Music of Denmark
Encyclopedia
Denmark
's most famous classical composer is Carl Nielsen
, especially remembered for his six symphonies while the Royal Danish Ballet
specializes in the work of Danish choreographer August Bournonville
. Danes have distinguished themselves as jazz
musicians, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival
has acquired an international reputation. The modern pop and rock scene has produced a few names of note, including Aqua
, The Raveonettes
, Michael Learns to Rock
, Alphabeat
, Medina
, Oh Land
, Kashmir
and Mew
. All together, Lars Ulrich
has become the first Danish musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
.
The earliest traces of Danish music go back to the many twisting bronze-age horns or lur
s found in various parts of Scandinavia
but mostly in Denmark since the end of the 18th century which some experts have identified as musical instruments.
In his Gesta Danorum
(c.1200), the historian Saxo Grammaticus
refers to the power music had over King Erik the Kind-Hearted
. In the 13th and early 14th centuries, German minnesingers such as Tannhäuser and Frauenlob sang in the Danish courts. The Codex Runicus
(c.1300) contains a verse written in runes with a non-rhythmic music notation. The first line is Drømdæ mik æn drøm i nat (I Dreamed Me a Dream Last Night). There is also evidence that English monks came to Denmark to sing at a celebration commemorating St Canute who died in 1086. In 1145, Lund Cathedral
received Scandinavia
's first choir statues and, by 1330, was one of the larger churches to have an organ installed.
engaged a permanent corps of trumpeters while by 1519, the court had a corps of court singers as well as an instrumental ensemble. The collections of works used by the chapel royal under Christian III
in the middle of the 16th century were based on Dutch, Italian, French and German masters. Christian IV
spent considerable sums on training local musicians and bringing foreign masters to Denmark. Mogens Pedersøn
, one of his Danish musicians who had studied in Venice
under Giovanni Gabrieli
, became one of Denmark's most important composers of church music. His principal work Pratum spirituale was a collection of 21 Danish hymns in five-part settings, a mass in five parts, three Latin motet
s and a number of Danish and Latin choral responses. It was published in Copenhagen
in 1620 and is still performed today.
Under the influence of Louis XIV of France
, music for the theatre was established in Denmark during the reigns of Frederik III
and Christian V
when lavish court ballets were performed. This soon led to opera and the performance of Der vereinigte Götterstreit composed by Povl Christian Schindler on Christian's birthday in 1689. Although it was a great success, there was little further interest in opera after the theatre caught fire a few days later causing 180 deaths.
In 1569, shortly after the Reformation, Denmark's first hymn book, Thomesens Salmebog, was published with music for the individual hymns.
Dieterich Buxtehude
(c. 1637–1707) was a German-Danish organist
and a highly regarded composer
of the Baroque
period. His organ works comprise a central part of the standard organ repertoire
and are frequently performed at recitals and church services but he is remembered first and foremost for his vocal compositions. In his day, Buxtehude was considered to be the unrivalled master of his time.
opened a new opera house in Copenhagen in 1703, the first performance being an opera by the Italian Bartolomeo Bernardi. Reinhard Keiser
, the prolific opera composer from Hamburg
, presented his works in Copenhagen from 1721–1723. In 1748, Den Danske Skueplads (the Danish Theatre) moved into a new building where, from 1779, Det Kongelige Kapel (the Royal Orchestra) became a permanent attachment.
Pietro Mingotti
from Venice
who had formed an opera company was invited to Copenhagen by Queen Louise
in 1747. His members included Christoph Willibald Gluck
and Giuseppe Sarti
. In 1756, Sarti provided the music for the first syngespil which, in the early 1790s, became established as a popular national genre with Høstgildet (the Harvest Celebration) and Peters Bryllup (Peter's Wedding) both composed by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz
.
Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse from Altona
who was a pupil of Schulz, is remembered above all for his Danish songs, hymns and carols which remain popular to this day. But he also composed religious music, piano pieces and symphonies.
Friedrich Kuhlau
wrote Elverhøj
(Elves' Hill) (1828) which contains the music for Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast
, the Danish national anthem. Elverhoj is considered to be the first Danish national play and has continued to be performed more than any other. Kuhlau was also a pianist and brought Beethoven's piano music to Denmark.
Schulz and Kunzen both gained importance as a result of their influence as chief conductors at the Royal Theatre
where they brought the best of European music to Danish audiences. Weyse and Kuhlau not only contributed to orchestral and chamber music
but contributed to the popular repertory, Weyse with secular secular and religious songs and Kuhlau with chamber music suitable for amateur musicians.
Another successful composer and conductor in the mid-20th century was Emil Reesen
(1887–1964) who is remembered above all for his highly successful operetta Farinelli (1942) which is still popular today.
Opera has continued to figure prominently on the Danish music scene, thanks in part to the Copenhagen Opera House which was opened in 2000. Although the majority of performances cover the works of the well-known European composers, Danish operas are also included from time to time. In 2010, with the involvement of the ambitious young artistic director Kasper Bech Holten
, there are to be performances of Poul Ruders
' new work Kafka's Trial while in recent years works by both John Frandsen and Bent Sørensen have been part of the repertoire.
. Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann
(1805–1900) who, apart from opera and ballet music, contributed to song and the piano repertory. From 1843 until his death, he was the organist at the Church of Our Lady
. His works are not only romantic but generally inspired by the old Nordic legends
.
Hans Christian Lumbye
(1810–1874) was employed as the first music director at the Copenhagen amusement park Tivoli when it opened in 1843. Here he had a platform for presenting a large foreign and Danish repertory, including his many waltzes and gallops. In 1839, he had heard a Viennese orchestra play music by Johann Strauss
, after which he composed in the same style, eventually earning the nickname "The Strauss of the North". One of his most popular pieces, associated with Tivoli, is Champagnegaloppen (the Champagne Galop), which starts with the happy sound of a champagne cork popping. It has been used in several Danish films including Reptilicus
(1961), and Champagnegaloppen
(1938).
Niels W. Gade (1817–1890) participated in the development of Musikforeningen
(the Music Society) which had been founded in 1836 with the purpose of extending and improving the understanding of classical music. He became its conductor in 1850, and under his management a number of masterpieces of choral music were given their first performance in Denmark, among them Bach's St. Matthew Passion in 1875.
At the conservatory in Copenhagen he helped teach future generations, including Edvard Grieg
and Carl Nielsen
. In the spirit of Romantic nationalism, he composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, organ and piano pieces and a number of large-scale cantatas, among them Elverskud, the most famous Danish work of its kind.
Another major contributor to the Golden Age was August Bournonville
(1805–1879), the renowned ballet master
and choreographer. From 1830 to 1877, he was the choreographer at the Royal Danish Ballet
, for which he created more than 50 ballets admired for their exuberance, lightness, and beauty. He created a style which, although influenced by the Paris ballet, is entirely his own. Bournonville's best-known works are La Sylphide
(1836), Napoli
(1842), Le Conservatoire
(1849), The Kermesse in Bruges
(1851) and A Folk Tale
(1854). He drew on a number of different composers including Holger Simon Paulli
and Niels Gade. The ballets are widely performed today, not only in Denmark but worldwide, especially in the United States
.
and Thomas Laub
revived interest in the purer music of earlier periods such as the Renaissance
.
. It has been used in countless films, such as the classic Danish sex comedy I Tvillingernes tegn (1975), where it is the centerpiece of a big nude dancing production number set in the 1930s, and Sally Potter
's The Man Who Cried
(2000), with Johnny Depp
playing a gypsy in the 1920s.
A special position is occupied by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (b. 1924), who has written music for Danish films and television series such as Matador
in his highly individual style. The signature tune "Alley Cat" quickly won international success in the same class as Gade's tango.
's band in 1923 and their recordings the following year. But is was in 1925, when Sam Wooding
brought his orchestra to Copenhagen that the Danish music scene was properly introduced to the genre. Interestingly, early Danish jazz was influenced by three classically trained musicians: Erik Tuxen
(1902–1957), who created one the country's first jazz bands, Bernhard Christensen
(b.1906), a composer of both jazz and classical music, and Sven Møller Kristensen (1909–1991) who wrote lyrics for Christensen as well as a number of books about jazz.
As jazz became more popular in the 1930s, one of the rising stars was the talented violinist Svend Asmussen
(born 1916) who made his first recordings in 1934 at the age of 18 and was still playing with his quartet more than 70 years later.
During the German occupation
in the 1940s, jazz was discouraged but many musicians continued to perform while others escaped to Sweden. Indeed, the period became known as "The Golden Age of Jazz" as the number of concerts in hotels and restaurants increased and the number of recordings rose from about 180 in 1935–1939 to over 650 from 1940 to 1945.
Following World War II
, Danish jazz musicians began to split into an older guard, which maintained the style of older New Orleans jazz, and newer musicians who favored the bebop
style of Charlie Parker
and Dizzy Gillespie
that was then emerging in America. The former were represented by musicians such as pianist Adrian Bentzon, trombonist Papa Bue
, and trumpeter Theis Jensen, while the latter included saxophonist Max Brüel
, bassist Erik Moseholm
, and trumpeter Jørgen Ryg
.
In the early 1960s, when there was something of a revival, the Jazzhus Montmartre opened in Copenhagen, reflecting the atmosphere of clubs in Paris
and New York City
. It soon became a major venue for both Danish and American artists. Many Americans moved to Denmark including Stan Getz
, Dexter Gordon
, Ben Webster
, Lee Konitz
and many others. The American pianist Kenny Drew
formed a trio with drummer Alex Riel
and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
which became a staple at Jazzhus Montmartre. Danish musicians also began to explore free jazz
in the 1960s with saxophonist John Tchicai
the most prominent proponent. In parallel, a more mainstream wing evolved, including saxophonist Jesper Thilo
.
