koppel, known in Denmark as Herman D. Koppel, (1 October 1908 – 14 July 1998) was a Danish composer and pianist of Jewish origin. Born in Copenhagen, he fled the Nazis with his family to Sweden in 1943. He wrote 7 symphonies, numerous concertos, 6 string quartets and other chamber music, piano works, operas and film music. He was the father of Anders Koppel and Thomas Koppel, both composers, Lone Koppel, an opera singer, and Therese Koppel, pianist, and the brother of the violinist Julius Koppel. Early life and education Born on 1 October 1908 in Copenhagen, Herman David Koppel was the son of Isak Meyer Koppel (1888–1970) and Maria Hendeles (1889–1984). He was born shortly after his Jewish parents had emigrated to Denmark from Poland. Like his younger brother Julius (1910–2005), a violinist and concertmaster, he studied piano from the age of 17 at the Royal Danish Conservatory under Rudolph Simonsen and Emilius Bangert. In addition, he studied privately under the Norwegian-Danish pianist Anders Rachlew (1882–1970) and undertook study trips to Germany, England and France. Career Pianist As a pianist, Koppel premiered in 1930 at a concert where he included Carl Nielsen’s

Herman Severin Løvenskiold

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Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (30 July 1815 – 5 December 1870) was a Norwegian-born Danish composer, most noted for his score for August Bournonville’s 1836 version of the ballet La Sylphide for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. Early life and education Herman Severin Løvenskiold was born at Ulefoss in the municipality Nome, Norway. He was the son of Eggert Christopher Løvenskiold (1788–1861), director of the Ulefos Iron Works. In 1829, his family moved to Denmark. He was trained in music by composer Peter Casper Krossing. He also went abroad where he studied in Vienna, Leipzig and St. Petersburg. Career Following his return to Denmark, he composed music for a number of dramatic works at the Royal Danish Theatre. From 1851, he was the organist at Christiansborg Castle Church (Christiansborg Slotskirke) on Slotsholmen in Copenhagen. This church, which dated from 1738 to 1742, was frequently attended by members of the Danish royal family. Personal life He married to Anne Elisabeth Fabritius, kaldt Rine (1820-1864), daughter of goldsmith Jørgen Ludvig Fabritius (1786-1824) and Sophie Dorothea Elisabeth Jensen (1785-1864). The couple had no children. Notable works *La Sylphide,

Hilda Sehested

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Hilda Sehested (27 April 1858 – 15 April 1936) was a Danish composer. Biography Hilda Sehested was born in Funen, Denmark, of parents Niels Frederik Bernhard Sehested (1813–82), an archaeologist, and Charlotte Christine Linde (1819–94). She studied music with C. F. E. Horneman in Copenhagen and later with Louise Aglaé Massart (1827-1887) in Paris. She studied organ with Ludvig Birkedal-Barfod and composition with Orla Rosenhoff, and began composing at the age of 30. Sehested’s mother died in 1894, and she moved to Copenhagen to live with her sister Thyra. She became engaged to archaeologist and museum director Henry Petersen there, but he died before the wedding. Shocked by his death, Sehested took a job as a nurse for a while and then as a church organist, and eventually returned to composing. She died in Copenhagen. Works Sehested wrote a number of songs, compositions for instruments and orchestra and one opera. Selected works include: *Fantasy Pieces, 1891 *Sonata for Pianoforte, 1896 *Intermezzi for Piano Trio, sonata, 1904 *Suite für Cornet in B und Klavier, 1905 *Songs with Piano, 1907 *Agnete and the Merman opera, 1914 *Miniatures for Orchestra, 1915 *Rhapsody, 1915 *Quartet

Holger Gilbert-Jespersen

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Holger Gilbert-Jespersen (22 September 1890 – 30 July 1975) was a Danish flutist, orchestral musician and academic flute teacher. In 1926, Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto was written for, dedicated to, and first performed by Gilbert-Jespersen in Paris. He was a member of the Royal Danish Orchestra from 1927 to 1956 as well as a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1927 to 1962, where he trained generations of flutists. Biography Holger Gilbert-Jespersen was born on 22 September 1890 in Ordrup, Denmark, the son of the physician Gilbert Lauri Jespersen (1851–1929) and the artist Anne Marie Schack Bruun (1849–1925). Gilbert-Jespersen studied the flute from 1908 to 1911 at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. His primary instructor was Frederik Storm of the Royal Danish Orchestra. After a few years of employment in a casino orchestra he went to London, where he studied with Albert Fransella. From 1913 to 1914, Gilbert-Jespersen was in Paris, studying flute with Adolphe Hennebains, the principal flute of the Grand Opéra in Paris, and was employed occasionally in the opera orchestra. When World War I broke out in 1914, he returned to Denmark to enter the security force. Career

Holger Simon Paulli

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Holger Simon Paulli (22 February 181023 December 1891) was a Danish conductor and composer. Paulli composed an opera, thirteen ballets, an overture, and pieces for violin and lieder. Biography Paulli was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a student of violinist and composer Claus Schall and of classical composer Frederik Thorkildsen Wexschall. During 1839–41, he undertook a study trip abroad to Germany, Austria, Italy, France and England. In 1849 he also became concertmaster. He joined the Royal Danish Orchestra and became its conductor in 1864, a position he filled for 20 years until the end of the 1882–1883 season. At the same time, he also conducted the orchestra of the Cecilia Association (Cæciliaforeningen). With his performances of Lohengrin and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg he contributed greatly to the spread of Richard Wagner’s work in Denmark. Paulli was also a member of the management of the Copenhagen Conservatory from 1866 and was chairman of the Chamber Music Association during 1868–91. He conducted the Royal Danish Orchestra in the world premiere of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, in the Casino Concert Hall in Copenhagen on 3 April 1869. The soloist was N

Ib Nørholm

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Ib Nørholm (24 January 1931 – 10 June 2019) was a Danish composer and organist. Life and career Nørholm was born in Søborg, Gladsaxe Municipality. He studied with Vagn Holmboe at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he later taught (from 1973), becoming a professor in 1981. Among the honours Nørholm has received are the Gaudeamus International Composers Award in 1964, the Carl Nielsen Prize in 1971 and a knighthood in 1981. Initially, Nørholm’s music was in the tradition of Carl Nielsen, as exemplified by his first symphony (1956–8). In the 1960s, however, Nørholm began to explore the possibilities of serialism and graphic scores, having been deeply impressed by his experiences of the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, and others at the ISCM in Cologne. Later still his music took on a more economical approach, often characterised by the term ’new simplicity’. Compositions by Nørholm include the opera The Young Park (1969–70), Symphony No. 3 (1973), sonatas for accordion (1967) and guitar (1976), Idylles d’Apocalypse for organ and orchestra (1980), Symphony No. 5 ‘The Elements’ (1980), Immanence for solo flute (1983), Aspects of Sand and Simplicity for string orchest

Ivan Pedersen

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Ivan Pedersen (born 22 April 1950) is a Danish composer, singer, drummer, and producer who has released over 20 albums since starting his music career in 1966. He was the drummer and singer of the Danish band McKinleys from 1966 to 1980 and later formed the duo Laban with Lecia Jønsson, which lasted from 1982 to 1988. Laban achieved moderate international success with their album Caught by Surprise and the 1986 single “Love in Siberia.” After Laban’s dissolution, Pedersen, along with Helge Solberg, Svenne Wahlin, and Søren Jacobsen, formed Backseat in 1992. Pedersen won a Danish Grammy award, released multiple solo studio albums, and has written and produced for a number of other Danish artists. Pedersen has often been highlighted as one of Denmark’s best singers. Career McKinleys In 1966, Pedersen and a group of friends decided to form a pop band, and hence created the band McKinleys. Pedersen was the band’s drummer and lead vocalist, and with the band’s creation, his music career officially began. In 1972, after becoming established in Denmark, the group began serious efforts to break into the music industry, touring in European countries like Norway, Sweden, England, and Germany

Ivar Frounberg

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Ivar Frounberg (born 12 April 1950) is a Danish composer, organist, and professor emeritus of composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Life Ivar Frounberg was born in Søborg, and first trained as an organist, graduating in 1976 from the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and later studied composition with Niels Viggo Bentzon and Ib Nørholm the same place, and with Morton Feldman in the USA and Iannis Xenakis in Italy. Ivar Frounberg is a professor emeritus at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, where he was a senior professor of composition from 2000-2012. He had previously taught as docent of composition and electroacoustic music at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. In 1995 he received the Danish Arts Foundation’s three-year grant for the second time as well as the Carl Nielsen Prize. Music Frounberg has embraced Xenakis and Feldman’s interest in music as abstract structures. Starting with his 1985-work Embryo for amplified violin, string trio, piano, synthesizer, and tape the electronic resources became increasingly important in Frounberg’s work, and in 1989 he composed the first large-scale Danish work for a computer, What did the Sirens Sing as Ulysses sailed by? which i

J. Bodewalt Lampe

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Jens Bodewalt Lampe (November 8, 1869 – May 26, 1929) was a Danish-born American composer, arranger, performer and band-leader of ragtime and syncopated dance music. Lampe was born in Ribe, Denmark to Christian and Sophia Lampe. In 1873, his family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where his father took over leadership of the Great Western Band. Lampe was a child prodigy on the violin and became the first chair violinist for the Minneapolis Symphony at age 16. He met and married his wife, Josephine, while receiving tuition in Chicago in 1888. In the early 1890s, he and his wife moved to Buffalo, where they had four children, Walter, Petra, Dorothy and Joseph Dell (known later as “Dell”). At this time, he began composing and publishing his own music and led a dance orchestra. In 1900, a year after the success of Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag”, he published his most successful and enduring song “Creole Belles”, a rag or cakewalk that sold more than a million copies in sheet music. The song was recorded by Sousa’s Band in 1902 and has been a staple of jazz bands and ragtime pianists into the 21st century. He also collected, and may possibly have composed, Mysterioso Pizzicato, the piece of pho

Jacob Gade

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Jacob Thune Hansen Gade (29 November 1879 – 20 February 1963) was a Danish violinist and composer, mostly of orchestral popular music. He is remembered today for a single tune, Jalousie (also known as Jalousie “Tango Tzigane” and Tango Jalousie). Early life Jacob Thune Hansen Gade was born in Vejle, Denmark on 29 November 1879 and died on 20 February 1963. He belonged to a family of musicians. His grandfather and his father used to go around the nearby villages to play at all kinds of parties. And it was natural that, from an early age, he also began to play and was another member of the musical group. He was nine when he made his debut as trumpeter. He might have been an attraction because only a year later he was invited to Copenhagen to become a soloist in the orchestra of the Tivoli Garden, a famous amusement park. It was only at age 12 when he began to study violin, firstly with his father and later with teachers of greater knowledge. Soon he evidenced his ambition, he wanted to be recognized and for that he decided to move to the capital. Note that there’s no family connection with the composer Niels W. Gade. Music composer He began to compose country music, polkas and simila

