Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)
- Incidental Music from 'Elverhøj' (1828)
Performers: Royal Danish Orchestra; Johan Hye-Knudsen (1896-1975, conductor)
Further info: Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) - Elverhøj (1828)
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Danish composer of German birth. He was the son of a poor military
bandsman and moved with his family to Lüneburg about 1793. In 1796 he
lost an eye in a childhood accident, and studied piano during his
recovery. Later studied theory and composition with Christian Friedrich
Gottlieb Schwencke, Kantor of Hamburg's Catherinenkirche. He gave
several piano recitals from 1804 and the same year his earliest known
compositions were published. When Hamburg was invaded by Napoleon's
troops in 1810 he went to Copenhagen to avoid conscription into
Napoleon's army. There he began to earn his living as a piano teacher
and composer, and in 1813 was appointed court chamber musician. That
year he eventually became a Danish citizen. Following the success of his
singspiel, The Robber's Castle, he gained a high-paying position as a
singing teacher at the Royal Theater in 1816. Kuhlau's works between
1817 and 1820 failed to gain much prominence. His opera, The Magic Harp,
was said to have failed due to a controversial libretto. In 1821 and
1825, he travelled to Vienna where he befriended Ludwig van Beethoven.
Beethoven's influence is evidential in Kuhlau's later works such as his
singspiel, Elverhøj or Elves' Hill, a work widely regarded as a tribute
to the Danish Monarchy and an inspiring piece from the Danish Golden
Age. In 1828, he was awarded an honorary professorship. As a result of a
fire that swept his house in 1831 he suffered a chest ailment from
which he never recovered, and died the following year. Together with
Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse he was the foremost representative of
the late Classical and early Romantic periods in Denmark.
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