As rock music became more popular in the 1970s, jazz's popularity waned, but it continues to be supported in venues such as the Copenhagen Jazzhouse and the Jazz Club Loco, as well as at the annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival
. Danish jazz musicians continue to find unity in diversity, exploring a wide range of feelings and genres and bringing new strength to contemporary jazz as it unfolds in all its shapes and sizes. Prominent jazz musicians today include Carsten Dahl
, Jørgen Emborg
, Thomas Clausen, Fredrik Lundin
, Marilyn Mazur
, Mads Vinding
, Ib Glindemann
, Jakob Bro
, Chris Minh Doky
and his brother Niels Lan Doky
.
The Danish rock scene thrived in the 1970s when groups drew on trends in the United States and Britain. Many consider their style to be Danish although this seems mainly to be due to the language of the songs and the way they fit into the national agenda. The most successful have been Gasolin'
, Shu-Bi-Dua
, Sebastian, Anne Linnet
, TV-2
, and more recently Magtens Korridorer
. Kim Larsen
who had played with Gasolin' went on to become a very successful solo artist in his own right while Sebastian has composed a number of successful musicals for theatre and film. The versatile Anne Linnet is still popular in Denmark today.
Until fairly recently, few Danish rock groups had been successful outside Denmark. An exception was D-A-D
(formerly Disneyland After Dark) who had a hit with Sleeping My Day Away
in the early 1990s. Today, however, with the Music Export Denmark initiative, several rock bands are doing increasingly well internationally. These include Mew
, Volbeat, Kashmir
, The Raveonettes
, and Blue Van
.
Michael Learns to Rock
, The Kissaway Trail
, Junior Senior
, Nephew
, Carpark North
, Saybia
, Swan Lee
and Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
which has just had a revival.
Famous Danish rock and metal musicians include Lars Ulrich
, the drummer
and co-founder of Metallica
, Mike Tramp
, the vocalist and co-songwriter of White Lion
, and Kim Bendix Petersen, aka King Diamond
, vocalist of Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate
and the eponymous King Diamond
.
The annual Roskilde Festival
is held in Danish city of Roskilde
. The festival is the second-largest in Europe with ticket sales normally running from 70,000 to 100,000. The festival has featured many prominent artists (mainly rock), such as Nirvana
, Guns N' Roses
, U2
, Bob Dylan
, Black Sabbath
and Green Day
, and there has also been an emphasis on world music, alternative genres and Danish music at the festival. In 2000, the festival suffered a terrible accident during a Pearl Jam
concert where nine people were crushed by the wild crowds, making security a primary issue of the following festivals. The festival has suffered no further incidents of the kind.
Popular in the early and mid 90s was the pop-soft rock band Michael Learns to Rock
, whose brand of ballads made it a popular act in many Asian markets, selling nearly 9 million records in Asia. A Danish band with a big impact outside of Denmark is the europop
group Aqua
, whose hit "Barbie Girl
" helped the band sell a total of 15 million albums and 6 million singles.
Denmark also participates in the annual Eurovision Song Contest
, and holds its own Dansk Melodi Grand Prix competition to select the song that will represent Denmark in the Eurovision contest. Denmark has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice: first with Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann's "Dansevise
" in 1963; and again with Brødrene Olsen
's (Olsen Brothers) "Fly on the Wings of Love
" (from the Danish
Smuk Som Et Stjerneskud, literally "Beautiful as a shooting star") in 2000.
The winners of the 2010 Melodi Grand Prix
, Christina Chanée
and Tomas N'evergreen
with "In a Moment Like This
" were already doing well in Eastern Europe by mid-March as their song became the most popular download in several countries.
Some hit songs of Danish origin have become international hits after being covered by foreign artists. Vengaboys
covered The Walkers
' "Shalala Lala", Jamelia
covered Christine Milton
's "Superstar
", Shayne Ward
covered Bryan Rice
's "No Promises" and Celine Dion
covered Tim Christensen
's "Right Next To The Right One". Different covers of Rune
's "Calabria" have also been international hits.
was a Danish pioneer in electronic music
as early as the 1950s. She knew and worked with Pierre Schaeffer
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
and has continued to make appearances on the Danish electronica scene well into the new millennium. With his Coma parties, Kenneth Bager
brought Acid house
to Denmark in 1988 and was active in building a Danish club scene, moving venues from the discothèques to deserted factories and basements. The most successful Danish electronic musician internationally is Trentemøller
while from a very early age Mike Sheridan
has achieved success and been labelled a name of the future. In the more mainstream part of the genre, Safri Duo
also experienced international success with their mixture of tribal sound and electronica; also in the electronic scene adding elements of string and brass instruments is the indie folk/electronic four-piece Efterklang
.
A leading Danish venue for electronic music is Culture Box in Copenhagen which is subsidised by the Ministry of Culture as a regional music venue, enabling it to keep a high artistic profile. The Strøm and Copenhagen Distortion
festivals are also dedicated to the capital's electronic and club music scene.
and accordion
duo but, unlike its Scandinavia
n neighbours, Danish fiddlers almost always play in groups with few solo performance. Danish bands also tend to feature the guitar
more prominently than the other Nordic countries
.
Fiddle and accordion duos play generally rhythmic dance music
, local versions of the Nordic folk dance music. The oldest variety is called pols
, and it is now mostly found on Fanø
with variants such as Sønderhoning from Sønderho
.
The first systematic collection of popular folk songs, some of which go back centuries, was undertaken by the folklore collector Evald Tang Kristensen
(1843–1929). These important sources were then transferred to the Danish Folklore Archives, established in 1904. The popular dance music tradition was continued into the 20th century by musicians such as the violinist Evald Thomsen
(1913–93).
Danish traditional music experienced a renaissance when the Anglo-American folk song wave hit Denmark around 1970. Among the prominent soloists, often composing new songs, were Sebastian, Poul Dissing and Niels Hausgaard
. The successful Lars Lilholt Band led by the violinist Lars Lilholt
combines the folk music tradition with rock. A new and refreshing combination of techno music and medieval ballads has been provided by the group Sorten Muld
since their first recording in 1996.
The formation of the Danish Folk Council to actively promote folk music both at home and abroad has helped raise the profile. Curiously, Danish folk music received its biggest boost from the home chart success of Sorten Muld, who used acoustic and electric instruments and electronica
on old songs to create something very contemporary on its best-selling albums.
There is also a tradition of singing in choirs. There are literally hundreds of amateur choirs throughout Denmark, usually specialising in traditional Danish songs or folk music. The supporting organization Dansk Amatørmusik claims it covers 30,000 choir singers and 6,000 members of amateur orchestras.
The Danes are also proud of their two national anthems. The one which is most widely used is Der er et yndigt land
(There is a Lovely Land) which is sung loudly and enthusiastically at sporting events. The words are by the Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger and the music by Hans Ernst Krøyer
. The other is Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast
(King Christian stood by tow'ring mast), used on official occasions when the royal
family is represented. The words are by Johannes Ewald
while the music is probably written by D.L. Roger and can be heard in the final tableau of Elverhøj
.
In recent years, there have been two important developments for the Danish music scene. The first was the opening of the Copenhagen Opera House in 2005 where ever since full houses have applauded the performances of the great European operas and some of Denmark's more recent contributions. The other was the completion of Danmarks Radio
's Concert Hall
in 2009 where the national broadcaster not only presents its orchestral music but also choirs, jazz, rock and pop.
Other important venues for music include:
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...
's most famous classical composer is Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
, especially remembered for his six symphonies while the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
specializes in the work of Danish choreographer August Bournonville
August Bournonville
August Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.August was...
. Danes have distinguished themselves as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Copenhagen Jazz Festival is an annual Jazz event, taking place in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, each July. The first Copenhagen Jazz Festival was held in 1979. According to reports, around 240,000 people attended the festival in 2004...
has acquired an international reputation. The modern pop and rock scene has produced a few names of note, including Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
, The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments, and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals...
, Michael Learns to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock are a Danish pop-soft rock band that performs songs in English. Formed in 1988, the band has sold over 11 million records worldwide, mainly in Asia, and in addition, another 6 million or more paid downloads for their single "Take Me To Your Heart" which was awarded "Most...
, Alphabeat
Alphabeat
Alphabeat are a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders SG and signed to Polydor Records. Their single "Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007 and a significant hit in the United Kingdom in 2008...
, Medina
Medina (singer)
Medina Danielle Oona Valbak , known by the mononym Medina is a Danish pop, dance and R&B singer and songwriter....
, Oh Land
Oh Land
Nanna Øland Fabricius , better known by her stage name Oh Land, is a Danish singer-songwriter and record producer. She lives in Brooklyn, New York City.-Personal life:...
, Kashmir
Kashmir (band)
Kashmir is a Danish alternative rock band consisting of Kasper Eistrup ; Mads Tunebjerg ; Asger Techau and Henrik Lindstrand .-History:...
and Mew
Mew (band)
Mew is a Danish alternative music band consisting of Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist Johan Wohlert was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006...
. All together, Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich is a Danish drummer, and one of the founding members of the American thrash metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis player in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training; though rather...
has become the first Danish musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
Origins
Lur
A lur is a long natural blowing horn without finger holes that is played by embouchure. Lurs can be straight or curved in various shapes. The purpose of the curves was to make long instruments easier to carry A lur is a long natural blowing horn without finger holes that is played by embouchure....
s found in various parts of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
but mostly in Denmark since the end of the 18th century which some experts have identified as musical instruments.
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
(c.1200), the historian Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
refers to the power music had over King Erik the Kind-Hearted
Eric I of Denmark
Eric I Evergood , also known as Eric the Good, , was King of Denmark following his brother Olaf I Hunger in 1095. He was a son of king Sweyn II Estridsson, by his wife Gunhild Sveinsdotter, and married Boedil Thurgotsdatter.-Biography:...