Jens Bjerre Jacobsen

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Jens Bjerre Jacobsen (13 October 1903 – 3 January 1986) was a Danish composer and organist. Jacobsen was born in Aarhus but grew up in Salling, where his father was a Grundtvigian Community pastor in Rødding-Krejbjerg. Jacobsen learned to play the piano at an early age from the organist and composer Laurids Lauridsen. At 15, he got admission into the Royal Danish Academy of Music. The time spent at the academy gave his earliest songs and choral work a strong element of Thomas Laub and Carl Nielsen. However, Jacobsen himself never acknowledged this, and claimed that his career as a composer only began after he moved to Paris. Jacobsen became an organist in Paris. Alfred Cortot, the famous pianist and conductor, taught him composition and honed his piano skills. Cortot was a big influence on Jacobsen. Under the former’s tutelage, Jacobsen made immense progress as a composer, a development that is specially noticeable in his music from the 1930s onwards. Notable works *Serenade (fløjte, obo og bratsch 1936) *Mosaïque musicale nr. 1 (fløjte, violin og cello 1936) *Sonatine (violin og klaver 1939) *Koncertante (violin og klaver 1940) *Duo concertante (cello og klaver 1942) *Croquis musi

Joachim Andersen (composer)

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Carl Joachim Andersen (29 April 1847 – 7 May 1909) was a Danish flutist, conductor and composer born in Copenhagen, son of the flutist Christian Joachim Andersen. Both as a virtuoso and as composer of flute music, he is considered one of the best of his time. He was a demanding leader and teacher, achieving high standards with orchestras. Biography As well as his little brother, Viggo was taught by his father and already as a child he performed with success at a Danish theater called Casino accompanied by the little harpist Frantz Pønitz. From when he was 13 years old to the year of 1868 he was first flutist in a musical orchestra in Copenhagen conducted by Niels Gade. In 1869 he became employed by the Royal Danish Orchestra as a flutist but resigned after a year of leave in 1878. He was longing for larger challenges and went abroad. First stop was Saint Petersburg (1878–1880) where he was engaged by St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Afterwards in 1881 he went to Berlin where he was engaged in Bilse’s Band as a solo flutist as well as he was in the Royal German Opera. In 1882 he was a co-founder of the Berlin Philharmonic, which he and 53 other musicians formed out of the form

Joachim Neergaard

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Joachim Bruun Neergaard (27 April 1877 – 31 October 1920) was a Danish composer and pianist. As a composer he wrote works for violin, piano, and orchestral pieces. Neergaard produced fewer than 30 works in his short lifetime. Early life and education Joachim Bruun Neergaard was born on 27 April 1877 in Stubberup to Sophie Louise Bardenfleth (1855–1947) and Vilhelm Peter Christian Bruun Neergaard (1846–1912). His family was part of the aristocracy and his father, Vilhelm Peter, was a hofjægermester and chamberlain. His maternal grandfather, Carl Emil Bardenfleth, had been a politician and Governor of Iceland. As a child, Neergaard received piano lessons from Tekla Gähler. Following in his family’s political and aristocratic legacy, he began formal schooling in 1895 and was awarded a law degree in 1901. However, Neergaard continued to pursue his passion between 1895 and 1908 by studying the piano with Ove Christiansen, music theory with Orla Rosenhoff, and instrumentation with Johan Svendsen. Career Neergaard made his debut as a composer in 1906 with orchestral arrangements (op. 4) which were performed at Tivoli’s concert hall. That year, he also gave a performance on the piano which

Johan Christian Gebauer

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Johann Christian Gebauer (6 August 1808 – 24 January 1884) was a Danish composer, organist and music theorist. Gebauer showed promise as a musician early on. He received his first formal training in music from German-born composer Friedrich Kuhlau. Later Royal Court composer Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse and still later composer Peter Casper Krossing taught Gebauer music, although Kuhlau remained the most influential. Music career Gebauer took on teaching music after completing his formal training. In 1842, he became editor of “Sangfuglen”, a compilation of the compositions of budding Danish composers. He was employed at the Royal Danish Academy of Music as a teacher in harmony from 1866-1883. In 1870, his collected songs were published and he received the title of professor in 1876. In 1846, he was given the job of the organist at St. Peter’s Church, Copenhagen. From 1859, he held the position of organist at Church of the Holy Ghost, Copenhagen, a job he held until his death. See also *List of Danish composers References *This article was initially translated from the Danish Wikipedia.

Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann

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Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (14 May 1805 – 10 March 1900) was, together with his son-in-law Niels W. Gade, the leading Danish composer of the 19th century, a period known as the Danish Golden Age. According to Alfred Einstein, he was “the real founder of the Romantic movement in Denmark and even in all Scandinavia”. J.P.E. Hartmann was the third generation of composers in the Danish musical Hartmann family. Biography Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann was born and died in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of composer August Wilhelm Hartmann (1775–1850) and Christiane Petrea Frederica Wittendorff (1778–1848), and the grandson of composer Johann Hartmann (1726-1793), who had originally emigrated to Denmark from Silesia. J.P.E. Hartmann himself was largely self taught. Complying with his father’s wishes (who wanted to protect him from the uncertainties of a musician’s life), he studied the law and worked as a civil servant from 1829 to 1870, whilst pursuing an extensive musical career. By 1824, he became organist at the Garnisons Kirke in Copenhagen, and in 1832, made a first major impression on audiences with the opera Ravnen. The opera received a long and positive review from Robert Sc

Johann Abraham Peter Schulz

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Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (31 March 1747 – 10 June 1800) was a German musician. He is best known as the composer of the melody for Matthias Claudius’s poems “Der Mond ist aufgegangen” and “Wir pflügen und wir streuen”, and the Christmas carol “Ihr Kinderlein kommet”. Life Schulz was born in Lüneburg, where he attended St. Michaelis school from 1757 to 1759 and then the Johanneum from 1759 to 1764. In 1765, he was the student in Berlin of composer Johann Kirnberger, and then taught in Berlin himself. In 1768 Kirnberger recommended Schulz for the position of music teacher and accompanist to the Polish Princess Sapieha Woiwodin von Smolensk. Schulz traveled with her for 3 years throughout Europe, where he came into contact with many new musical ideas. He served as the conductor of the French Theatre in Berlin from 1776 to 1780 and from 1780 to 1787 he was the Kapellmeister of Prince Henry in Rheinsberg. Schulz then went on to serve as Court Kapellmeister in Copenhagen from 1787 to 1795 before returning to Berlin. He died in Schwedt. Schulz wrote operas, stage music, oratorios, and cantatas, as well as piano pieces and folk songs; he also wrote articles on music theory for Johann Geo

Johann Adolf Scheibe

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Johann Adolph Scheibe (5 May 1708 – 22 April 1776) was a German-Danish composer and significant critic and theorist of music. Though much of his theoretical work survives, most of his compositions are lost, though the extant ones demonstrate a style between the Baroque and Classical periods. Life Johann Adolf Scheibe was born in Leipzig as the son of Johann Scheibe (c. 1675 – 1748), an organ builder, and started keyboard lessons at the age of six. In 1725, he began studying law and philosophy at Leipzig University, and in the course of his studies he encountered the professor of rhetoric and poetry Johann Christoph Gottsched, whose aesthetic theories deeply influenced Scheibe. Gottsched’s writings, which were primarily targeted toward the reform of German poetry and drama, greatly informed Scheibe’s formulation of his philosophy of music. Due to financial difficulties, Scheibe was unable to finish his university studies, and devoted himself instead to a largely self-taught career in music. In 1729 he applied unsuccessfully for the post of organist at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach was the cantor. Scheibe was active in the musical scene of Leipzig until 1735

Johann Hartmann

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Johann Ernst Hartmann (24 December 1726 – 21 October 1793) was a Danish classical composer and violinist. He is remembered in particular for his two operas on texts by Johannes Ewald in which he helped creating a national musical style. The first of these, Balders død, builds on the old Nordic mythology and uses dark colours when depicting the old Gods and Valkyries. The second, Fiskerne, describes contemporary fishermen’s lives, and uses melodies inspired by the Scandinavian folk style. Most of the works of Hartmann were destroyed in the fire of Christiansborg Castle shortly after his death. Hartmann was the ancestor of a long line of musicians and composers and other cultural personalities in Denmark. Life Johann Hartmann was born in Groß-Glogau in Silesia on Christmas Eve 1726. In 1754 he started as violinist in the orchestra of the Archbishop of Breslau, Count Schaffgotsch; later he became concertmaster in the small town of Rudolstadt, and then in Plön under Duke Frederick Charles. When the Duke died in 1761, his Duchy became Danish, the Plön Chapel was dissolved and Hartmann together with some of the other orchestra musicians went to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen he was immediatel

Johannes Frederik Fröhlich

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Johannes Frederik Fröhlich (21 August 1806 – 21 May 1860) (or Frølich), a Danish violinist, conductor and composer, was a precursor of Niels Gade and J.P.E. Hartmann, and a central figure in Danish musical circles during the Romantic era. Biography He was a pupil of violinists Claus Schall and Friedrich Kuhlau. From 1827 he worked at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, where he was chief conductor from 1836. Fröhlich was a co-founder of the Music Society of Copenhagen and its first chairman. Works He wrote a symphony (in E-flat, Op. 33), and choral works and chamber music, as well as violin and piano compositions and a violin concerto. He wrote ballet music for the ballet-master and choreographer August Bournonville, founder of the Danish ballet tradition. The main cache of his musical manuscripts is conserved in the Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen. Notable works *op. 1 Strygekvartet nr. 1 i d-mol (1825) *op. 2 Strygekvartet nr. 2 i A-dur *op. 3 violinkoncerter (1825) *Ouverture til Kong Salomon og Jørgen Hattemager (1825) *op. 4 Koncertino for Violin (1826) *op. 6 Introduktion og Polonaise for Violin med Orkester *op. 7 violinkoncert *op. 14 violinkoncert *op. 15 Strygekvartet (1827) *

John Frandsen (composer)

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John Frandsen (born 13 March 1956) is a Danish composer, organist and choral conductor, whose work includes operas, chamber music, and religious music. His 1999 Now Flashes the White Light of the Spirit commissioned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church was performed simultaneously in over 100 Danish churches on the day of the anniversary. Biography Frandsen was born in Aalborg and studied at Aarhus University and the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus with Hans Abrahamsen and Karl Aage Rasmussen. From 1993 to 1995 he was chairman of the music committee of the Danish National Arts Foundation, and since 1999 he has been chairman of the Danish Composers’ Association. His opera trilogy, Tugt og Utugt I Mellemtiden (Virtue and Vice in the Meantime), based on the novel of the same name by Svend Aage Madsen premiered in 1998 at the Aarhus Summer Opera. His other operas include Amalie (premiered 1995 at the Musikteateret Undergrunden in Aarhus), Dronning Boudicca (Queen Boudica) (premiered in 1997 at Anden Opera in Copenhagen) and I-K-O-N (premiered in 2002 at the Royal Danish Theatre. Religious music John Frandsen’s commissions fo

