Aksel Agerby was a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 composer, organist, and music administrator. He also operated his own Music Publishing

History of music publishing

- Early publishing:Music publishing did not begin on a large scale until the mid-15th century, with the first printing of music. The earliest existence of printed music dates from about 1465, and then only liturgical chants were printed...

 company, which published both his work and those of others.

Work

Agerby was blind and was trained as an organist and pianist at the Danish Royal Blind Institute and the Copenhagen Organist School. From 1921, he was an organist at Copenhagen Funeral services and from 1930 until his death, he played the organ at Brønshøj

Brønshøj

Brønshøj, part of the municipality of Copenhagen, forms, together with Husum, the administrative city district of Brønshøj-Husum. Brønshøj lies on rising ground 4 km west of Copenhagen center and is bordered by the large wetland area of Utterslev Mose to the north. A number of ponds, lakes,...

 Church. Today, he is chiefly remembered for one small piece of music, the melody for Jeg er havren. A few other songs of his were recorded, some with Aksel Schiøtz

Aksel Schiøtz

Aksel Schiøtz was a Danish tenor who was considered one of Europe's leading Lieder singer of post World War II, and later baritone....

. His musical output also included some songs and a few instrumental compositions, sometimes backed up by an orchestra.

Most of his music was written for keyboard instruments; he also composed a number of works for choirs, as well as a handful of pieces for larger ensembles.

His legacy and importance to the Danish music scene lies elsewhere. He was an energetic and charismatic President of the DUT (the Young Musical Artists Society), which was, and continues to be, involved in the International Society for Contemporary Music

International Society for Contemporary Music

The International Society for Contemporary Music is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music.ISCM was established in 1922, in Salzburg. Its core activity is the World Music Days Festival, held every year at a different location. The festival includes cutting edge productions...

. Agerby was chairman of the DUT from 1929 until his death, and had strong opinions and the ability to make things happen. He managed to execute a merger with the New Music (Ny Musik) Organization, thereby creating a more powerful association for contemporary music.

Piano Music

• Jeg er havren (1916)
• Spurvene ved Helliggejst
• Jyske viser (10 songs)
• Flammende ungdom
• Jeg ved ej hvorfra du kommer
• Majnat
• Liljekonval
• Vintergækker
• En Dag
• Vor mor
• Hørvise
• Hvide børn og sorte børn

Choral compositions

• Vor tid (mixed choir)
• Glæde over foråret (male choir)
• Danmark, kære mor (male choir)
• Kløver (male choir)

Other compositions

• Intermezzo (oboe and orchestra)
• Elegi (oboe and orchestra)
• Intermezzo pastorale (violin and piano)
• Humoreske (violin and piano)
• Aftenvandring (orchestra)
• Berceuse (violin and orchestra)