. In the 13th and early 14th centuries, German minnesingers such as Tannhäuser and Frauenlob sang in the Danish courts. The Codex Runicus
Codex Runicus
The Codex Runicus is a codex of 202 pages written in medieval runes around the year 1300 which includes the oldest preserved Nordic provincial law, Scanian Law pertaining to the Danish land Scania . Codex Runicus is one of the few runic texts found on parchment. The manuscript's initials are...
(c.1300) contains a verse written in runes with a non-rhythmic music notation. The first line is Drømdæ mik æn drøm i nat (I Dreamed Me a Dream Last Night). There is also evidence that English monks came to Denmark to sing at a celebration commemorating St Canute who died in 1086. In 1145, Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral
The Lund Cathedral is the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of Lund of the Church of Sweden.- History :...
received Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
's first choir statues and, by 1330, was one of the larger churches to have an organ installed.
Historical influences
The greatest influence on the evolution of music in Denmark has certainly been the monarchy. At the time of his coronation in 1448, Christian IChristian I of Denmark
Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
engaged a permanent corps of trumpeters while by 1519, the court had a corps of court singers as well as an instrumental ensemble. The collections of works used by the chapel royal under Christian III
Christian III of Denmark
Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...
in the middle of the 16th century were based on Dutch, Italian, French and German masters. Christian IV
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...
spent considerable sums on training local musicians and bringing foreign masters to Denmark. Mogens Pedersøn
Mogens Pedersøn
Mogens Pedersøn was a Danish instrumentalist and composer. He is considered the most important Danish-born composer before Buxtehude.-Life:Early in his career he entered the service of the Danish monarch, Christian IV...
, one of his Danish musicians who had studied in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
under Giovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.-Biography:Gabrieli was born in Venice...
, became one of Denmark's most important composers of church music. His principal work Pratum spirituale was a collection of 21 Danish hymns in five-part settings, a mass in five parts, three Latin motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
s and a number of Danish and Latin choral responses. It was published in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1620 and is still performed today.
Under the influence of Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, music for the theatre was established in Denmark during the reigns of Frederik III
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
and Christian V
Christian V of Denmark
Christian V , was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 to 1699, the son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
when lavish court ballets were performed. This soon led to opera and the performance of Der vereinigte Götterstreit composed by Povl Christian Schindler on Christian's birthday in 1689. Although it was a great success, there was little further interest in opera after the theatre caught fire a few days later causing 180 deaths.
In 1569, shortly after the Reformation, Denmark's first hymn book, Thomesens Salmebog, was published with music for the individual hymns.
Dieterich Buxtehude
Dieterich Buxtehude
Dieterich Buxtehude was a German-Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period. His organ works represent a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and in church services...
(c. 1637–1707) was a German-Danish organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and a highly regarded composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
period. His organ works comprise a central part of the standard organ repertoire
Organ repertoire
The organ repertoire consists of music written for the organ. Because it is one of the oldest musical instruments in existence, written organ repertoire spans a time period almost as long as that of written music itself. The organ's solo repertoire is among the largest for any musical instrument...
and are frequently performed at recitals and church services but he is remembered first and foremost for his vocal compositions. In his day, Buxtehude was considered to be the unrivalled master of his time.
Opera, song and concerts
Frederik IVFrederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...
opened a new opera house in Copenhagen in 1703, the first performance being an opera by the Italian Bartolomeo Bernardi. Reinhard Keiser
Reinhard Keiser
Reinhard Keiser was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas, and in 1745 Johann Adolph Scheibe considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann , but his work was largely forgotten for many...
, the prolific opera composer from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, presented his works in Copenhagen from 1721–1723. In 1748, Den Danske Skueplads (the Danish Theatre) moved into a new building where, from 1779, Det Kongelige Kapel (the Royal Orchestra) became a permanent attachment.
Pietro Mingotti
Pietro Mingotti
Pietro Mingotti was an Italian impresario active across continental Europe. His brother, Angelo, formed an opera company in Prague around 1732, consisting of 3 male singers and 5 females; Pietro quickly followed suit, and the two troupes achieved Europe-wide success , sometimes performing together...
from Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
who had formed an opera company was invited to Copenhagen by Queen Louise
Louise of Great Britain
Louise of Great Britain was the youngest surviving daughter of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach, and became queen consort of Denmark and Norway.-Early life:...
in 1747. His members included Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
and Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti was an Italian opera composer.-Biography:He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born on 28 December, but his baptism certificate proves the later date impossible...
. In 1756, Sarti provided the music for the first syngespil which, in the early 1790s, became established as a popular national genre with Høstgildet (the Harvest Celebration) and Peters Bryllup (Peter's Wedding) both composed by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz
Johann Abraham Peter Schulz
Johann Abraham Peter Schulz was a German musician and composer. Today he is best known as the composer of the melody for Matthias Claudius's poem "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" and the Christmas carol "Ihr Kinderlein kommet".-Life:Schulz attended the Michaelis School from 1757 to 1759 and then the...
.
Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse from Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
who was a pupil of Schulz, is remembered above all for his Danish songs, hymns and carols which remain popular to this day. But he also composed religious music, piano pieces and symphonies.
Friedrich Kuhlau
Friedrich Kuhlau
Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age....
wrote Elverhøj
Elves' Hill
Elves' Hill is a comedy by Johan Ludvig Heiberg, with overture and incidental music by Friedrich Kuhlau , which is considered the first Danish national play....
(Elves' Hill) (1828) which contains the music for Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast
Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast
"Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" , is the Danish royal anthem. It has equal status of national anthem together with Der er et yndigt land, though it is almost exclusively used in relation to the Danish royal house and the Danish Military...
, the Danish national anthem. Elverhoj is considered to be the first Danish national play and has continued to be performed more than any other. Kuhlau was also a pianist and brought Beethoven's piano music to Denmark.
Schulz and Kunzen both gained importance as a result of their influence as chief conductors at the Royal Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
where they brought the best of European music to Danish audiences. Weyse and Kuhlau not only contributed to orchestral and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
but contributed to the popular repertory, Weyse with secular secular and religious songs and Kuhlau with chamber music suitable for amateur musicians.
Another successful composer and conductor in the mid-20th century was Emil Reesen
Emil Reesen
Emil Reesen was a Danish composer. Aside from composing for ballets and operas he was also a noted film score composer.-Notable works :* 1926 Rapsodien Himmerland* 1928 Variationer over et tema af Schubert...
(1887–1964) who is remembered above all for his highly successful operetta Farinelli (1942) which is still popular today.
Opera has continued to figure prominently on the Danish music scene, thanks in part to the Copenhagen Opera House which was opened in 2000. Although the majority of performances cover the works of the well-known European composers, Danish operas are also included from time to time. In 2010, with the involvement of the ambitious young artistic director Kasper Bech Holten
Kasper Bech Holten
Kasper Holten is a Danish stage director and Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Opera. He was appointed in 2000, at age 27, succeeding Elaine Padmore, and six years later was still the youngest person running a European opera house.In March 2011 it was announced that, at the end of the...
, there are to be performances of Poul Ruders
Poul Ruders
Poul Ruders is a Danish composer.Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s...
' new work Kafka's Trial while in recent years works by both John Frandsen and Bent Sørensen have been part of the repertoire.
The Golden Age
The 19th century saw the emergence of a number of Danish composers inspired by Romantic nationalismRomantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
. Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann
Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann
Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann was a Danish composer.-Biography:Hartmann came from a musical family of German descent. Although he received his music lessons initially from his father, he taught himself as much as possible...
(1805–1900) who, apart from opera and ballet music, contributed to song and the piano repertory. From 1843 until his death, he was the organist at the Church of Our Lady
Church of Our Lady (Copenhagen)
The Church of Our Lady is the cathedral of Copenhagen and the National Cathedral of Denmark. It is situated on Vor Frue Plads and next to the main building of the University of Copenhagen....
. His works are not only romantic but generally inspired by the old Nordic legends
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
.
Hans Christian Lumbye
Hans Christian Lumbye
Hans Christian Lumbye was a Danish composer of waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and galops, among other things.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...
(1810–1874) was employed as the first music director at the Copenhagen amusement park Tivoli when it opened in 1843. Here he had a platform for presenting a large foreign and Danish repertory, including his many waltzes and gallops. In 1839, he had heard a Viennese orchestra play music by Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss I
Johann Strauss I , born in Vienna, was an Austrian Romantic composer famous for his waltzes, and for popularizing them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty...
, after which he composed in the same style, eventually earning the nickname "The Strauss of the North". One of his most popular pieces, associated with Tivoli, is Champagnegaloppen (the Champagne Galop), which starts with the happy sound of a champagne cork popping. It has been used in several Danish films including Reptilicus
Reptilicus
Reptilicus, a giant monster film about a fictional prehistoric reptile, is a Danish-American co-production, produced by American International Pictures and Saga Studios, and is upon close examination two distinctly different films helmed by two different directors.The original version, which was...
(1961), and Champagnegaloppen
Champagnegaloppen
Champagnegaloppen is a 1938 Danish musical film directed by George Schnéevoigt. The film based on a musical by Hans Christian Lumbye and play by Paul Holck-Hofmann and stars Svend Methling and Valdemar Møller. It is named after the famous light classical piece composed by Hans Christian Lumbye,...
(1938).
Niels W. Gade (1817–1890) participated in the development of Musikforeningen
Musikforeningen
Musikforeningen in Copenhagen was Denmark's most important concert venue in the 19th century. It operated from 1838 to 1931 but it was especially under the leadership of Niels Gade that it became a meeting place for the city's music life with its own symphony orchestra and choir. Carl Nielsen was...
(the Music Society) which had been founded in 1836 with the purpose of extending and improving the understanding of classical music. He became its conductor in 1850, and under his management a number of masterpieces of choral music were given their first performance in Denmark, among them Bach's St. Matthew Passion in 1875.
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
and Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
. In the spirit of Romantic nationalism, he composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, organ and piano pieces and a number of large-scale cantatas, among them Elverskud, the most famous Danish work of its kind.