Jørgen Jersild

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Jørgen Jersild (17 September 1913 – 6 February 2004) was a Danish composer and music educator. He was a pupil of Poul Schierbeck and Albert Roussel. Jersild worked from 1953 to 1975 as a professor of ear training by The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Life Jersild learned how to play the piano at a young age and, when he was twelve, he arranged for the school orchestra and wrote some small compositions. He became a student of Rudolph Simonsen and later Poul Schierbeck, who taught him theory and composition, and Alexander Stoffregen, who gave him lessons on the piano. After a short stay in Paris in 1936 where he was taught for three months by Albert Roussel, he returned home and studied musicology at the University of Copenhagen. In 1940 he majored in musicology, but in 1939 he was employed as a program secretary with the DR, a national radio station in Denmark. In 1943 he became a teacher at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, during which his music was reviewed by the Berlingske Tidende. From 1953 to 1975, he was professor and taught ear training, instrumentation and composition. During those years he published a number of theoretical and practical musica

Josefine Opsahl

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Josefine Opsahl (born 18 January 1992) is a Danish composer and cellist based in Copenhagen and Berlin. She writes classical music as a composer and also performs as solo artist with cello and live electronics and live sound design. Biography Born in Denmark on 18 January 1992. She studied both classical and contemporary music at the Royal Danish Conservatory and Northwestern University (IL, US) where she completed a Master’s degree in cello and later she received a degree as a composer in Contemporary Creative Art at South Danish Conservatory. As a cellist and performer she has played and released classical music with the groups Kottos and We Like We and as a solo artist the album, Atrium, in 2022. As a composer she has written operas, The 2021 Léonie Sonning Music Prize and the Wilhelm Hansen Foundation’s Prize of Honor 2020. In 2024, her opera “Hjem” was nominated for “Opera of the year 2023” by the Reumert Award. Selected works * A Mass of Stars Block the View commissioned by Berlin Academy of American Music, world premiere in Elbphilharmonie, June 2024, * Passengers of Passing Moments (Koreorama) ballet commissioned by The Royal Danish Ballet, The Royal Danish Theatre, March-A

Julius Bechgaard

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Julius Andreas Bechgaard (19 December 1843 different 22 December – 4 March 1917) was a Danish composer of piano pieces, songs, and operas. Bechgaard was born in Copenhagen. His best known opera, Frode, shows the influence of Wagner. He died aged 73 in Frederiksberg. Works *op. 60: Troldbunden (Song with lyrics by A. Wallén, manuscript) *Velsign vort Hjem (Song for Men’s Choir with lyrics by Vilhelm Gregersen, manuscript) *Sømandsliv (Sailor’s Farewell, song cycle) *Gud signe dig (God Bless You song) *Seks firstemmige sange (Six Four-Part Songs) **Til Solen (To the Sun) **Aftensuk (Evening Sigh) **Hvile (Rest) **Morgenstemning (Morning Mood) **Elverdansen (Elfin Dance) **Blomsterne tale (Like a Child) *Strandby Folk (musical play in 4 acts by Holger Drachmann with music by Bechgaard, 1883) *Frode (opera, premiered 11 May 1893 in Copenhagen) *Frau Inge (opera, premiered 1894, in Prague) *Kender du Danmark (songs, with lyrics by Oscar Madsen, 1866–1902) Notes External links *Photo * http://www.gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=juliusbechgaard Julius Bechgaard at www.gravsted.dk Grave site *

Kai Aage Bruun

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Kai Aage Bruun (23 January 1899 – 11 May 1971) was a Danish music writer, critic and composer. Bruun grew up in a musical home. His father was cellist in The Royal Chapel and was educated by The Royal Danish Academy of Music. His mother was the sister of composers Roger Henrichsen and Edgar Henrichsen and Kai Aage was thus cousin to jazz pianist Børge Roger-Henrichsen. Bruun began to play cello at the age of just 6, and in 1917 studied music in Leipzig. He was also involved in the practical music scene: in 1925 as co-founder of Student Musikforeningen where he directed a couple of years, 1926-1927 as conductor of the Student Sangforeningen and later, 1930-1931 as conductor of the Academic Orchestra. In addition, he worked as a music critic and assistant to Music History Museum. In 1927 he had, however, been employed by DR, Denmark’s national broadcasting station as the program secretary, and thus began a 30-year association with a medium where his abilities as a music facilitator came to full expression through numerous lectures and broadcasts. In 1949, he was deputy head of its music department and he worked a dozen years as a music consultant. In 1969 published his principal Dani

Kai Normann Andersen

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Kai Normann Andersen (11 April 1900 – 24 June 1967) was a Danish composer who wrote film scores and music for stage revues and dramas. He composed songs for over 50 films between 1930 and 1965. In the 1930s and 1940s he dominated Danish film music. He has been called " o ne of the most appealing personalities of our time in the light music field". Twelve of his songs have been included in the Danish Culture Canon. Connie Hedegaard and Claus Hagen Petersen list him among the 100 most important Danes of the 20th century. Career Andersen was originally a bank clerk, but began composing for revues, studied music, and in 1919 became a full-time musician. He became director of revue productions in Copenhagen before extending his range into film and plays (by Kaj Munk and Kjeld Abell amongst others). He composed songs for over 50 films between 1930 and 1965. In the 1930s and 1940s, he dominated Danish film music. In the 1930s, he contributed prolifically to the score of films directed by George Schnéevoigt (1893–1961) including Præsten i Vejlby, Hotel Paradis - 1931, Skal vi vædde en million? - 1932, Kirke og orgel - 1932, Odds 777 - 1932, De blaa drenge - 1933, Kobberbryllup - 1933 and t

Karl Aage Rasmussen

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Karl Aage Rasmussen (born 13 December 1947) is a Danish composer and writer. He was born in Kolding. Composition Quotation and particularly collage played an important role in his music from the early 1970s, but increasingly he used pre-existing musical material in new connections and for new purposes, most often in a densely woven montage of small idioms which in themselves were too tiny to work as quotes, but were put together so closely as to create entirely new patterns. He continued to use montage technique, but the non-directional expression was gradually replaced by developmental forms. This is apparent in music for the stage and was later continued in works such as A Symphony in Time and the string quartets Solos and Shadows and Surrounded by Scales. The chamber symphony Movements on a Moving Line marks the beginning of a long period dominated by an interest in time and tempo, here as a kind of time-travel where the same music seems to appear and disappear in different tempi. New conceptions of time, partly related to the self-similarity in fractal mathematics, has dominated his music since then. In more recent years psychological and dramatic dimensions have emerged in wor

Karl Clausen

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Karl Søren Clausen (15 August 1904 – 5 December 1972) was a Danish pianist, conductor, composer and musicologist. In addition to his work as a high school teacher in German and Music, he composed several instrumental and choral works, as well as songs. He became increasingly involved in work with amateur choirs and school singing, and he became a very popular choir conductor, who led several choirs to many musical successes, often with his own choir arrangements, based on folk melodies. The strong folk singing tradition that he experienced in his childhood Sønderjylland under German rule became decisively influential during his later career. In the late 1940s he began collecting sound recordings of folk singing in marginal, rural areas of Jylland, and in the 1960s he continued this work in the isolated Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic. Alongside teaching and collection work, Clausen also began studying the history of Danish and North German folk singing, and put folk singing into a new context, incorporating historical, religious and sociological aspects, As a young, talented pianist, he studied piano with Roger Henrichsen. In 1928, he took an MA degree from the University of Co

Kjell Roikjer

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Kjell Maale Roikjer (14 June 1901 – 19 September 1999) was a Danish composer and bassoonist. Early life and education Roikjer was born and grew up in Malmö, Sweden, where his parents were photographers. At 17, he moved to Copenhagen and began an apprenticeship as a scene painter, but left it a few years later to pursue music. He had learned violin, but decided instead to become a bassoonist because there was less competition, and studied under Knud Lassen. Career He began his career in 1924 in Sweden, as bassoon soloist in the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. In 1926 he returned to Copenhagen, becoming a member of the Tivoli Concert Hall orchestra and permanent assistant with the new Radio Symphony Orchestra. He became a Danish citizen in 1928. in which he played until 1948. He also worked as an archivist at the Tivoli Concert Hall, assisting in the reconstruction of the sheet music library following the hall’s destruction by the occupying Germans during World War II. Compositions Roikjer composed approximately 100 works, about one third after his retirement. His style was classically-inspired, in the French manner. He wrote mostly for small ensembles, often employing less frequentl

Knudåge Riisager

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Knudåge Riisager (6 March 1897 – 26 December 1974 ) was a Danish composer. His work was part of the music event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Early life and education Knudåge Riisager was born in Kunda, in the Russian Empire, in what is today Estonia of Danish parents. His father Emil Riisager was an engineer, and the family returned to Denmark in 1900 when Knudåge was three years old. He graduated from Copenhagen University where he received violin lessons from Peder Møller, and studied music theory under Otto Malling and Peder Gram. For many years he worked in a government job, and also as a composer. In 1923, he went to Paris to study with Albert Roussel and Paul Le Flem, where he experienced at first hand French neoclassicism and the music of Igor Stravinsky and Les Six. Notable works ;Opera *Susanne, Op. 49 (1948) ;Ballet music *Benzin, Op. 17 (1930) *Cocktails-Party, Op. 19 (1930) (ikke opført) *Darduse, Op. 32 (1935–36) *Tolv med Posten, Op. 37 (1942) *Slaraffenland, Op. 33 (1936–40) *Qarrtsiluni, Op. 36 (1938–42) *Fugl Fønix (1944/45) *Etudes (1947) *Månerenen, Op. 57 (1956) *Fruen fra havet, Op. 59 (1959) *Galla-Variationer (1966) *Ballet Royal (1967)

Kristian Blak

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Kristian Blak (born 1947) is a Danish composer, musician, and record executive based in the Faroe Islands. Early life Kristian Blak was born in Jutland, Denmark, in 1947. He moved to the Faroe Islands in 1974, where he has written most of his musical works. He has composed solo instrumental works, chamber music, choral works and symphonic music, for example the ballad Harra Pætur og Elinborg. In 2010 Queen Margrethe of Denmark visited the Faroe Islands, and one of the events she visited was a grotto concert in Klæmintsgjógv (Gorge of Klæmint) by Blak and other musicians. The cave is 50 m high, and the sea in the cave is around 400 m deep. There are some places inside the cave where the musicians can stand with their instruments and give a concert to the audience in boats. Blak is the chief executive officer of Tutl, which is the leading record label in the Faroe Islands. Recognition and awards *2002:Faroese Literature Prize, for his work with music in the Faroe Islands *2011 Heiðursgáva Landsins (Prize of Honour from the Faroese Ministry of Culture) – DKK 75 000 Musical works * 2001 PINIARTUT with Tellu Virkkala, Rasmus Lyberth and Ville Kangas * 1999 24 PRÉLUDES * 1998 KLÆMINT * 1

