Halfdan Kjerulf
Halfdan Kjerulf(17 September 1815 – 11 August 1868) was aNorwegiancomposer.[1]
Biography
[edit]Kjerulf was born inChristiania(now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of a high government official. His early education was atChristiania University,for a legal career,[2]but his studies ended in 1839 as a result of illness, and the next year he spent some time in Paris. Soon after his return his father and two siblings died and he took a job as a journalist at one of Oslo's main newspapers,Den ConstitutionellewhereAndreas Munch(1811–1884) was editor and where Kjerulf worked until 1845.[3]
Kjerulf started his career as a music teacher and composer of songs before ever having seriously studied music at all, and not for ten years did he attract any particular notice.[2]He was counted among those in theModern Breakthroughmovement in literature, painting and music which was replacing romanticism within Scandinavia. It was typified by the poetJohan Sebastian Welhaven,whose poems he set.[4]
In 1848 he studied with German musician and composerCarl Arnold(1794-1873), and after studying withNiels Gade(1817–1890) inCopenhagen,the Norwegian Government paid for a year's instruction for him atLeipzigin 1850, where he was taught byErnst Richter(1808–1879). For many years after his return to Norway, Kjerulf tried in vain to establish regular classical concerts, while he himself was working withBjørnsonand other writers at the composition of lyrical songs.[2]He did present some concerts, at which he introduced the Norwegian public toBeethoven'sFifth Symphonyand other standards otherwise little known to them.[5]He obtained some official recognition during the 1860s. He died inGrefsen,near Christiania, in 1868, aged only 52.[6] [7]
Legacy
[edit]His fame rests mainly on his beautiful and manly national partsongs and solos. His piano music is equally charming.[2]Edvard Griegwas an enthusiastic admirer of it and he was undoubtedly influenced by it in writing hisLyric Pieces.[5]It was recorded in its entirety in 2001 byEinar Steen-Nøkleberg. His piano students includedAgathe Backer-GrøndahlandErika Nissen(then known as Erika Lie).[5]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^"Halfdan Kjerulf".Store norske leksikon.RetrievedJanuary 1,2020.
- ^abcdChisholm 1911.
- ^"Andreas Munch".Andreas Munch-selskapets nettsider.RetrievedJanuary 1,2020.
- ^Harald S. NæssA History of Norwegian Literature1993 - Page 88 "His poetry, in musical settings by Kjerulf, has been preserved in the repertoire of the Oslo Student Chorus (founded by Kjerulf) and received added significance as the verbal expression of Norway's romantic landscape painting. Welhaven's.. which culminated in the 1840s but had a long-lasting effect among people of conservative taste, Welhaven was the preeminent poet, as Halfdan Kjerulf was the composer and Hans Gude and Adolf Tidemand the painters. His poetry, in musical..."
- ^abcGrove's Dictionary, 5th ed (1954), ed.Eric Blom,Vol IV, pp.772-773
- ^"Gade, Niels Wilhelm".Salmonsens konversationsleksikon.RetrievedJanuary 1,2020.
- ^"Richter, Ernst Friederich Eduard".Salmonsens konversationsleksikon.RetrievedJanuary 1,2020.
Notes
[edit]- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Kjerulf, Halfdan".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 843.
External links
[edit]- Free scores by Halfdan Kjerulfat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)
- Free scores by Halfdan Kjerulfin theChoral Public Domain Library(ChoralWiki)
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