Another major contributor to the Golden Age was August Bournonville
August Bournonville
August Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.August was...
(1805–1879), the renowned ballet master
Ballet Master
Ballet Master is the term used for an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company...
and choreographer. From 1830 to 1877, he was the choreographer at the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
, for which he created more than 50 ballets admired for their exuberance, lightness, and beauty. He created a style which, although influenced by the Paris ballet, is entirely his own. Bournonville's best-known works are La Sylphide
La Sylphide
La Sylphide is one of the world's oldest surviving romantic ballets. There were two versions of the ballet; the version choreographed by the Danish balletmaster August Bournonville is the only version known to have survived....
(1836), Napoli
Napoli (ballet)
Napoli, or The Fisherman and His Bride is a ballet created in 1842 for Denmark's Royal Ballet by Danish choreographer and ballet master August Bournonville. The ballet tells the story of Teresina, a young Italian girl who falls in love with Gennaro, a fisherman. The tale culminates in the marriage...
(1842), Le Conservatoire
Le Conservatoire
Le Conservatoire, or A Marriage by Advertisement is a two-act vaudeville ballet created by the Danish choreographer and ballet master August Bournonville in 1849 for the Royal Danish Ballet. The ballet's setting is a dance studio at the Conservatoire de Paris...
(1849), The Kermesse in Bruges
The Kermesse in Bruges
The Kermesse in Bruges, or The Three Gifts is a burlesque ballet in three acts created in 1851 by the Danish balletmaster and choreographer August Bournonville for the Royal Danish Ballet. The ballet tells the story of three brothers who receive magic gifts from an alchemist. The music is by Holger...
(1851) and A Folk Tale
A Folk Tale (ballet)
A Folk Tale is a ballet in three acts created in 1854 for the Royal Danish Ballet by the Danish balletmaster and choreographer August Bournonville. The music was composed by Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann and Niels W. Gade. Set in the Middle Ages, the ballet tells the story of a changeling living...
(1854). He drew on a number of different composers including Holger Simon Paulli
Holger Simon Paulli
Holger Simon Paulli was a Danish conductor and composer.Paulli was a violin student of Claus Schall. He joined the Royal Danish Orchestra, and became its conductor in 1864. At the same time, he also conducted the Orchestra of the Cecilia Foreningen, and assumed the directorship of the Copenhagen...
and Niels Gade. The ballets are widely performed today, not only in Denmark but worldwide, especially in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The Carl Nielsen era
As a result of problems with Germany, Denmark's attitude during the first half of the 20th century became nationalistic and introverted. The two leading figures, Carl NielsenCarl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
and Thomas Laub
Thomas Laub
Thomas Linnemann Laub was a Danish organist and composer.-Notable works:*1888 80 rytmiske Koraler, en enstemmig samling*1889–1891 Kirkemelodier, tre hæfter med firstemmige udsættelser...
revived interest in the purer music of earlier periods such as the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
.
- Carl Nielsen (1865–1931), now an internationally recognized composer, was the dominant figure in Danish music and musical life from the end of the 1890s until well into the 20th century. He had grown up in a small village on FunenFunenFunen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
but, by performing with folk musicians as a child and as a bugler in the army, he was able to enter the music conservatory in Copenhagen in 1884. By the time he took over Gade's role around 1900, Denmark's music scene was firmly established with strong popular interest and support. Nielsen's orchestral music, including six symphonies and concertos for fluteFlute Concerto (Nielsen)Carl Nielsen's Concerto for Flute and orchestra [D.F.119] was written in 1926 for Gilbert Jespersen, who succeeded Paul Hagemann as flautist of the Copenhagen Wind quintet. The concerto, in two movements, was generally well received at its premiere in Paris in October 1926 where Nielsen had...
, violinViolin Concerto (Nielsen)Carl Nielsen's Concerto for Violin and orchestra, op. 33 [D.F.61] was written for Hungarian violinist Dr. Emil Telmányi, Nielsen's son-in-law, in 1911. The concerto has two movements.-Background:...
, and clarinetClarinet Concerto (Nielsen)Carl Nielsen's Concerto for Clarinet and orchestra, op. 57 [D.F.129] was written for Danish clarinetist Aage Oxenvad in 1928. The concerto is presented in one long movement, with four distinct theme groups.-History:...
, is widely performed. Indeed, the success of his First SymphonySymphony No. 1 (Nielsen)Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 7, FS 16 is the first symphony of Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Written between 1891 and 1892, it was dedicated to his wife, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen. The work's première, on 14 March 1894 was performed by Johan Svendsen conducting the Chapel Royal Orchestra , with...
when it was played in Berlin in 1896 paved the way for his growing reputation. The Third SymphonySymphony No. 3 (Nielsen)The Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote his Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonia Espansiva", Op. 27, FS 60, between 1910 and 1911 by . It typically lasts around 33 minutes.The symphony followed Nielsen's tenure as bandmaster at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen...
(1912), which interestingly contains wordless vocal solos, was performed in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
within the first two years. The Fourth SymphonySymphony No. 4 (Nielsen)Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable", Op. 29, FS 76, by Danish composer Carl Nielsen, was completed in 1916. Composed against the backdrop of the First World War, this symphony is among the most dramatic that Nielsen wrote, featuring a "battle" between two sets of timpani.-Origin:Danish Composer...
(1916) featuring a battle between two sets of timpani is the one which has been most widely recorded. Maskarade (1906), a three-act opera based on the play by Ludvig HolbergLudvig HolbergLudvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...
, is regarded as the Danish national opera. Nielsen also composed the opera Saul og DavidSaul og DavidSaul og David is the first of the two operas by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen. The four-act libretto, by Einar Christiansen, tells the Biblical story of Saul's jealousy of the young David, taken from the Book of Samuel. The first performance was at Det Kongelige Teater, Copenhagen on 28...
(1901) which offers marvellous chorus scenes. Another important choral work is the cantata Hymnus amorisHymnus amorisHymnus amoris , for soloists, choir and orchestra, Opus 12, is Carl Nielsen's earliest choral work. It was first performed at the Music Society in Copenhagen on 27 April 1897 under the baton of the composer.-Background:...
(1896), a beautiful composition for choir and orchestra. He is also remembered for the incidental music he wrote for Adam Oehlenschläger's play AladdinAladdin (Nielsen)Carl Nielsen's Aladdin, FS 89, is incidental music written to accompany a new production of Adam Oehlenschläger’s "dramatic fairy tale" presented at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in February 1919.-Background:...
as well as for the songs he set to music, many of which are still popular in Denmark.
- Thomas LaubThomas LaubThomas Linnemann Laub was a Danish organist and composer.-Notable works:*1888 80 rytmiske Koraler, en enstemmig samling*1889–1891 Kirkemelodier, tre hæfter med firstemmige udsættelser...
(1852–1927), an organist, was devoted to reintroducing the old Protestant hymn tunes which had been forgotten or altered over the years. He published a number of important works including Kirkemelodier (Church Melodies) (1890), Udvalg af Salme-Melodier i Kirkestil (Selected Hymn Tunes in the Church Style) (1896 and 1902), Dansk Kirkesang (Danish Church Song) (1918) and Musik og Kirke (Music and Church) (1920). Laub also wrote folk song music and together with Carl Nielsen published En Snes danske Viser (A Set of Danish Folk Songs) (1917).
- Rued LanggaardRued LanggaardRued Langgaard was a late-Romantic Danish composer and organist. His then-unconventional music was at odds with that of his Danish contemporaries and was recognized only 16 years after his death.- Life :Born in Copenhagen, Rued Langgaard was the only son of composer and Royal Chamber...
(1893–1952), a late-RomanticRomantic musicRomantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
composer, was not fully recognized until 16 years after his death. He was inspired by his conviction that music had a spiritual power and was therefore important for mankind. He was a prolific composer, completing over 400 works representing over 50 hours of music. His Symphony No. 1 Klippepastoraler (Rock Pastorals) is in the late-romantic style, reminiscent of Anton BrucknerAnton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
while Symphony No. 10 Din Torden-Bolig (Your Dwelling of Thunder) is also majestic but more in the style of Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
Contemporary composers
In addition to those specialising in rock, folk and electronic music, Denmark has a number of contemporary composers who have been successful in writing classical music covering a variety of genres. Among the most successful are:- Per NørgårdPer NørgårdPer Nørgård is a Danish composer.-Biography:Nørgård studied with Vagn Holmboe at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and subsequently with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. To begin with, he was strongly influenced by the Nordic styles of Jean Sibelius, Carl Nielsen and Vagn Holmboe...
(born 1932) has composed works in all major genres: six operas, two ballets, seven symphonies and other pieces for orchestra, several concertos, choral and vocal works, an enormous number of chamber works, ten string quartets and several solo instrumental works. The conductor Sergiu CelibidacheSergiu Celibidache- Biography :Celibidache was born in Roman, Romania, and began his studies in music with the piano, after which he studied music, philosophy and mathematics in Bucharest, Romania and then in Paris...
once precisely expressed the potential of Nørgård’s large-scale, faultless creation: "Only the mind of a new time in the new millennium will be able to understand the scope of Nørgård’s music."
- Anders KoppelAnders KoppelAnders Koppel was a co-founder in 1967 of the rock group Savage Rose. Since 1976, he has been a member of the trio Bazaar. He also plays in the trio Koppel-Andersen-Koppel which includes his son, saxophone player Benjamin Koppel...
(born 1947) has had an extremely versatile career in rock, classical and world music. He has composed the music for eight ballets with the Danish Dance TheatreDanish Dance TheatreDanish Dance Theatre is the largest modern dance company in Denmark. The company was founded in 1981 by Randi Patterson, an English/Norwegian choreographer and innovator of modern dance. Patterson was succeeded by American Warren Spears and the Dane Anette Abildgaard...