Launy Grøndahl

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Launy Grøndahl (30 June 1886 – 21 January 1960) was a Danish conductor and composer. Grøndahl studied the violin from the age of eight. His first work as a professional musician was as a violinist with the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen, aged thirteen. Launy Valdemar Grondahl is known to posterity for two things: his distinguished 31–year conducting career with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orquestra, and his Trombone Concerto dating from 1924. Launy Grøndahl was born in Denmark on 30 June 1886. He began his studies with Anton Bloch, Ludolf Nielsen and Axel Gade, and what marks his life as a violinist and composer was a scholarship from the Kobenhavns Orkestreforenings Jubioeumslegat (granting of the Jubilee of the Copenhagen Orchestral Association) in the summer of 1924. This thanks to the manager of the Vacuum Oil Company, Carls A. Muchaelsen, had donated kr. 2500 to honor a talented member in connection with the association’s 25th anniversary jubilee on 25 April 1924. With the Grøndahl scholarship, the recipient can tour Europe in search of musical knowledge and maturation in Paris, Vienna and Milan, among other cities. Notable works Some of his first works i

Lennart Ginman

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Lennart Ginman (born March 1960) is a Danish-Finnish bassist, composer and music producer. He has cooperated with artists like Steen Jørgensen, lead singer of Sort Sol in two joint albums, and Kirk Lightsey, an American jazz pianist with a joint album. He is part of the trio GinmanBlachmanDahl made up of him on bass, Thomas Blachman on drums and Carsten Dahl on piano. The trio released two albums in 2003 and 2004. Discography ;Albums Awards and nominations *1991 – Won the Danish Music Awards, for playing bass: Thomas Blachman & the X-traditional Values, “Love Boat” *1995 – Won the Danish Music Awards, for playing bass: Jen Winther’s Quartet, “The Planets” *1995 – Won the Jasa Prize (givet af Danmark’s jazz journalistser og kritikere). *1999 – Won the Danish Music Awards in the category “Danish Producer of the Year” (Lennart Ginman) *1999 – Won the Danish Music Awards in the category “Danish Album of the Year” (Ginman/Jørgensen) *1999 – The album “Ginman/Jørgensen” received several recognitions, i.e. it was chosen to be Danish Album of the Year by four Danish new papers and by the Danish music magazine Gaffa. *2002 – Icelandic Grammy together with Sigurdur Flosason, “Stairway To The

Lotte Anker

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Lotte Anker (born 1958) is a Danish jazz saxophonist, and composer. With pianist Marilyn Crispell, she serves as one of the co-leaders of the Copenhagen Art Ensemble. Musical career Anker was born in Copenhagen and studied music at Copenhagen University from 1980 to 1984. In 1988, she formed a quartet with piano player Mette Petersen, (the Lotte Anker / Mette Petersen Quartet). In 1992, they added trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær. In 1995, she became a member of the free improvising trio Anker, Friis, Poulsen with Hasse Poulsen on guitar and Peter Friis Nielsen on bass. Since 1996, Anker and Ture Larsen have been co-leaders of the 12-piece orchestra Copenhagen Art Ensemble. She recorded the albums Triptych, Live at the Loft and Floating Islands with pianist Craig Taborn, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Discography * Beyond the Mist (Stunt, 1989) * Being (Stunt, 1993) * Infinite Blueness (Av-Art, 1996) * Poetic Justice (Dacapo, 2001) * Six Row Barley (Utech, 2005) * Triptych (Leo, 2005) * Alien Huddle (Intakt, 2008) * Live at the Loft (ILK, 2009) * Floating Islands (ILK, 2009) * Birthmark (Clean Feed, 2013) * Squid Police (Konvoj, 2014) with Jakob Riis * What River Is This (ILK, 2014) * Edg

Louis Glass

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Louis Christian August Glass (23 March 1864 – 22 January 1936) was a Danish composer. Glass, born in Copenhagen, was an almost exact contemporary of Carl Nielsen and, like Nielsen, was a student of Niels Gade. However, Glass also studied at the Brussels Conservatory, where he became enamored of the music of César Franck and Anton Bruckner, both of whom stylistically influenced his writing. For several years, he was one of Denmark’s leading concert pianists until a paralysis in one arm made him retire from the stage. He then devoted himself primarily to composing. He composed in most genres and wrote several chamber music works of worth, including four string quartets, a string sextet, a piano trio, a piano quintet and several instrumental sonatas. He wrote six symphonies (1893–1926), which have been recorded on the Danacord and CPO record labels, while some chamber music has been recorded on Da Capo. Glass died in Copenhagen. Symphonies * Symphony No. 1 in E-major, Op. 17 (1894) * Symphony No. 2 in C-minor, Op. 28 (1899) * Symphony No. 3 in D-major, Op. 30 “Forest symphony” (1901) * Symphony No. 4 in E-minor, Op. 43 (1911) * Symphony No. 5 in C-major, Op. 57 “Sinfonia Svastika” (19

Ludolf Nielsen

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Karl Henrik Ludolf Nielsen (29 January 1876 – 16 October 1939) was a Danish composer, violinist, conductor, and pianist. Today he is considered one of the most important Danish composers of the early 1900s (together with the more famous Carl Nielsen). Life Nielsen was born in Nørre Tvede, Denmark. Although his family lacked any musicians, Ludolf took to music at a very young age. After a few years of violin lessons from local fiddlers, at eight he was playing at local festivals and other country occasions. In his mid-teens, he moved to Copenhagen, which exposed him to a much broader musical milieu. At 19, he won a scholarship to the Danish Royal Academy of Music. There, he studied violin, piano, and music theory. His composing talents were apparently self-developed. When about 20, Nielsen started composing, at the same time as Tivoli Orchestra hired him as a violinist. Some of his works were performed in 1899, but his first major success was with the symphonic poem Regnar Lodbrog, which gained him an additional scholarship that gave him the opportunity to spend time in the musically rich city of Leipzig, where he composed a few string quartets and had them published. He returned to

Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt

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Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt (16 January 1755 – 20 December 1810) was a German born aristocrat and a Danish composer. She is known as the first female composer in Denmark. Biography Born in Regensburg, Maria Theresia was the eldest child of Alexander Ferdinand, 3rd Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1704–1773) and his third wife, Princess Maria Henriette Josepha of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen (1732–1772). She was a younger half-sister of Karl Anselm, 4th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and niece of Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis. She grew in a cultural environment at the princely court in Regensburg, which was a centre of French, German and Italian opera, theatre, ballet, pantomimes and concerts. She was instructed in clavecin playing with her sisters and displayed an early talent of music composition. Maria Theresia was engaged to Prince Joseph of Fürstenberg (1758–1796) from 1772 until her affair with an elderly German Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (1702–1781) in 1776. Her family, however, refused permission for her to marry Philipp. In 1780 in Prague, she married the Danish noble Count Ferdinand of Ahlefeldt-Langeland (1747–1815), against the will of her family. This marriage against t

Martin Lohse

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Martin Lohse (born 29 May 1971) is a Danish classical composer and visual artist. Biography Martin Lohse was born in Copenhagen, where he began his education at the Musical Science Institute (1990–92) in addition to studies in rhetoric and math (1992–93) as well as geology (1994) at the University of Copenhagen. In 1995 he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, where he studied composition and music theory as a pupil of Hans Abrahamsen and Niels Rosing-Schow. In 2000 he started a postgraduate course in composition and in 2004 he had his debut from the Royal Academy of Music, where he also got a master in music theory in 2005. Currently he is associate professor in music theory and head of the Music Theory Department at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Music Romantic and, to some extent, Baroque music and minimalism are key elements in the music of Martin Lohse. Symphony in one movement, Collage de temps, mixed with a floating sensation of times, sometimes with long and continues accelerandoes or decelerandoes and at other times with tempos slowly departing from each other. Performances Lohses works have been widely performed. Orchestral works * Lurid Light

Mogens Winkel Holm

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NOTOC Mogens Winkel Holm (1 October 1936 – 31 October 1999) was a Danish composer. Holm was born in Copenhagen; his father was the architect Tyge Holm. He studied orchestration with Jørgen Jersild at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and oboe with Mogens Steen Andreassen, then for some years was assistant oboist with the Royal Danish Orchestra and worked in the music department at Danmarks Radio. From 1965 to 1971, he was also the music reviewer for Politiken and Ekstra Bladet. He also held a number of posts in music organisations, including president of Det Unge Tonekunstnerselskab (The Society of Young Musicians) and for almost 20 years, of Dansk Komponist Forening (the Danish Composers’ Association). In 1999 he was elected to membership of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Holm was a prolific composer in a wide range of genres, but ballet was his speciality. In collaboration with, among others, his brother the dancer and choreographer Eske Holm, he originated a long series of ballets, both at the Royal Danish Theater and on Danish and Swedish television between 1964 and 1984. His music has been described as dramatic and often very gestural. Paradoxically enough, it is expe

Morten Eskesen

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Morten Eskesen (5 January 1826 - 8 February 1913) was a Danish author, composer and teacher in independent and folk high schools. Early life Erikesen was born in Ulbæk in the parish of Lyne between Skjern and Varde in west Jutland. His parents, Eske Mortensen and Margrete Pedersdatter, were farm owners. From age 14 to 20, he worked at the farm during summer and as an assistant teacher and tutor during winter. He received his teaching diploma from Snedsted College in 1848. Career From 1851 to 1853 was a schoolteacher in Bevtoft in southern Jutland, where he met the politician Hans Andersen Kruger. This gave him an interest in the South Jutlandic dialect. He was a teacher in west Jutland and then a tutor and folk high school teacher in different parts of the country. He associated with Christen Mikkelsen Kold, who is credited with setting the model for Danish schools, and N. F. S. Grundtvig. From 1853 to 1854 Eskesen was the folk high school superintendent in Uth, near Horsens in east Jutland. From 1856 to 1858 he was a teacher at Grundtvig’s folk high school in Marielyst. Between 1858 and 1884 he was an independent school leader on Funen, first in Rudme and then in Odense. In 1874 h

Nancy Dalberg

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Nancy Dalberg (born Nancy Hansen, 6 July 1881 – 28 September 1949) was a Danish composer. Born into a wealthy family, she studied under notable composers such as Johan Svendsen and Carl Nielsen, the latter becoming a good friend and a significant figure in her life. In addition to the orchestral works mentioned, she wrote around fifty songs, including three for voice and orchestra. Life Nancy Dalberg was born at the estate on the Danish island of Funen (Fyn), where she was raised in a manor house. Her father, Christian D. A. Hansen, was a well-off manufacturer as the founder of Chr. Hansen, a factory for chemical products for the food industry, which is still one of Denmark’s leading companies. The family was always well-off financially, which meant that Nancy didn’t have to worry about her income, which her music most of the time couldn’t promise. From a young age she was steered toward a musical career, partly due to her acquaintance with the composer Hilda Sehested, who was twenty years her senior and from the nearby Broholm estate. As was customary, she received private piano instruction from Ove Christensen, making her debut in 1907. Unfortunately her father refused her wish t

