Scandinavian American. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1945-1958, 1947-06-01
Continued from Page u

Danish note its special imprint
of intimate emotion in his simple
and unpretentious score to TIL.
Thaarup's song-play Harvest
Festival and Peters Wedding
With mis- "Lieder i'm Volkston"
Schulz set himself lasting men,
orial abroad; and in Denmark
many tunes from his song-plays
have survived to the present day.
His successor as musical director
of the Royal Orchestra was F.
l.. f. Kunzen (1761-1S1D whose
masterpiece "Ogier the Dane
was composed to the libretto of
the Danish poet Jens Baggesen
(1764-l826).
The seed planted by Shulz was
destined to come to fruition in
his pupil c. E. F. Weyse 0774
1912. Weyse hailed from Altoona,
thus being a native of Holstein
and Danish subject. He came
to Copenhagen in 1889; Schulz
looked after him with paternal
care and let Weyse stay in his
house for three years Weyse be-
came organist of Our Lady's, the
cathedral of Copenhagen, post
he held for many years. His
works comprise song-plays and
operas ("The Sleeping Potion"
and THE Festival at Kenil-
WORTHY, symphonies and canta-
tas, The latter We're of religious
character for the court, or COM
posed for ceremonies at the Uni
versity His contemporaries appre-
ciated him especially as COM
poser Of spiritual music. whereas
later age favored his ballads
and songs. In the ballad where
the lyrical and the dramatic ele-
ments intertwine and merge COM
pletely Weyse attained the sub
lime. To produce his effects he
used the simplest means and in
a most wonderful way he was
able to carry over and embody
in his songs the tone and accent
of the Danish language His talent
reaches its pinnacle when, toward
the eventide of his life, he COM
posed his expressive melodies for
Bernhard SEVERN Ingemann's
morning and evening songs, so
rich for all their simplicity. One
of Weyse's contemporaries was
Friedrich D. r. Kuhlau (17S5-
1892, a native of Hanover. His
genius had a more universal trend
than that of Weyse. His chamber
music and compositions for piano.
forte became international and
well-known, and even today his
Sonatinas are used in all parts
of the world by teachers and stu
dents of the piano. In Denmark
his fame came to DE based more
especially on his operas: Rover
bergen The Castle OF Brigands)
tinged with poetry, and Lulu in
which imagination predominates
and, last but not least, his music
for "Elverhoj' (Elf-HilD t1S2S)
which has gradually come to be
known as Denmark's national
song-play. 1t has been given more
than 700 performances at the
Royal Theatre: the overture ends
with the Danish national anthem;
King Christian stood by lofty
mast, in smoke and mist Long
fellow has translated the poem
into English.
After Weyses death in 1912,
through the next half century,
Danish musical life was entirely
dominated by Niels w. Gade (1s-
17-1S90) and l. p. E. Hartmann
(1SO5-1900). Both were romanti-
cists through and through. Gade
was rather swayed by emotion,
whereas in Hartmann Imagination
predominated Gade was strongly
influenced by Felix Mendelssohn
He became internationally known
for his symphonies and choral
works; however his finest com
positions are the overture "Eehos
from Ossian" generally listed IN
der the German title "Nachklange
aus Ossian' Opus /, and the sym