, 50 theatrical plays and for more than 100 movies.
- Poul RudersPoul RudersPoul Ruders is a Danish composer.Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s...
(born 1949) is known internationally for the music he has written for choir, chamber ensemble, and solo instruments, which are frequently performed outside Denmark. It is however is orchestral music, especially his symphonies and concertos, which is most appreciated in Denmark.
- Hans AbrahamsenHans AbrahamsenHans Abrahamsen is a Danish composer.Born in Copenhagen, Abrahamsen first got to know music through playing the French horn at school. He went on to study music theory at the Royal Danish Academy of Music...
(born 1952) is one of the most notable contemporary composers whose works have evolved from his initial New SimplicityNew SimplicityNew Simplicity was a stylistic tendency amongst some of the younger generation of German composers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, reacting against not only the European avant garde of the 1950s and 1960s, but also against the broader tendency toward objectivity found from the beginning of the...
style leading to his internationally successful Nacht und Trompeten.
Light Classical
One of the most universally known pieces of Danish music is the Tango Jalousie (1925) composed by Jacob GadeJacob Gade
Jacob Thune Hansen Gade was a Danish violinist and composer, mostly of orchestral popular music....
. It has been used in countless films, such as the classic Danish sex comedy I Tvillingernes tegn (1975), where it is the centerpiece of a big nude dancing production number set in the 1930s, and Sally Potter
Sally Potter
Charlotte Sally Potter is an English film director and screenwriter.-Career:Having left school at sixteen to become a filmmaker, Potter joined the London Film-Makers' Co-op and started making experimental short films, including Jerk and Play...
's The Man Who Cried
The Man Who Cried
The Man Who Cried is an 2000 Anglo-French film, written and directed by Sally Potter. The film stars Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Harry Dean Stanton, and John Turturro....
(2000), with Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
playing a gypsy in the 1920s.
A special position is occupied by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (b. 1924), who has written music for Danish films and television series such as Matador
Matador (TV series)
Matador is a Danish TV series produced between 1978 and 1981. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The...
in his highly individual style. The signature tune "Alley Cat" quickly won international success in the same class as Gade's tango.
Jazz
Jazz has been one of Denmark's most important musical developments over the past century. Its origins can be traced to Valdemar EibergValdemar Eiberg
Valdemar Eiberg was a Danish jazz musician.Eiberg formed what is thought to be the first Danish jazz orchestra in 1923, and in 1924, his ensemble recorded the earliest known examples of Danish jazz, "I've Got a Cross-Eyed Papa" b/w "In Bluebird Land".Eiberg's band became a launching pad for...
's band in 1923 and their recordings the following year. But is was in 1925, when Sam Wooding
Sam Wooding
Sam Wooding was an expatriate American jazz pianist, arranger and bandleader living and performing in Europe and the United States.Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he led several big bands in the United States and abroad...
brought his orchestra to Copenhagen that the Danish music scene was properly introduced to the genre. Interestingly, early Danish jazz was influenced by three classically trained musicians: Erik Tuxen
Erik Tuxen
Erik Oluf Tuxen was a Danish big band leader, composer and arranger, who worked for most of his life in Denmark. From 1936 until his death by cancer on 28 August 1957 he was conductor at the Danish National Symphony Orchestra of Danish Radio.Along with Thomas Jensen and Launy Grøndahl, Tuxen...
(1902–1957), who created one the country's first jazz bands, Bernhard Christensen
Bernhard Christensen
Bernhard Christensen was a Danish composer and organist.He studied music at University of Copenhagen from 1926. In 1929 he graduated and was organist until 1945 at Christiansborg Slotskirke. Then he was hired as organist by Vangede Church from 1945-1976...
(b.1906), a composer of both jazz and classical music, and Sven Møller Kristensen (1909–1991) who wrote lyrics for Christensen as well as a number of books about jazz.
As jazz became more popular in the 1930s, one of the rising stars was the talented violinist Svend Asmussen
Svend Asmussen
Svend Asmussen is a jazz violinist from Denmark, known as "The Fiddling Viking". Asmussen grew up in a musical family, starting violin lessons at age 7. At age 16 he first heard recordings by jazz violin great Joe Venuti and began to emulate his style...
(born 1916) who made his first recordings in 1934 at the age of 18 and was still playing with his quartet more than 70 years later.
During the German occupation
Occupation of Denmark
Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...
in the 1940s, jazz was discouraged but many musicians continued to perform while others escaped to Sweden. Indeed, the period became known as "The Golden Age of Jazz" as the number of concerts in hotels and restaurants increased and the number of recordings rose from about 180 in 1935–1939 to over 650 from 1940 to 1945.
Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Danish jazz musicians began to split into an older guard, which maintained the style of older New Orleans jazz, and newer musicians who favored the bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
style of Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
that was then emerging in America. The former were represented by musicians such as pianist Adrian Bentzon, trombonist Papa Bue
Papa Bue
Arne "Papa" Bue Jensen , known as Papa Bue, was a Danish trombonist and bandleader, chiefly associated with the Dixieland jazz revival style of which he was considered an important proponent. He founded and led the Viking Jazz Band, which was active from 1956.-Early life and career:Arne Bue Jensen...
, and trumpeter Theis Jensen, while the latter included saxophonist Max Brüel
Max Brüel
Max Brüel was a Danish architect and jazz musician, an accomplished pianist and saxophonist.He is the designer of Denmark's tallest building, the Herlev Hospital in Copenhagen .-References:...
, bassist Erik Moseholm
Erik Moseholm
Erik Moseholm is a Danish jazz bassist, composer, bandleader and music administrator. He was the leader of the DR Big Band from 1961 to 1966 and the principal of the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen from 1992 to 1997....
, and trumpeter Jørgen Ryg
Jørgen Ryg
Jørgen Ryg was a Danish comedian, jazz musician and actor. Best known for his comical monologues on stage, he also appeared in 37 films between 1954 and 1978.He was born and died in Denmark.-Filmography:...
.
In the early 1960s, when there was something of a revival, the Jazzhus Montmartre opened in Copenhagen, reflecting the atmosphere of clubs in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It soon became a major venue for both Danish and American artists. Many Americans moved to Denmark including Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
, Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
, Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
and many others. The American pianist Kenny Drew
Kenny Drew
Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Born in New York City, New York, he first recorded with Howard McGhee in 1949, and over the next two years recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker, Buddy Rich, and Dinah Washington...
formed a trio with drummer Alex Riel
Alex Riel
Alex Riel, , is a Danish jazz and rock drummer. His first group Alex Riel/Palle Mikkelborg Quintet won Montreux Grand Prix Award at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968 and it was published in Billboards June 1968 edition.-Biography:Riel has recorded with, among others, Kenny Drew, Kenny Werner, Bob...
and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
- Discography :* My Name Is Albert Ayler 1963 * Kirk in Copenhagen 1963 * Ben Webster in Denmark 1965-1971 Live at Danish Radio studios, Jazzhus Montmartre and Odd Fellow Palæet - Universal Music Denmark*One Flight Up 1964 *Sunday Walk 1969 - Discography :* My Name Is Albert Ayler 1963 (with...
which became a staple at Jazzhus Montmartre. Danish musicians also began to explore free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
in the 1960s with saxophonist John Tchicai
John Tchicai
John Martin Tchicai is a Danish jazz saxophonist. He was one of the earliest European free jazz musicians. He is of Danish and Congolese descent....
the most prominent proponent. In parallel, a more mainstream wing evolved, including saxophonist Jesper Thilo
Jesper Thilo
Jesper Thilo is a Danish jazz musician, mainly known as a tenor saxophonist, alto saxophonist and clarinetist. He is considered to be one of the top European straight-ahead jazz musicians of the post-1970 period...
.
As rock music became more popular in the 1970s, jazz's popularity waned, but it continues to be supported in venues such as the Copenhagen Jazzhouse and the Jazz Club Loco, as well as at the annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Copenhagen Jazz Festival is an annual Jazz event, taking place in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, each July. The first Copenhagen Jazz Festival was held in 1979. According to reports, around 240,000 people attended the festival in 2004...
. Danish jazz musicians continue to find unity in diversity, exploring a wide range of feelings and genres and bringing new strength to contemporary jazz as it unfolds in all its shapes and sizes. Prominent jazz musicians today include Carsten Dahl
Carsten Dahl
Carsten Dahl is a Danish Jazz pianist. "Dahl is a truly great pianist" Chris Mosey said, in his All About Jazz review of Dahl's CD In Our Own Sweet Way released in 2009 with Alex Riel and Mads Vinding.-Biography:...
, Jørgen Emborg
Jørgen Emborg
Jørgen Emborg is a Danish jazz pianist and composer.-References:*...
, Thomas Clausen, Fredrik Lundin
Fredrik Lundin
Frederik Lundin is a Danish jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Frank Lundin founded his own jazz quartet in 1981 and since then he has been one of the most expressive and used saxophoners in Danish jazz....
, Marilyn Mazur
Marilyn Mazur
Marilyn Mazur is a percussionist, drummer, composer, vocalist, pianist, dancer and bandleader. She was born in New York and has lived in Denmark from age six. She is of Polish and African-American descent. Since 1975, she has worked as a percussionist with various groups, among them Six Winds with...
, Mads Vinding
Mads Vinding
Mads Vinding is a Danish jazz double-bassist.He is a Danish jazz musicians, and one of the 'aces of basses' with more than 600 recordings to his credit. Professional at age 16, Vinding became the house-bassplayer at Café Montmartre, the legendary jazz club in Copenhagen...
, Ib Glindemann
Ib Glindemann
Ib Glindemann is a Danish jazz musician, the big band leader of the Ib Glindemann Orchestra . When in Europe, saxophonist Stan Getz was a frequent guest star of the orchestra.-External links:*...
, Jakob Bro
Jakob Bro
Jakob Bro is a Danish jazz guitarist. Bro has never received any musical training besides short periods spent at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, the Berklee College of Music in Boston and New School University in New York...