Nanna Liebmann

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Nanna Magdalene Liebmann, née Lehmann, (September 27, 1849 – May 11, 1935) was a Danish, music educator, music critic, concert promoter and composer. Early life Nanna Lehmann was one of nine children born to a socially active family; her brother Carl Lehmann became a politician, another brother Edvard Lehmann became a religious historian, her sister Signe Lehmann also became a musician, and her uncle was the politician Orla Lehmann. She was a cousin of the literary critic and women’s suffrage advocate Margrethe Vullum. Career She studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Victor Bendix, Johann Christian Gebauer, J.P.E. Hartmann, Niels W. Gade, August Winding and Carl Helsted. At the conservatory she met composer Axel Liebmann, whom she married in 1874. He died soon afterward and she turned to composing and teaching music to support herself and her son, Poul Liebmann. Most of her compositions are written between 1869 and 1914, and she wrote reviews for Dannebrog. Liebmann and her husband were both buried in Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen. Notable works Selected works include: *Syv sange til tyske tekster 1885 *Syv sange 1885 *Minnelieder 1903 *Fem sange 1904 *Thema med Variati

Nicolaus Bruhns

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Nicolaus Bruhns (also Nikolaus, Nicholas; late 1665 – 8 April 1697 in Husum) was a Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer. He was one of the most prominent organists and composers of his generation. Biography Bruhns was born in Schwabstedt (Danish: Svavsted), a small settlement near Husum. He came from a family of musicians and composers. His grandfather, Paul Jakob Bruhns (died 1655), worked as lutenist in Lübeck. His three sons all chose musical careers; Bruhns’ father, also named Paul (1640–c. 1689), became organist at Schwabstedt, possibly after studying with Franz Tunder. Nicolaus was apparently a child prodigy: according to Ernst Ludwig Gerber, he could play the organ and compose competent works for keyboard and voice already at an early age. He probably received his first music lessons from his father. At age sixteen, Bruhns, together with his younger brother Georg (1666-1742), was sent to Lübeck to live with their uncle Peter, who would teach Bruhns the violin and the viola da gamba. The two brothers also studied the organ and composition; Georg under Bernhard Olffen, organist of St. Aegidien, and Nicolaus under Dieterich Buxtehude. The latter, one of the best comp

Niels Eje

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Niels Eje (born 1954) is a Danish composer and oboist. Early life Niels Eje was born in Copenhagen and was educated at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music from 1974 to 1979. Thereafter he studied with Lothar Koch of the Berlin Philharmonic. Career His career included a position as principal oboist in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, (1979 to 1990) performances in Europe, USA and Japan as soloist and chamber musician. Niels Eje has composed and arranged a large repertoire for different classical ensembles as well as music for concerts, theatre, TV and documentaries. He is the founder of Trio Rococo (harp, Berit Spaelling, oboe Niels Eje, and cello, Inge Mulvad,) whose album ‘Norwegian Wood’ was released worldwide. Niels Eje has participated on several recordings with various artists in a number of genres, including with Miles Davis on the album Aura, and with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Berit Spaelling, Inge Mulvad in the album In the Name of Music In 1998 Niels Eje founded the interdisciplinary project Musica Humana Research together with Professor Lars Heslet, Copenhagen University Hospital. The research projects were aimed at creating a new specially designed music enviro

Niels Gade

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Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day, in the period known as the Danish Golden Age. Biography Gade was born in Copenhagen, the son of a joiner and instrument maker. He was intended for his father’s trade, but his passion for a musician’s career, made evident by the ease and skill with which he learned to play upon a number of instruments, was not to be denied. Though he became proficient on the violin under Frederik Wexschall, and in the elements of theory under Christoph Weyse and Weyse’s pupil Andreas Berggreen, he was to a great extent self-taught. He began his professional career as a violinist with the Royal Danish Orchestra, which premiered his concert overture Efterklange af Ossian (“Echoes of Ossian”) in 1841. When the performance of his first symphony had to be delayed in Copenhagen, it was sent to Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn received the work positively, and conducted it in Leipzig in March 1843, to enthusiastic public reaction. His work attracted the notice of the king, who gave the composer a

Niels Marthinsen

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Niels Marthinsen (born 1963 ) is a Danish composer in the classical tradition. He studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus from 1982 to 1990 as a student of Per Nørgård. Other teachers include Hans Abrahamsen, Steen Pade, Karl Aage Rasmussen and Poul Ruders. He received the Victor Borge Prize in 1993, the H. C. Lumbye Prize in 2008. The 2006 Danish National Opera production of Marthinsen’s opera Skriftestolen received the Danish Reumert Prize in 2007 for Opera of the Year. List of works Source: * 1986 Erscheinungen (orchester) * 1988 Airborne (flute, piano, violon, and cello) * 1988 Echoes of a Dove * 1988 Sept Poèsies des saisons japonaises * 1989 Olé * 1990 Vulcan’s Forge * 1990 Burst * 1992 Rhapsodie Espagnole * 1992 Cradle Song * 1992 Concerto * 1992 Wildlife * 1992 Minotaurus * 1992 Shadow Figures * 1993 Den Forstenende Skov * 1993 Abgesang * 1993 Chimes at Midnight * 1993 Heldenleben * 1993 Panorama * 1994 Columbus * 1994 Bolero * 1994 Cupid and Death * 1994 Reveille * 1994 Slagtøjskoncert * 1994 Tubakoncert * 1995 Devil in Disguise * 1995 Strygekvartet * 1995 En Miniature * 1996 Symphony * 1996 Lyriske stykker * 1996 Angels and Insects * 1996 Heroisk Etude

Niels Viggo Bentzon

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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

Oluf Ring

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Oluf Ring (24 December 1884-26 April 1946) was a Danish composer, known for his folk music work. He composed around 300 melodies, as well as one opera, and was affiliated with prominent Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Biography Ring was born 24 December 1884 in Jelling. His father, Marius Sørensen, taught history and Danish at Jelling State Seminary. In 1911, Ring became a teacher in Ribe’s educator’s college. Ring’s other works included Svinedregen, an operatic adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales. He also edited the Arbejdermelodibogen, a book of folk songs written for workers and popular in Denmark’s Social Democrat labour movement. Ring died on 26 April 1946 in Skårup, Funen. See also *List of Danish composers References

Otto Malling

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Otto Valdemar Malling (1 June 1848 – 5 October 1915) was a Danish composer, from 1900 the cathedral organist in Copenhagen and from 1889 professor, then from 1899 Director of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen. Otto Malling was born in Copenhagen. He became a pupil of Niels Wilhelm Gade and Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann; in his later career he mainly composed organ works and vocal music, but he also wrote a Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 20, an appealing Schumannesque piano trio (in A minor, opus 36, 1889), piano quartet (in C minor, opus 80), and a Brahmsian piano concerto in C minor (opus 43, 1890), all of which are recorded and infrequently heard in concert. His output also contains among other substantial works a cantata Det hellige Land, opus 46, (published in 1897), a symphony in D minor, opus 17 (published in 1884), and an octet for strings, opus 50 (published in or before 1907). Malling wrote the first Danish textbook in orchestration, along French conservatory lines. He taught musical theory to Knudåge Riisager in 1915. He was also a music editor, creating piano reductions and vocal scores of works by Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, Niels Wilhelm Gade and C

Otto Mortensen

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Otto Hübertz Mortensen (18 August 1907 – 30 August 1986) was a Danish composer and conductor. He also played the organ and piano. For a number of years he worked at the Royal Danish Theatre as a rehearser for the opera, and later worked at Aarhus University. As a composer, Mortensen composed both vocal works and instrumental music. He is most famous for arranging countless choral works and for writing the melodies for a number of Danish songs, e.g. Septembers himmel, Min skat, Sommervise (Du danske sommer jeg elsker dig…), and the Norwegian Kringsatt av fiender (lyrics by Nordahl Grieg). In the years leading up to his death, he worked on new melodies to a number of psalms, e.g. At sige verden ret farvel. The melody for the poem by Helge Rode, Du gav os de blomster, som lyste imod os, was selected by the Danish Ministry of Culture in 2006 as one of 12 songs to be a part of the Canon of Culture (Danish: Kulturministeriets Kulturkanon) in the category musical scores. List of compositions The following works do not make a complete listing. * Quintette pour Flûte, Hautbois, Clarinette, Cor et Basson (1944) * Sonata for oboe and piano * Four Songs (1945) * Songs (7 songs, undated), for v

Palle Mikkelborg

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Palle Mikkelborg (born 6 March 1941) is a Danish jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and record producer. He is self-taught on the trumpet, although he studied conducting at the Royal Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. *Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-69) (Elemental Music, 2023) With Dexter Gordon *More Than You Know (SteepleChase, 1975) *The Other Side of Round Midnight (Blue Note, 1986) With Philip Catherine * September Man (Atlantic, 1974) With George Gruntz *Theatre (ECM, 1983) With Gary Peacock *Guamba (ECM, 1987) With Terje Rypdal *Waves (ECM, 1978) *Descendre (ECM, 1979) *Skywards (ECM, 1995) *Lux Aeterna (ECM, 2000) *Vossabrygg (ECM, 2003) With Dino Saluzzi *Once Upon a Time - Far Away in the South (ECM, 1985) With Edward Vesala *Satu (ECM, 1977) With Thomas Clausen *Even Closer (ARTS, 2011) With Jakob Bro *Returnings (ECM, 2018) With L. Shankar *Vision (ECM, 1984) References External links *

Paul von Klenau

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Paul August von Klenau (11 February 1883 – 31 August 1946) was a Danish-born composer who worked primarily in Germany and Austria. Biography Klenau was born in Copenhagen, where he studied under Otto Malling. Already as a young man he left his native country to study and work in Germany and Austria, among others with Max Bruch, Ludwig Thuille and Max von Schillings. His first, Bruckner-influenced symphony was premiered successfully in 1908 at a Tonkünstlerfest in Munich. Within just five years the three additional large-scale symphonies followed. Later influences include French music, Richard Strauss, and Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique. Klenau was among Schoenberg’s advocates during the 1920s, and Schoenberg attended a concert of his music conducted by Klenau in 1923 in Freiburg. Reputation Klenau’s role under National Socialism has been the subject of discussion. Fred Prieberg characterizes Klenau’s relationship with the Nazis as one of mutual opportunism: for the régime, he could be useful as a campaigner for cultural ties between Germany and Denmark; for Klenau this attitude opened doors that remained closed to others. By way of example, Prieberg cites the seemingly u

Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen

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Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (21 November 1932 – 27 June 2016) was a Danish composer. Biography Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was the son of the sculptor Jørgen Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, with Finn Høffding, Svend Westergaard, Bjørn Hjelmborg, and Vagn Holmboe (instrumentation), graduating in 1958. Amongst other works, he composed fourteen string quartets and a Concerto Grosso for string quartet and orchestra, written for the Kronos Quartet, which he referred to as “Vivaldi on Safari.” He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1980 for his Symfoni/Antifoni. Gudmundsen-Holmgreen died of cancer on 26 June 2016. References Sources * * * External links *Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen page on André Chaudron’s Contemporary Music site *Profile and works at Edition Wilhelm Hansen

Per Nørgård

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Per Nørgård (; 13 July 1932 – 28 May 2025) was a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style varied considerably throughout his career, his music often included repeatedly evolving melodies, in the vein of Jean Sibelius, and a perspicuous focus on lyricism. He based music on “infinity series” and other mathematical models. He composed large-scale works, eight symphonies including the choral Third, concertos and operas such as Gilgamesh. His chamber music includes ten string quartets and music for guitar. Some later works were inspired by the art of Adolf Wölfli. The composer Julian Anderson called Nørgård’s style “one of the most personal in contemporary music”. Nørgård received several awards, including the 2016 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. Life and career Per Nørgård was born in Gentofte, a suburb of Copenhagen on 13 July 1932. His father was a tailor, and he grew up with an elder brother. He learned to play the piano as a boy. and Herman David Koppel. Between 1958 and 1962, Nørgård had a stint as a music critic for the newspaper Politiken. He left these positions in 1965 to teach composition at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg. There, he taught many composer

Peter Arnold Heise

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Peter Heise (11 February 1830 – 12 September 1879) was a Danish composer, best known for the opera Drot og Marsk (King and Marshal). Heise’s parents tried to press him into becoming a lawyer, but he scored highly in music at school, so he changed direction. He began writing songs at the age of 19. As a young man he collected several hundred folk songs directly from ordinary people. He used these tunes in Tornerose (Sleeping Beauty) and Bergliot (A Danish historical romance). He studied under Niels Wilhelm Gade, who was a major influence on his style. From 1857 to 1865 he was a teacher and organist at Sorø Academy. He did a setting of Hans Christian Andersen’s poem Jylland mellem tvende Have (Jutland between two seas) in 1860. The opera Drot og Marsk tells the story of the murder of a medieval king, and contains some folk ballads. It shows a Wagnerian influence. His setting of the Shakespeare song When I was and a little tiny boy and Five Erotic songs are also in print. Many of his songs, usually for soprano and piano, concern dreams, folk-tales and the Middle Ages. Although his instrumental works are almost uniformly excellent, because of the tremendous popularity of his songs, the

Peter Lange-Müller

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Peter Erasmus Lange-Müller (1 December 1850 – 26 February 1926) was a Danish composer and pianist. His compositional style was influenced by Danish folk music and by the work of Robert Schumann; Johannes Brahms; and his Danish countrymen, including J.P.E. Hartmann. Early years Lange-Müller was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark to an affluent family with a background in politics. He spent his childhood painting, reading poetry, and studying music with prominent teachers, including G. Matthison-Hansen. Poor health prevented him from attending school until 1871, when he entered conservatory to study composition. After a year, however, his father decided that he should follow his professional path and enrolled him in Copenhagen University to study political science. He was not suited for a life in politics though, and by 1874 he had become fully immersed in his compositional career. It was at this time that he and several colleagues founded Copenhagen’s Concert Society. Middle years For the next quarter of a century, Lange-Müller produced a huge quantity of music, comprising some seventy-seven opus numbers. And, for several years, he conducted the Concert Society he helped to establish. H

Peter Mandrup Lem

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Peter Mandrup Lem (baptized 7 June 1758 - 12 January 1828) was an eighteenth-century Danish violin virtuoso. Among his few compositions always mentioned by his contemporaries are his both symphonies, violin concertos, piano pieces and an oratorio, although none of them is known to be preserved. Biography Life Peter Lem was born in Copenhagen and received his first education from his father, John Lem, accountant for Skillings-Ligkassenthen, and his mother Kirstine, née Tonnesen. Still as a child he drew the attention of concert master Johann Hartmann, of whom he became a pupil. As a twelve-year-old child he could perform “even the most difficult concertos and solos, not without admiration from those who listened to him”, which was read in the Adresseavisen after the boy had had his debut as soloist and member of Det musikalske Selskab at a concert in Rådhusstræde (City Hall Street) on 1 February 1770. The following year he was admitted to the Royal Chapel and traveled with royal subsidy abroad to seek further education, staying especially in Vienna and Italy, and returned to Copenhagen in 1783. On 11 February 1784 he gave a concert at the Royal Danish Theatre, where he received tumu

Poul Allin Erichsen

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Poul Allin Erichsen (1910–1970) was a Danish clarinetist and composer. He was married to concert singer and violinist Lise Abrahams and is the father of the hornist and organist Jesper Allin. Early life Poul Allin Erichsen belongs to a branch of the well-known musical family Allin, which originally came from Sweden. His great-grandfather JF Allin played in HC Lumbye’s orchestra in Tivoli Concert Hall. His maternal grandfather Arthur Allin was the cathedral organist in Aarhus . The family also includes the royal chapel musicians Otto Allin, Georg Allin and Georg Allin Wilkenschildt in addition to the royal opera singer Hanna Allin. After graduating from high school in his hometown of Aarhus, he studied with Aage Oxenvad (clarinetist) and Dagmar Bendix (pianist) as well as with Finn Høffding (theory) and Knud Jeppesen (composition) at the Royal Academy of Music (1929-33). He played as 2nd solo clarinetist in the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1935 to 1948 and then as 1st solo clarinetist from 1948 to the end of 1962, when he was appointed professor at the Danish Academy of Music. From 1954 to 1956 , he was chairman of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and managed to get Rafae

Poul Rovsing Olsen

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Poul Rovsing Olsen (November 4, 1922 – July 2, 1982) was a Danish composer and ethnomusicologist. Olsen was born in Copenhagen. He studied with Knud Jeppesen at the Copenhagen Conservatory (1943-6) and with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris (1948-9), then worked in Copenhagen as a music critic. His early works showed the influences of Bela Bartók, Igor Stravinsky and Carl Nielsen, joined in the 1950s by 12-note serialism, but from the 1960s his music began to reflect his work as a musical ethnologist (A L′inconnu for voice and 13 instruments, 1962): he did fieldwork in Greenland and the Persian Gulf and taught at the universities of Lund (1967-9) and Copenhagen (from 1969). His output includes opera, orchestral and chamber music, piano pieces and songs. His opera Belisa is based on The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden by Federico García Lorca. Compositions Piano: * Piano Sonata No. 1 (1950) * Piano Sonata No. 2 (1952) Orchestral: * Variations Symphoniques, Op. 27 (1953) * Piano Concerto, Op. 31 (1954) * Sinfonia (1958) * Au fond de la nuit, Op. 61 * Lux coelestis (1978) Operas: *Belisa, premiered at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen in 1966 and recorded by Da

Poul Ruders

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Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer. Life Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders’s first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own compositional development as a gradual one, with his true voice emerging with the chamber concerto, Four Compositions, of 1980. His notable students include Marc Mellits. Minor planet 5888 Ruders discovered by Eleanor Helin and Schelte J. Bus is named after him. Music Ruders has created a large body of music ranging from opera and orchestral works through chamber, vocal and solo music in a variety of styles, from the Vivaldi pastiche of his first violin concerto (1981) to the explosive modernism of Manhattan Abstraction (1982). Other works include the operas Tycho (1986), The Handmaid’s Tale (1998, with libretto by Paul Bentley), Proces Kafka / Kafka’s Trial (2005, again with libretto by Bentley), Selma Ježková (2007, after Trier’s Dancer in the Dark ), and the fairytale opera The Thirteenth Child (2016), five symphonies, four string quartets, Violin Concerto No. 1 (1981), Etude and Ricercare (1994) for guitar, for David Starobin, The Bells (songs)

Regin Dahl

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Regin Dahl (5 November 1918 – 29 March 2007) was a Faroese author and composer. Biography Dahl came from a literary family; his father being the translator and provost Jákup Dahl. His own poetry has been described as more modernistic than that of many previous Faroese poets. His family also contained musicians like his grandfather Georg Casper Hansen, and Dahl himself was noted as a composer. In youth he did not know how to transcribe his compositions so would work on them in his head before performing them at cultural events. As a composer he wrote musical settings for 34 Erik Axel Karlfeldt poems and created around 450 compositions in all. In the mid 1990s, Marianne Clausen made musical transcriptions of his many compositions, and published them as Atlantsløg and Atlantsløg II under his name. Recognition Dahl was honoured in 1998 with the Faroese Cultural Prize (Mentanarvirðisløn Landsins). He was the first person to receive this annual award. References

Rued Langgaard

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Rued Langgaard (; born Rud Immanuel Langgaard; 28 July 1893 – 10 July 1952) was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. His then-unconventional music was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries but was recognized 16 years after his death. Life Born in Copenhagen, Rued Langgaard was the only son of composer and Royal Chamber musician Siegfried Langgaard and Emma Langgaard (née Foss), both of whom were pianists. At the age of five Rued began taking piano lessons with his mother, and later with his father and a private teacher. His talent emerged quickly, and at seven he was able to play Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze and Chopin’s mazurkas. By then he had begun to compose short pieces for the piano and play the organ. At 10 he began to study the organ under Gustav Helsted, organist at the Jesuskirken in Valby, and the violin under Chr. Petersen, formerly of the Royal Orchestra. At the age of 11 he made his first public appearance as an organist and improviser on the organ at a concert at the Frederikskirken (Marmorkirken) in Copenhagen. When he was 12, he started to study music theory under C. F. E. Horneman and, later, Vilhelm Rosenberg. Langgaard’s first compositions, 2

Siegfried Saloman

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Siegfried Saloman (2 October 1816 – 22 July 1899) was a Danish violinist and composer. A contemporary of Franz Liszt, he was a pupil of Johannes Frederik Fröhlich, Holger Simon Paulli, Frederik Thorkildsen Wexschall and Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, from whom he received violin-playing lessons. He toured extensively throughout Europe with the Swedish opera singer Henriette Nissen, to whom he was married in 1850. In 1842, his nine booklets of romances and songs were published in Hamburg. Life Siegfried Saloman, born Solomon, was born in Tønder, the son of the merchant Isaac Solomon (1782-1848) and Veilchen Geskel (1787-1836). He was the brother of the artist and the founder of the Gothenburg Museum of Art, Geskel Saloman (1821-1902), and Nota Saloman (1823–85), who was a chief medical officer for the Danish army. Since his father’s business was no longer doing so well, the family moved to Copenhagen in 1829. As early as a 12-year-old Siegfried Saloman already played the violin, so he continued his studies in Copenhagen under the guidance of J. P. E. Hartmann, among others. In 1838 he received a 3-year scholarship which he used to stay in Dessau, where he studied music theory and com

Simon Ravn

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Simon Ravn (born 25 January 1974 ) is a Danish composer who composes orchestral music for film, television and video games. Ravn was born in Copenhagen. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he wrote music in the MOD format under the pseudonym “Melomaniac”, and scored music for the Amiga game, Foundation. Prominent works Video games *Genetic Species (Amiga) *1999 Foundation (Amiga) *2009 Empire: Total War *2010 Napoleon: Total War *2019 Total War: Three Kingdoms Feature film *2005 Ainoa *2005 Bølle-Bob og Smukke Sally *2006 The Crumbs: A Very Crumby Christmas *2007 Anja & Viktor: Flaming Love - also known as Anja og Viktor - Brændende Kærlighed *2008 Anja & Viktor: In Sickness and in Health - also known as Anja & Viktor: I Medgang og Modgang *2010 Bølle Bob - Alle Tiders Helt *2012 Hvidsten Gruppen *2017 In Search of Peter Pan: På sporet af Peter Pan (documentary) Television *2007 Milosevic on Trial *2008 The Cloud Mystery *2014 Hero Factory Episode 11: Invasion from Below Trailers *2006 We Shall Overcome - also known as Drømmen *2005 Murk - also known as Mørke *2005 Dear Wendy *2004 Brothers References External links *Simon Ravn’s official website * *Gallery feature about Simon Ravn