, Chris Minh Doky
Chris Minh Doky
Chris Minh Doky is a Vietnamese-Danish bassist living in Copenhagen and New York City. Though Doky has worked in many genres, his main area of music is jazz...
and his brother Niels Lan Doky
Niels Lan Doky
Niels Lan Doky is a Danish jazz pianist and record producer.-Biography:He was born in Copenhagen of a Danish mother and Vietnamese father. His father worked as a doctor, but was also a classically trained guitarist so guitar was Niels's first instrument...
.
Rock
Gasolin'
Gasolin was a Danish rock band from Christianshavn in Copenhagen formed by Kim Larsen, Franz Beckerlee and Wili Jønsson in 1969. Their first drummer was the late Bjørn Uglebjerg. He was replaced by Søren Berlev in 1971...
, Shu-Bi-Dua
Shu-Bi-Dua
Shu•bi•dua or Shu-bi-dua is a Danish pop group which was formed in 1973 in Copenhagen with an expansion of the group Passport. Throughout their 30-year history, Shu-bi-dua has changed its lineup many times, however its lead singer Michael Bundesen has been with the band throughout, except...
, Sebastian, Anne Linnet
Anne Linnet
Anne Linnet Anne Linnet Anne Linnet (born 30 July 1953 in Århus, Denmark, is a Danish singer, musician and composer. She has released a number of solo albums and has also been a member of several bands, such as Shit & Chanel, Anne Linnet Band, and Marquis de Sade. Anne Linnet is one of a small...
, TV-2
TV-2 (band)
TV-2 , is a Danish pop rock band group formed in 1981 in Aarhus. The group is composed of Steffen Brandt , Hans Erik Lerchenfeld , Georg Olesen , and Sven Gaul...
, and more recently Magtens Korridorer
Magtens Korridorer
Magtens Korridorer is a band from Denmark started in 1995 in Copenhagen. The band is described as a mixture of rock and poetic post-punk. The band consists of Johan Olsen , Rasmus Kern , Niklas Schneidermann , Terkel Møhl and Anders Ramhede .-History:The band made a demo tape in 1996, which...
. Kim Larsen
Kim Larsen
thumb|250px|Kim Larsen, Nibe Festival 2009.Kim Melius Flyvholm Larsen is a Danish rock musician.Inspired by The Beatles and rock and roll, Larsen began as a songwriter and guitarist...
who had played with Gasolin' went on to become a very successful solo artist in his own right while Sebastian has composed a number of successful musicals for theatre and film. The versatile Anne Linnet is still popular in Denmark today.
Until fairly recently, few Danish rock groups had been successful outside Denmark. An exception was D-A-D
D-A-D
D-A-D is a Danish rock band previously known as "Disneyland After Dark", a name that had to be changed after a threatening lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company. Their style of music is often categorized as melodic heavy rock...
(formerly Disneyland After Dark) who had a hit with Sleeping My Day Away
Sleeping My Day Away
"Sleeping My Day Away" is the most successful single from the Danish rock band D-A-D. The single was released in 1989 and the single included the title song and back-up with the song Ill Will. Both songs appear on their No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims album....
in the early 1990s. Today, however, with the Music Export Denmark initiative, several rock bands are doing increasingly well internationally. These include Mew
Mew (band)
Mew is a Danish alternative music band consisting of Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist Johan Wohlert was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006...
, Volbeat, Kashmir
Kashmir (band)
Kashmir is a Danish alternative rock band consisting of Kasper Eistrup ; Mads Tunebjerg ; Asger Techau and Henrik Lindstrand .-History:...
, The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments, and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals...
, and Blue Van
The Blue Van
The Blue Van are a blues-rock band from Denmark consisting of Steffen Westmark , Søren Christensen , Allan Villadsen , and Per Jørgensen .-History:...
.
Michael Learns to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock are a Danish pop-soft rock band that performs songs in English. Formed in 1988, the band has sold over 11 million records worldwide, mainly in Asia, and in addition, another 6 million or more paid downloads for their single "Take Me To Your Heart" which was awarded "Most...
, The Kissaway Trail
The Kissaway Trail
The Kissaway Trail are a five-piece indie rock band from Odense, Denmark. They follow a number of other Danish alternative bands to make names of themselves, such as Mew, The Raveonettes and Carpark North.-History:...
, Junior Senior
Junior Senior
Junior Senior was a pop musical duo from Denmark. The duo consisted of Jesper "Junior" Mortensen and Jeppe "Senior" Laursen ....
, Nephew
Nephew (band)
Nephew is a Danish rock band, formed in 1996, in Århus. They had their breakthrough in 2004 with the release of their second album USADSB. The release coincided with lead singer Simon Kvamm's highly successful appearances on Danish television in the cult comedy show Drengene fra Angora, which...
, Carpark North
Carpark North
Carpark North is a Danish electronic rock band. The band was formed in Aarhus, Denmark on 28 July 1999 by Lau Højen , Søren Balsner and Morten Thorhauge...
, Saybia
Saybia
-History:From 1998 to 2000 they privately recorded three EPs before signing to EMI in the spring of 2001. In the summer EMI released the 6 track EP "Saybia". In September 2001 the band went to Sweden to record their debut album The Second You Sleep...
, Swan Lee
Swan Lee
Swan Lee was a Danish band featuring Pernille Rosendahl on vocals. The name was taken from a Syd Barrett song.In 1996 Pernille Rosendahl formed a band with guitarist Jonas Struck, drummer Emil Jorgensen and her boyfriend Tim Christensen. After Christensen left in 1999, the remaining trio continued...
and Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy was an alternative rock band from Denmark that started in 1988. Between 1994 and 1997, they were highly successful in Denmark and Japan, heading the early 1990s rock revival in Denmark. The trio consisted of Tim Christensen , Martin Nielsen and Søren Friis...
which has just had a revival.
Famous Danish rock and metal musicians include Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich is a Danish drummer, and one of the founding members of the American thrash metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis player in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training; though rather...
, the drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and co-founder of Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Mike Tramp
Mike Tramp
Mike Tramp is a Danish singer and songwriter who is best known for his work with the hard rock bands White Lion and Freak of Nature...
, the vocalist and co-songwriter of White Lion
White Lion
White Lion is an American/Danish hard rock/heavy metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, the band achieved double platinum status with their #8 hit "Wait" and #3 hit "When the...
, and Kim Bendix Petersen, aka King Diamond
King Diamond
Kim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...
, vocalist of Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate was a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen. Initially active from 1981 to 1985, they reunited in 1992. The band went on hiatus again in 2000, when frontman King Diamond decided to continue his solo career...
and the eponymous King Diamond
King Diamond (band)
King Diamond is the heavy metal band that King Diamond formed after the split up of his heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, and the departure of Hank Shermann. He was joined by most members of the then defunct Mercyful Fate. The Satanic focus was replaced by a focus on horror stories...
.
The annual Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
is held in Danish city of Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
. The festival is the second-largest in Europe with ticket sales normally running from 70,000 to 100,000. The festival has featured many prominent artists (mainly rock), such as Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
and Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
, and there has also been an emphasis on world music, alternative genres and Danish music at the festival. In 2000, the festival suffered a terrible accident during a Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
concert where nine people were crushed by the wild crowds, making security a primary issue of the following festivals. The festival has suffered no further incidents of the kind.
Pop
As with rock music, the Danish pop scene has started to benefit from the Music Export Denmark initiative.- Thomas HelmigThomas HelmigThomas Helmig is a Danish rock singer and musician, and has been one of the most popular singers in Denmark since the middle of the 1980s.-Biography:...
is one of the most popular Danish pop artists who has won awards at the Danish Music AwardsDanish Music AwardsThe Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
(DMA) eight times. - MedinaMedina (singer)Medina Danielle Oona Valbak , known by the mononym Medina is a Danish pop, dance and R&B singer and songwriter....
is currently one of the most successful artists of this country and she is known in most European countries, US and Mexico. She sings both in Danish and English. She has made about eight singles in the top 2 of Denmark. Most famous is the song Kun for Mig ("You and I"), other popular songs are Ensom, Vi to, For altid,Velkommen Til Medina,Synd For Dig, Adiction and Gutter. - Oh LandOh LandNanna Øland Fabricius , better known by her stage name Oh Land, is a Danish singer-songwriter and record producer. She lives in Brooklyn, New York City.-Personal life:...
is a Danish singer-songwriter with great succes in Europe and the US. She had her TV debut in the David Letterman show with her song "Son of a Gun" in 2010. She has been touring around the US with stars like Katy PerryKaty PerryKaty Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
in 2011. Another of her popular songs is White nights released in 2011. - AuraAura DioneMariah Dione , professionally known as Aura Dione, is a Danish singer-songwriter of Faroese, Spanish, French and Danish origin. In 2008 she released her debut album, Columbine which as of 2011 has sold 100,000 copies worldwide...
is another successful singer who in 2010 reached the top of the charts in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and was doing well in the rest of Europe.. - InfernalInfernal (band)Infernal is dance/pop group from Denmark, consisting of members Lina Rafn and Paw Lagermann. They made their Danish debut in 1997 with the release of the track "Sorti de L'enfer", and have gone on to international chart success in recent years. Their most successful single to date has been "From...
is a popular group that has progressed in Europe with singers Lina RafnLina RafnLina Rafn Sørensen , known professionally as Lina Rafn is a Danish female singer, songwriter and producer and is currently active in the band Infernal...
and Paw LagermannPaw LagermannPaw Karl Lagermann is a Danish singer-songwriter and music producer.Paw Lagermann has been a member of the Danish popduo Infernal since 1997.-External links:* * *...