Simon Steen-Andersen

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Simon Steen-Andersen (born 1976) is a Danish composer, performer, director and media artist. Biography Steen-Andersen studied composition with Karl Aage Rasmussen, Mathias Spahlinger, Gabriel Valverde, and Bent Sørensen in Aarhus, Freiburg, Buenos Aires and Copenhagen between 1998 and 2006. Since 2008 he has taught composition at The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, and since 2018 he has held been a professor in the Composition and Music Theatre department at University of the Arts Bern. In 2016 he became a member of the German Academy of the Arts, and in 2018 he was appointed as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He currently lives in Berlin. Well known for his original and uncompromising compositions, which often exist in a grey area between artforms, he has achieved international recognition. His works have been performed and broadcast all over the world and he has received commissions from, among others, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Percussion de Strasbourg, Jack Quartet, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphonieorchester, Staatsoper Berlin, Opéra national du Rhin and Munich Biennale. His output ra

Sinne Eeg

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Sinne Eeg (born 1 September 1977) is a Danish jazz vocalist and composer. Eeg has received a number of recognitions and positive reviews both nationally and internationally, and is considered among the best female jazz vocalists currently in Scandinavia. She has composed many of her own songs, and although she usually sings in English, she has also performed and recorded songs in Danish. Eeg has won the Danish Music Awards prize in the category Best Danish Vocal Jazz Album of the Year four times: in 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2015, for her albums Waiting for Dawn, Don’t Be So Blue, Face the Music, and Eeg - Fonnesbæk. She also received the Ben Webster Prize in 2014. The Webster Foundation describes her as “a true jazz singer, who both shows sensitivity, improvisational skills, maturity, broad range and timing in her singing.” Background Eeg was admitted at the Academy of Music in Esbjerg in 1997; she graduated in 2003. As part of her musical studies she has studied with American singer Janet Lawson in New York City. Eeg has toured Europe, Japan, China and the United States. On 26 January 2012 she sang in Brussels accompanied by the Danish Radio Big Band at the celebration for the beginni

Søren Nils Eichberg

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Søren Nils Eichberg (born 23 July 1973) is a German/Danish classical composer and conductor. Biography Eichberg was born in Stuttgart. He studied piano, composition and orchestra conducting in Copenhagen, Cologne and Berlin. He had his first break-through in 2001 when winning the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Composers in Brussels in 2001. Other awards and honours include the Tanglewood fellowship, the German Konrad-Adenauer Composition Grant and the Composition Stipend of the Danish Arts Foundation. In 2010 he was announced as the first composer-in-residence of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in the orchestra’s history, which led to a close collaboration with the orchestra over a period of five years and to premieres and recordings of several large-scale works. His symphonic work was in 2017 shortlisted for the German Music Authors’ Prize. Hilary Hahn recorded his composition Levitation for her Deutsche Grammophon album In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores, which was awarded a Grammy Award in 2014. His works include three symphonies, several concertos, five operas and solo- and chamber music and are published by Universal Edition and Edition Wilhelm Hansen (Wise Music Gr

Sunleif Rasmussen

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Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961) is one of the foremost Faroese composers of classical music. Biography Rasmussen was born in Sandur in the Faroe Islands. He studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as a music teacher and jazz pianist. From 1990 to 1995 he studied musical composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Ib Nørholm and electronic music under Ivar Frounberg. In 1992 he received grants from the Leonie Sonning Foundation and the Danish Composer’s Society. He also became familiar with spectral music, which has its roots at the IRCAM in Paris, and the work of composers such as Tristan Murail. Rasmussen has produced a number of works combining electronic and acoustic instruments, some produced in co-operation with DIEM (the Danish Institute for Electro-Acoustic Music). In 1997, he was awarded a three-year grant from the Danish State Arts Foundation. In 2002, he won the Nordic Council Music Prize for his Symphony no. 1 - “Oceanic Days”, which, in the NOMUS committee description: “derives its inspiration from Faroese nature and from age-old Faroese hymns, from which Rasmussen has created a work of comprehensive dimensions. It rad

Teckla Juel

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Teckla Violanta Juel née Suenssen (1834–1904) was a Danish writer and composer. Brought up by a mother interested in literature, like her sisters Alfhilda Mechlenburg and Fanny Suenssen, she contributed articles to women’s magazines and published novels and short stories. Furthermore, using the name Teckla, she published a number of songs for which she had composed the music. Biography Born on 20 May 1834 in Tønning in the south of Jutland, Teckla Violanda Suenssen was the youngest daughter of Captain Johan Fedder Carsten Suenssen (1795–1840) and his wife Margaret née Juel. She was brought up by a mother deeply interested in literature with two sisters who also became writers. In August 1867, she married the schoolteacher at Aalborg Cathedral School Axel Georg Juel (1822–1903) with whom she had two children: Margrethe (1869) and Elise Henriette (1871). After marrying Axel Juel in 1867, she spent the next ten years in Aalborg where her husband was employed. In 1876, the family settled in Copenhagen. Later publications included three novels: Hittebarnet (1870), Zigeunerbarnet (1871), Karen (1874) and the short story collection Paa Skraaplanet (1891). Together with her two sisters, sh

Tekla Griebel-Wandall

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Tekla Griebel-Wandall (26 February 1866 – 28 June 1940) was a Danish composer and music educator. Biography Tekla Griebel was born in Randers, Denmark, the daughter of Theodor Johan Heinrich Griebel (1829–1900) and teacher Camilla Joachimine Andresen (1829–91). She began her musical studies at the age of seven, taking piano lessons from her father. Later she took singing lessons, and at the age of fifteen, she was admitted to Draw School for Women where she studied to be a figurative artist. However, she was more interested in music, and in 1886 she wrote her first opera Don Juan de Marana (eventually performed in 1931). At the age of sixteen, Tekla Griebel-Wandall began teaching piano, and from 1889 to 1891 she studied voice, piano, composition and theory at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Jørgen Malling and Orla Rosenhoff. In 1896 she studied in Dresden, financed by Nicole Leth. In 1902 she married theologian and author Hans Frederik Wandall and continued to support the family through teaching music. Prominent students included opera composer Peter Cornelius and pianist Ellen Gilberg. Working reduced the time Griebel-Wandall had for composition, but she wrote a total of 10

Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen

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Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen (born December 3, 1969) is a Danish composer and cellist. Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus from 1991 to 1998, and composition with Karl Aage Rasmussen, Olav Anton Thommesen, Henryk Górecki, and Poul Ruders in Aarhus, Katowice, and London during the period 1998–2003. Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen’s primary artistic work takes place in the tension between tradition and renewal, and he often uses this tension quite concretely as a kind of driving force and generator of material in his music. One example is his Weihnachtsoratorium, which he wrote with Bach’s score at his side while, according to his own statement, “carefully making sure not to copy a single phrase from the original work.” Should it nevertheless happen, “it would occur after thorough consideration.” Another example of the dialectic between tradition and renewal can be seen in his extensive production of string quartets. Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen has written 11 string quartets for a number of the most internationally renowned ensembles, including Quartetto di Cremona, the Henschel Quartet, and in Denmark the Danish String Quartet and Nightingale String Quartet.

Thomas Kingo

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Thomas Hansen Kingo (15 December 1634 – 14 October 1703) was a Danish bishop, poet and hymnwriter born in Slangerup, near Copenhagen. His work marked the high point of Danish baroque poetry. Early life and education His parents were Hans Thomsen Kingo and Karen Sørensdatter. His father was born in Crail, Scotland, and moved to Helsingør, Denmark, as a two-year old; he became a weaver of modest means. The name Kingo is a shortening of the Scottish name Kinghorn. Although his parents were not wealthy, he was sent to Frederiksborg Latin School at the age of 16 in 1650. He studied theology at the University of Copenhagen, enrolling in 1654 and graduating in 1658. Career Kingo started his career by working as a private tutor at Frederiksborg Castle. From 1659 he lived on the Vedbygård estate at Tissø, where he wrote some of his first poems. In 1661 he was appointed chaplain to the priest Peder Worm at Kirke Helsinge and Drøsselbjerg, and in 1668 he was ordained a minister in his hometown of Slangerup, where his poem-writing began. In 1677 Kingo was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Funen. Poems and hymns At first he essayed patriotic poems, but later devoted himself almost entirely to

Thomas Koppel

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Thomas Koppel (27 April 1944 – 25 February 2006) was a Danish classical music and avant-garde popular composer and musician. His father, Herman David Koppel (1908-1998), a composer and pianist of Jewish origin, fled the Nazis with his family in 1943. Thomas was born in a refugee camp in Sweden. The family moved to Denmark and Thomas studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with his father who was professor of piano. Like his father, Thomas Koppel became a classical pianist and composer. He wrote string quartets, a piano concerto, operas, cantatas, a ballet, symphonies and other orchestral works. At age 18 he completed his first opera The Story of a Mother, based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Koppel composed the score in 1971 for the ballet Dødens Triumf (Triumph of Death) which was danced naked at the Royal Danish Theatre. Unlike his father, Thomas Koppel also composed and performed avant-garde popular music. He founded the experimental rock group Savage Rose with his brother Anders and sister Lone. In 1968 they added four more members including the singer Annisette. Aside from rock, the group fused elements from classical music, jazz and rhythm and blues. Thomas Koppel

Thomas Laub

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Thomas Linnemann Laub (5 December 1852 – 4 February 1927) was a Danish organist and composer. He was associated with the 20th century revival of religious music in the country. Biography Thomas Laub was born on 5 December 1852. While he originally studied theology, he attended the Copenhagen Conservatory from 1873 to 1876 and was taught by music theorist Johann Christian Gebauer. He was an organist at Helligåndskirke in Copenhagen between 1884 and 1891, and became organist at Holmens Kirke in 1891. Laub would remain its organist for several decades. During his tenure, Laub set out to reform the Lutheran Church of Denmark’s hymn repertoire. He was opposed to the romanticized Danish hymns of the day and viewed medieval and Reformation singing as more proper. In particular, he viewed Gregorian chant as melodically superior, and chorales as the ideal form of devotional music. Laub also took an interest in Danish folk ballads, which at the time were available primarily as 19th-century copies, arranged in romantic style by contemporary Danish composers. Laub believed these rearrangements were overly ornamented and that they obscured some of the ballads’ origins in medieval music. He comp

Tommy Seebach

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Tommy Seebach (14 September 1949 – 31 March 2003), born Tommy Seebach Mortensen in Copenhagen, Denmark, was a popular Danish singer, composer, organist, pianist and producer. He is best known as front man of Sir Henry and his Butlers and for numerous contributions to the Danish qualifier for the Eurovision Song Contest, the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, which he won three times. He was the father of songwriter/producer Nicolai Seebach and singer/songwriter/producer Rasmus Seebach. Biography Musical beginnings Seebach began his musical career as an organist in his own group “The Colours” at age 14. In the following years he played in many pop and beat groups. He played the piano with various orchestras and groups, sometimes going under the name of “Boogie-Woogie-Tommy”. He gained mainstream popularity in Denmark in 1965, when he became a member of the band Sir Henry and his Butlers, writing many of their most popular hits. He also worked as a recording engineer at the Rosenberg Studio in Copenhagen and amongst other projects recorded the Icecross album there in 1973. Solo career In 1976 he emerged as a successful solo artist. His hit album “Tommygum” was released in 1977. It was at this

Truid Aagesen

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Truid Aagesen (fl. 1593–1625) was a Danish composer and organist. His only known published music is a set of secular Cantiones for three voices which were published in Hamburg in 1608 under his Latinized name, Theodoricus Sistinus. He was also known under the name Trudo Haggaei Malmogiensis. Little is known about Aagesen’s early life but his musical mentor and spiritual adviser was Norwegian-born Jesuit Laurentius Nicolai with whom he studied music. Aagesen was appointed organist of Vor Frue Kirke in Copenhagen on 23 June 1593. He studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli from 1599 to 1600. In 1600, he went to Prague as a royal commissioner for the King Christian IV. Between 1609 and 1611, he is supposed to have taught at the court and therefore received subsidies from the royal treasury. In 1613, the Danish king published a letter stating that all men of the “Roman Catholic” religion must leave Denmark. Aagesen, who had been suspected of being on the Pope’s payroll as early as 1604, was informed of a ruling made in the governing body of Copenhagen University on 15 September 1613 that, since he had Catholic sympathies, he should not be allowed to continue as organist. In 1615, he wa

Ulla Laage

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Ulla Laage (born 10 July 1949) is a Danish carillonneur and composer. She was the first carillonneur to hold a full-time carillon performance position in Denmark, and one of a small number of women to hold a professional carillon post in Europe during the twentieth century. Early life and education Laage was born in 1949 to architect Vagn Laage and artist Aase Laage. She earned a diploma in organ performance from the Royal Danish Academy of Music studying with Aksel Andersen, who advocated for the establishment of a Scandinavian Carillon School. She pursued carillon study through masterclasses and workshops and earned the first diploma awarded by the new Scandinavian Carillon School in Løgumkloster in 1982. Career Laage became carillonneur of the Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen, in 1974 and held that position until 2006. In 1983, her position was expanded into the first full-time carillon performance job in the country. After her departure in 2006, the position was reduced to a part-time responsibility of the organist, the predominant arrangement in Denmark. From 1993 through 2000, she adjudicated carillonneur exams for the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs (Denmark). Her conce

Vagn Holmboe

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Vagn Gylding Holmboe (; 20 December 1909 – 1 September 1996) was a Danish composer and teacher. Early life and education Vagn Holmboe was born in Horsens, Jutland, into a merchant family of dedicated amateur musicians. Both parents played the piano. His father earned his living as a maker of colours and lacquers at Horsens. The Danish journalist Knud Holmboe was his elder brother. From the age of 14 Vagn Holmboe took violin lessons. In 1926, at the age of 16, he began formal music training at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen on the recommendation of Carl Nielsen. He studied under Knud Jeppesen (theory) and Finn Høffding (composition). Career After finishing his studies in 1929 he moved to Berlin where for a short period Ernst Toch became his teacher. During his time in the German capital he met the Romanian-born pianist and visual artist Meta May Graf (1910–2003) from Sibiu/Hermannstadt. She had studied at the Musikhochschule Berlin since 1929, with Paul Hindemith as one of her teachers. The couple married in 1933 and left Berlin for Romania, where they visited obscure and remote villages and studied Transylvanian folk-song. Vagn Holmboe’s students included Per Nørgå

Valdemar Tofte

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Lars Valdemar Tofte (21 October 1832 – 28 May 1907) was a Danish violinist who taught for a half century and trained over 300 of Denmark’s violinists. Biography Tofte was born on 21 October 1832 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to distiller Hans Larsen Tofte (1798–1857) and Mathilde Pedersen (1812–1867). The father, who loved music and was a good violinist, wanted his son to become a musician, particularly a violin virtuoso. To that end, he took Tofte at a young age to concerts to hear great artists like Miska Hauser, Hubert Léonard, and François Prume. He also found skilled teachers: first Carl T. Petersen, violinist in Hans Christian Lumbye’s orchestra, known for his beautiful bowing, and then of the Royal Danish Orchestra. In the fall of 1850, when the Music Society formed its own orchestra under the direction of Niels W. Gade, Tofte was one of its early violinists. Gade’s recommendation was for Tofte to study with the “violin king” Joseph Joachim in Hannover. Tofte followed the advice and went to study with Joachim from 1853 to 1856; occasionally he studied with Louis Spohr in Kassel. Career After his return, he made his debut in May 1856 with great acclaim in the Music Society Orchestr

Victor Bendix

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Victor Emanuel Bendix (17 May 1851 in Copenhagen – January 1926) was a Danish composer, conductor and pianist, who came from a Jewish family. His teachers included Niels Gade. He studied at the conservatory of music at Copenhagen, then newly founded, from 1867 to 1869. He studied piano under August Winding and composition under Niels W. Gade. He visited Germany and other countries abroad; his compositions show the influence of modern German romanticism. He was also a friend of Carl Nielsen, who dedicated his Symphonic Suite for piano (1894) to Bendix. In 1879, he married the writer and philanthropist Baroness Rigmor Stampe. Selected works *Symphonies **Symphony no. 1, op. 16, “Fjældstigning” in C major (1882) *Concertante works **Piano Concerto in G minor, op. 17 (1884) *Orchestral works **Dance suite in A, op. 29 (1903) **Piano Sonata in G minor, op. 26 (published 1901) **Intermezzo for piano (published 1916) Further reading * Cornelius, Jens: Victor Bendix – nøglefigur og paria i dansk musikliv, Rambam (2020) * Salmonsen, Store Illustrerede Konversationsleksikon (Kjøbenhavn, Brødrene Salmonsen (J. Salmonsen)) * C. F. Bricka, Dansk Biografisk Lexikon pp 47, 48 Notes References *Sm

Viggo Bielefeldt

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Viggo Emil Bielefeldt (16 October 1851 – 17 December 1909) was a Danish composer, singer, cantor and music teacher. His father Heinrich Hellmuth Bielefeldt was an immigrant from Mecklenburg, Germany. Life and career Bielefeldt was educated at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music from 1867 to 1869 in among other things, singing and piano with Carl Helsted and August Winding respectively as teachers. He debuted as a romance singer on 2 March 1872 and was thereafter a well-known and valued singer in this field In addition, he was a singing teacher at Horneman’s music school and from 1883 at the Conservatory of Music. From 1880 he was cantor at Trinitatis Kirke and from 1887 at Holmens Kirke. For a time, shortly after Gade’s death, he was also organist at the same church. In 1900 he was appointed titular professor. In 1892 he became a Knight of the Dannebrog and in 1905 a Dannebrogordenens Hæderstegn. He is buried at Hellerup Kirkegård, with a gravestone made by J. Schannongs Granit-Industri. Works *A Honeymoon (mixed choir) *David’s 8th Psalme (male choir, tenor solo and brass instruments – 1883) *Singing exercises (together with Emil Horneman) *Melodies for the Book of Psalms for C

Werner Wolf Glaser

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Werner Wolf Glaser (14 April 1910 – 29 March 2006, in Västerås, Sweden) was a German-born Swedish composer, conductor, pianist, professor, music critic, and poet. Life Born in Cologne, Glaser studied piano, conducting, and composition at the Cologne Conservatory, and art history afterwards in Bonn. He finally continued his studies in composition with Paul Hindemith in Berlin, where he also took courses in psychology. From 1929 to 1931, he worked as a conductor at the Chemnitz Opera and went to Cologne in 1932 to conduct choirs. Persecuted by the Nazis due to his Jewish descent, he fled Germany for Paris in 1933. He subsequently moved to Lyngby, Denmark and lectured at the Frederiksbergs Folkemusikhojskole in Copenhagen. In 1939, he opened a School of Music in Lyngbby with composer Irene Skovgaard. Glaser collaborated with Skovgaard and her brother Hjalte Skovgaard on several publications. He escaped during the rescue of the Danish Jews to Sweden in 1943. In Sweden, he conducted the Södra Västmanlands Orkesterförbund from 1944 to 1959 and also directed the Västerås Musikskola, where his colleagues included Ivar Andrén and Gunnar Axén, until 1975. He also wrote music reviews and poem

Wilhelm Ramsøe

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Wilhelm Ramsøe (7 February 1837 – 15 April 1895) was a Danish composer, musician and conductor. Biography Emilio Wilhelm Ramsøe was born in Copenhagen, the second of five children. His father, Emilius Wilhelm Ramsøe (1807–1858), was a professional oboe-player; his mother was Anne (née Rasmussen) (1808–1889). He had four siblings, Kirstine (born 1833), Frederik (born 1840), Louis (born 1843), and Alvilda (born 1846). He was christened in 1837 at Garnison parish. Later, the family moved to the area of Nørregade in neighborhood of Nørre Kvarter in Copenhagen. Career Ramsøe began playing violin at a very young age. At 17 years old, he became a conductor at actors guild for traveling theater companies; he conducted concerts in Denmark and Norway. Between 1857 and 1864, he conducted several concerts and performances at the newly built 2,000-seat concert hall Alhambra which opened in 1857. It was during this time that Ramsøe established his reputation as a conductor and composer; this led to his appointment as music director at the then-popular Folketheateret. From 1864 to 1875 he continued to conduct, while also composing and arranging various comedies. However, after a difference of opi

William Heinesen

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Andreas William Heinesen (15 January 1900 – 12 March 1991) was a poet, writer, composer and painter from the Faroe Islands. His writing The Faroese capital Tórshavn is always the centre of Heinesen’s writing, and he is famous for having once called Tórshavn “The Navel of the World”. His writing focuses on contrasts between darkness and light, between destruction and creativity. Then following is the existential struggle of man to take sides. This is not always easy, however, and the lines between good and bad are not always clearly defined. Heinesen was captivated by the mysterious part of life, calling himself religious in the broadest sense of the word. His life could be described as a struggle against defeatism with one oft-quoted aphorism of his is that “life is not despair, and death shall not rule”. Publications As he was born and raised before the Faroese language was taught in the schools, he wrote mainly in Danish but his spoken language was Faroese. All his books were later translated into his native Faroese. He published his first collection of poetry when he was 21 and he had three more published before he wrote his first novel Blæsende gry (Stormy Dawn) in 1934. He rea