. Their most successful hits have been From Paris to BerlinFrom Paris to Berlin"From Paris to Berlin" is a song by Infernal. It is known as their signature song as this was the first that charted in many countries throughout Europe and Australia in 2005 and 2006. It has so far been their biggest hit internationally, as well as in the band's home country of Denmark...
and Ten MilesTen Miles"Ten Miles" is a song by the Danish pop band Infernal. It was released in 2006 as the second single from the international edition of From Paris to Berlin, and as the sixth single overall. The song became a moderate success in the dance music charts in Denmark, Spain and Finland. In Spain it peaked...
. - Agnes ObelAgnes ObelAgnes Caroline Thaarup Obel is a Danish singer/songwriter. Her first album, Philharmonics, was released by PIAS Recordings on 4 October 2010 in Denmark, Norway, Germany and other European countries. Since June 2011, Philharmonics is certified gold by the Belgian Entertainment Association for...
is a Danish singer/songwriter. Her first album, PhilharmonicsPhilharmonics (album)-Deluxe Edition:- Charts :- Year-end charts :- Certifications :- Release history :...
, was released by PIAS RecordingsPIAS Recordings[PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London...
on 4 October 2010 in Denmark, Norway, Germany and other European countries. Since February 2011, PhilharmonicsPhilharmonics (album)-Deluxe Edition:- Charts :- Year-end charts :- Certifications :- Release history :...
is certified double platinum. In November 2011, Agnes Obel wins at the Danish Music AwardsDanish Music AwardsThe Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
five prizes for : Best Album Of The Year, Best Pop Release Of The Year, Best Debut Artist Of The Year, Best Female Artist Of The Year and Best Songwriter Of The Year. Most famous song is Riverside. - FallulahFallulahFallulah is the stage name of the young pop music song writer and singer Maria Apetri, born 1985 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is known for her debut single I Lay My Head which was the prequel to the album The Black Cat Neighbourhood. The upcoming album is being produced by Fridolin Nordsø...
is the stage name of a Danish young pop music song writer and singer. She is known for her debut single I Lay My Head which was the prequel to the album The Black Cat Neighbourhood. Other popular songs from this album are Give us a little love and Out of it. Fallulah's music can be accounted to the Pop musicPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
genre but according to her own statements is a mix of Indie rockIndie rockIndie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and Balkan beats, which adds a hint of folklore to her productions. - Rasmus SeebachRasmus SeebachRasmus Seebach is a Danish singer-songwriter and record producer who had his debut with the Danish language single "Engel" in April 2009....
is a Danish singer-songwriter who sings in his mother tongue language. He has had great success in the Scandianvian countries. Among his most successful songs are Lidt i fem, Natteravn and I mine øjne. - AlphabeatAlphabeatAlphabeat are a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders SG and signed to Polydor Records. Their single "Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007 and a significant hit in the United Kingdom in 2008...
, now working in the UK have been successful with their increasingly retro pop hits Fascination, 10,000 Nights and The SpellThe Spell (song)"The Spell" is the first single by Alphabeat to be released from their second album of the same name. The song uses keyboard chords very similar to those found in Cut 'N' Move's Get Serious....
. - Burhan GBurhan GBurhan Genç known as Burhan G is a Danish R&B and pop singer, songwriter and producer of Kurdish/Turkish origin from Turkey. His father is Turkish origin and his mother kurdish origin. He has three albums including Burhan G in 2010. that was certified platinum in Denmark...
is a Danish R&B and pop singer, songwriter and producer of Kurdish/Turkish origin. In 2010 he was certified platinum in Denmark for his album Burhan G. He has had many singles including two #1 hits, Mest ondt featuring Medina and Tættere på himlen featuring Nik & Jay. - Nik & JayNik & JayNik & Jay is a Danish R&B / Hip-Hop / pop duo made up of Niclas Genckel Petersen and Jannik Brandt Thomsen ....
is a popular Danish R&B / Hip-Hop / pop duo which has produced many popular singles such as Hot! in 2003 and Mod solnedgangen from 2011
Popular in the early and mid 90s was the pop-soft rock band Michael Learns to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock
Michael Learns to Rock are a Danish pop-soft rock band that performs songs in English. Formed in 1988, the band has sold over 11 million records worldwide, mainly in Asia, and in addition, another 6 million or more paid downloads for their single "Take Me To Your Heart" which was awarded "Most...
, whose brand of ballads made it a popular act in many Asian markets, selling nearly 9 million records in Asia. A Danish band with a big impact outside of Denmark is the europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
group Aqua
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
, whose hit "Barbie Girl
Barbie Girl
"Barbie Girl" is a song by the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua, who released the song in 1997 as their third single overall, and the first United Kingdom release...
" helped the band sell a total of 15 million albums and 6 million singles.
Denmark also participates in the annual Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
, and holds its own Dansk Melodi Grand Prix competition to select the song that will represent Denmark in the Eurovision contest. Denmark has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice: first with Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann's "Dansevise
Dansevise
"Dansevise" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 performed in Danish by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann representing Denmark...
" in 1963; and again with Brødrene Olsen
Olsen Brothers
Olsen Brothers are a Danish rock/pop music duo, and are brothers Jørgen and "Noller" Olsen. They formed their first band, The Kids, in 1965. The Kids warmed up for The Kinks in the K.B...
's (Olsen Brothers) "Fly on the Wings of Love
Fly On The Wings Of Love
"Fly on the Wings of Love" is a song by the Olsen Brothers, which was the winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2000, performed for Denmark, singing in English....
" (from the Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
Smuk Som Et Stjerneskud, literally "Beautiful as a shooting star") in 2000.
The winners of the 2010 Melodi Grand Prix
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Denmark competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Bærum, Norway in May 2010. The Danish broadcaster DR held the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix contest to select the country's entry for the contest, with the 2010 edition being held on 6 February 2010.-Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2010:DR released...
, Christina Chanée
Christina Chanée
Christina Chanée is a Danish-Thai pop singer who won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2010 with Tomas N'evergreen, with the song "In a Moment Like This"....
and Tomas N'evergreen
Tomas N'evergreen
Tomas N'evergreen is a pop singer from Aarhus, Denmark. He currently resides in Moscow, Russia. In 2009 he participated in the Russian National Selection to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. On 6 February 2010 he participated and won Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with Christina Chanée...
with "In a Moment Like This
In a Moment Like This
"In a Moment Like This" is a song performed by Chanée & N'evergreen and composed Thomas G:son, Henrik Sethsson and Erik Bernholm, and was the Danish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Oslo, Norway on May 29, 2010....
" were already doing well in Eastern Europe by mid-March as their song became the most popular download in several countries.
Some hit songs of Danish origin have become international hits after being covered by foreign artists. Vengaboys
Vengaboys
Vengaboys are a Eurodance pop group based in Amsterdam. The brainchild of two Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen , they enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their two UK number one singles, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" and "We're Going...
covered The Walkers
The Walkers
The Walkers was a Danish glam rock band featuring singer-composer Torben Lendager, guitarist Gert Michelsen, drummer-lyricist Poul Dehnhardt and bassist Jan Kanstrup Hansen. It was founded in 1968 and broke up in 1977...
' "Shalala Lala", Jamelia
Jamelia
Jamelia Niela Davis , best known mononymously as Jamelia, is an English singer-songwriter, model, entertainer, television presenter and actress. She is most famous for her use of a cappella and prolific work in the R&B genre...
covered Christine Milton
Christine Milton
Christine Milton is a Danish pop singer, songwriter and professional dancer. She was one of the participants in the second series of Denmark's popular Popstars series. Although she did not win she was signed to record label BMG...
's "Superstar
Superstar (Jamelia song)
"Superstar" is a song by Danish pop singer Christine Milton, released on January 13, 2003 as the lead single from her debut album, Friday . It was written and produced by Cutfather, Joe Belmaati, and Remee, and spent seven weeks at number one on the Danish Singles Chart. The song was later covered...
", Shayne Ward
Shayne Ward
Shayne Thomas Ward is an English pop singer who rose to fame as the winner of second series of The X Factor. He has sold over 3 million records worldwide and has had number one albums and singles in 9 countries.During The X Factor competition, Ward was mentored by manager Louis Walsh...
covered Bryan Rice
Bryan Rice
Brian Risberg Clausen, better known as Bryan Rice , is a Danish pop singer and songwriter.His debut single "No Promises" was a huge hit in Denmark in the fall of 2005/spring of 2006. The song was covered and released by British X Factor winner Shayne Ward reaching #2 in the official U.K...
's "No Promises" and Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
covered Tim Christensen
Tim Christensen
Tim Christensen is a Danish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass guitar, drums, Mellotron, harmonium, keyboard, piano and organ...
's "Right Next To The Right One". Different covers of Rune
Rune RK
Rune Reilly Kølsch , also known as Rune RK, Rune and Enur, is a record producer and DJ from Denmark. Together with his half-brother Johannes Torpe they make up the musical production team Artificial Funk.-Career:...
's "Calabria" have also been international hits.
Electronic music
Else Marie PadeElse Marie Pade
Else Marie Pade is a Danish composer.An educated composer, Pade pioneered electronic music and concrete music in Denmark...
was a Danish pioneer in electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
as early as the 1950s. She knew and worked with Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician of the 20th century. His innovative work in both the sciences —particularly communications and acoustics— and the various arts of music, literature and radio presentation after the end...
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
and has continued to make appearances on the Danish electronica scene well into the new millennium. With his Coma parties, Kenneth Bager
Kenneth Bager
Kenneth Bager is a Danish musician and record producer.- History :Kenneth started his musical career back in the mid 1980s as a DJ. In 1994, Bager released a compilation called "Music for Dreams" featuring, among others, Peter Gabriel and Michael Nyman...
brought Acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
to Denmark in 1988 and was active in building a Danish club scene, moving venues from the discothèques to deserted factories and basements. The most successful Danish electronic musician internationally is Trentemøller
Trentemøller
Anders Trentemøller is a Danish electronic music producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Copenhagen, Denmark.-History:...
while from a very early age Mike Sheridan
Mike Sheridan
Michael J. 'Mike' Sheridan is a former Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, the lower house of the Wisconsin legislature, and a former Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, who represented the 44th Assembly District from 2005 to 2011...
has achieved success and been labelled a name of the future. In the more mainstream part of the genre, Safri Duo
Safri Duo
Safri Duo is a Danish percussion duo composed of Uffe Savery and Morten Friis . Initially classically oriented, by 1999 they were discovered by a label executive working on classical music. After being signed, a track mixing both tribal sound and modern electronica was set to be released in 2000...
also experienced international success with their mixture of tribal sound and electronica; also in the electronic scene adding elements of string and brass instruments is the indie folk/electronic four-piece Efterklang
Efterklang
Efterklang is an indie rock group from Copenhagen, Denmark, formed in December 2000. To date, the band has released three studio albums and are currently signed to the 4AD label, as well as their own record label Rumraket.-History:...
.
A leading Danish venue for electronic music is Culture Box in Copenhagen which is subsidised by the Ministry of Culture as a regional music venue, enabling it to keep a high artistic profile. The Strøm and Copenhagen Distortion
Copenhagen Distortion
Copenhagen Distortion is a middle-size festival for party/club culture, taking place in the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark, and in dozens of unusual locations around city, every year during the week of the first Saturday in June...
festivals are also dedicated to the capital's electronic and club music scene.
Folk
Traditionally, Danish folk music has relied on a fiddleFiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
duo but, unlike its Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n neighbours, Danish fiddlers almost always play in groups with few solo performance. Danish bands also tend to feature the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
more prominently than the other Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
.
Fiddle and accordion duos play generally rhythmic dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, local versions of the Nordic folk dance music. The oldest variety is called pols
Pols
The pols is a Norwegian folk dance, a fast version of the Nordic polska....
, and it is now mostly found on Fanø
Fanø
Fanø is a Danish island in the North Sea off the coast of southwestern Denmark, and is the very northernmost of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands...
with variants such as Sønderhoning from Sønderho
Sønderho
Sønderho is a small village, with a population of 277 , at the southern tip of the island Fanø, in southwestern Denmark.The village dates back to the 16th century and has about 300 well-preserved buildings that stem mainly from the 19th century when Sønderho was the leading navigation area on the...
.
The first systematic collection of popular folk songs, some of which go back centuries, was undertaken by the folklore collector Evald Tang Kristensen
Evald Tang Kristensen
Evald Tang Kristensen was a Danish folklore collector and author. Working first as a schoolteacher and later solely as a collector, he assembled and published a huge amount of detailed information on all aspects of folklore as he visited country people throughout his native Jutland.-Early...
(1843–1929). These important sources were then transferred to the Danish Folklore Archives, established in 1904. The popular dance music tradition was continued into the 20th century by musicians such as the violinist Evald Thomsen
Evald Thomsen
Evald Thomsen was a Danish fiddler and collector and promoter of Danish traditional music. Born in Siem by Skørping in Northern Jutland, Thomsen was taught fiddle from age 7, and played to local dances already as a young boy. He began egan to collect tunes and instruments. He founded the Rebild...
(1913–93).
Danish traditional music experienced a renaissance when the Anglo-American folk song wave hit Denmark around 1970. Among the prominent soloists, often composing new songs, were Sebastian, Poul Dissing and Niels Hausgaard
Niels Hausgaard
Niels Hausgaard is a Danish singer, songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his songs and understated comedy which often combine dry observations on the human condition with the trials and tribulations of life in a socialist country...
. The successful Lars Lilholt Band led by the violinist Lars Lilholt
Lars Lilholt
Lars Lilholt is a Danish singer, violinist, guitarist and composer.- Lars Lilholt Band :* 1982 - Og fanden dukked' op og sagde ja!* 1984 - Jens Langkniv* 1986 - Portland* 1988 - I en sommernat...
combines the folk music tradition with rock. A new and refreshing combination of techno music and medieval ballads has been provided by the group Sorten Muld
Sorten Muld
Sorten Muld is a Danish folktronica band, formed in 1995. They have won two Danish Grammys for Mark II. The English translation of Sorten Muld is Black Soil....
since their first recording in 1996.
The formation of the Danish Folk Council to actively promote folk music both at home and abroad has helped raise the profile. Curiously, Danish folk music received its biggest boost from the home chart success of Sorten Muld, who used acoustic and electric instruments and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
on old songs to create something very contemporary on its best-selling albums.
Music in Danish life
Music is an important part of the lives of most ordinary Danish people. One of the carefully observed traditions is to include music at Danish family celebrations such as wedding parties, birthdays and anniversaries. Indeed, it is not only common to engage one or more musicians for dancing but it is usual for the guests to write songs, normally to well-known traditional tunes, in honour of those to be celebrated.There is also a tradition of singing in choirs. There are literally hundreds of amateur choirs throughout Denmark, usually specialising in traditional Danish songs or folk music. The supporting organization Dansk Amatørmusik claims it covers 30,000 choir singers and 6,000 members of amateur orchestras.
The Danes are also proud of their two national anthems. The one which is most widely used is Der er et yndigt land
Der er et yndigt land
Der er et yndigt land is the national anthem of Denmark. On royal occasions, the royal anthem Kong Christian stod ved højen mast is performed together with Der er et yndigt land....
(There is a Lovely Land) which is sung loudly and enthusiastically at sporting events. The words are by the Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger and the music by Hans Ernst Krøyer
Hans Ernst Krøyer
Hans Ernst Krøyer was a Danish composer.Krøyer was born in Copenhagen and the son of Bernt Anker Krøyer and Johanne Margrethe , as well as the brother of Henrik Nikolai Krøyer.He is best remembered as the composer of today's Danish national anthem Der er et yndigt land Hans Ernst (sometimes...
. The other is Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast
Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast
"Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" , is the Danish royal anthem. It has equal status of national anthem together with Der er et yndigt land, though it is almost exclusively used in relation to the Danish royal house and the Danish Military...
(King Christian stood by tow'ring mast), used on official occasions when the royal
family is represented. The words are by Johannes Ewald
Johannes Ewald
Johannes Ewald was a Danish national dramatist and poet.-Biography:Ewald, normally regarded as the most important Danish poet of the 2nd half of the 18th Century, led a short and troubled life, marked by alcoholism and poor health...
while the music is probably written by D.L. Roger and can be heard in the final tableau of Elverhøj
Elves' Hill
Elves' Hill is a comedy by Johan Ludvig Heiberg, with overture and incidental music by Friedrich Kuhlau , which is considered the first Danish national play....
.
Popular venues
Danmarks Radio
DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...
's Concert Hall
Copenhagen Concert Hall
The Copenhagen Concert Hall by Jean Nouvel is a part of the new DR Byen , that houses the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, DR. The concert hall and the DR Town are located in the northern part of Ørestad - an ambitious development area in Copenhagen, Denmark...
in 2009 where the national broadcaster not only presents its orchestral music but also choirs, jazz, rock and pop.
Other important venues for music include:
- The Old Stage of the Royal Danish TheatreRoyal Danish TheatreThe Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
in the centre of Copenhagen where in particular performances of the Royal Danish BalletRoyal Danish BalletThe Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
can be seen.
- The Tivoli Concert Hall in the Tivoli Gardens where orchestral music, singers, jazz and other musical events feature in the programme every summer, frequently with the participation of the Tivoli Symphony OrchestraCopenhagen Philharmonic OrchestraThe Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra , also known as the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra which both serves as Danish Regional Orchestra for the island of Zealand and, for the summer season while the Tivoli Gardens are open, as resident orchestra in the Tivoli Concert...
.
- Det Ny TheaterDet Ny TheaterDet Ny Teater is an established theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, first opened in 1908. It is based in a building which spans a passage between Vesterbrogade and Gammel Kongevej in Copenhagen's theatre district on the border between Vesterbro and Frederiksberg....
in Copenhagen specializes in Danish productions of musicals.
- Musikhuset Aarhus, the Concert Hall of AarhusAarhusAarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, presents a wide variety of classical and popular music including singing and dance.
See also
- List of Danish bands
- List of Danish composers
- Danish jazzDanish jazzDanish jazz goes back to 1923 when Valdemar Eiberg formed a jazz orchestra and recorded what are thought to be the first Danish jazz records in August 1924 . However, jazz in Denmark is typically first dated to 1925, when bandleader Sam Wooding toured in Copenhagen with an orchestra...
- Danish rockDanish rock-Historical development:Denmark is a European country that began importing popular American rock and roll music in the 1950s, when that style was conquering audiences across the continent. Danish jazz and dance bands and soloists like Ib Jensen, Otto Brandenburg, Peter Plejl and Ib Glindemann...
- Music of the Faroe IslandsMusic of the Faroe Islands- Faroese music today :Faroese Music today is buzzing with artists and creators across all genres delivering world class performances and recordings. With long music tradition many Faroese musicians are going professional and touring the world...
- Music of GreenlandMusic of GreenlandThe music of Greenland is a mixture of two primary strands, Inuit and Danish, mixed with influences from the United States and United Kingdom. The biggest record label is ULO from the town of Sisimiut; it was created by Malik Hoegh and Karsten Sommer...
- Roskilde FestivalRoskilde FestivalRoskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
- Danish Music AwardsDanish Music AwardsThe Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
- European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA)ECSA - European Composer and Songwriter AllianceThe European Composer and Songwriter Alliance is an international non-profit organization established in 2008 and registered under Belgian law with an office in the , Flagey, Brussels....
External links
- Denmark Music
- The 11 most played Danish works outside of Denmark in 2004
- A List Of Danish Indie Artists
- European Composer and Songwriter Alliance - ECSA
- The Line Of Best Fit - Pop Scene // Denmark
Sources
- Cronshaw, Andrew. "A New Pulse for the Pols". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 58–63. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0