Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau (German; Danish sometimes Frederick Kulav) (11 September 1786 – 12 March 1832) was a Danish pianist and composer during the late Classical and early Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age and is immortalized in Danish cultural history through his music for Elves' Hill, the first true work of Danish National Romanticism and a concealed tribute to the absolute monarchy. To this day it is his version of this melody which is the definitive arrangement.
During his lifetime, Kuhlau was known primarily as a concert pianist and composer of Danish opera, but was responsible for introducing many of Beethoven's works, which he greatly admired, to Copenhagen audiences. Kuhlau was a prolific composer, as evidenced by the fact that although his house burned down, destroying all of his unpublished manuscripts, he still left a legacy of more than 200 published works in most genres.
Kuhlau was born on 11 September 1786 just south of Lüneburg in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony (Germany). At the age of seven, he lost his right eye when he slipped on ice and fell. His father, grandfather, and uncle were military oboists. Even though Kuhlau was born to a poor family, his parents managed to pay for piano lessons. In 1802 he moved to Hamburg where he began learning the piano with scholar C.F.G Schwencke.[1][2]
CareerEdit
In 1804, Kuhlau made his debut and began working as a concert pianist. It was around this time that he began composing songs and chamber music to earn money. Many of Kuhlau's compositions throughout his life were for the flute, though he himself did not play the instrument. In 1810, he fled to Copenhagen to avoid conscription in the Napoleonic Army, which overwhelmed the many small principalities and duchies of northern Germany. In the same year, Kuhlau published his first piano and flute compositions. Kuhlau made a living in Copenhagen as a piano teacher and composer in 1811. He was later appointed as a non-salaried musician in the Danish Court in 1812. Kuhlau eventually became a Danish citizen in 1813. Following the success of his singspiel, The Robber's Castle, Kuhlau 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, Kuhlau 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, Kuhlau was awarded an honorary professorship.[3]
His next few dramatic works, including Trylleharpen (1817), Elisa (1820) and Hugo og Adelheid (1827), lacking drama, failed miserably. With Lulu from 1824 he finally once again experienced success with one of his singspiels. He also wrote music for performances of William Shakespeare's plays.[5]
In 1828 he achieved his greatest success when he wrote the music for Elverhøj. It won immediate popularity, especially for its overture and the final royal anthem, his setting of Kong Christian stod ved høien Mast (King Christian Stood by the Towering Mast). In the music, Kuhlau made very effective use of Danish and Swedish folk tunes. In 1976 the overture was rearranged by Danish composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre and used as the soundtrack in a scene in the film The Olsen Gang Sees Red. The scene depicts the Olsen Gang breaking into The Royal Theater of Copenhagen, making their way through bricked up walls using explosives and other means. The whole break-in is choreographed so it corresponds directly to the music. The scene is one of the most – if not the most – recognized in the history of Danish film.
Alongside his dramatic works, Kuhlau wrote several compositions for flute and a large number of works for piano. Particularly his short pieces, sonatinas, for piano, enjoyed great popularity both in Denmark and abroad.
Beethoven, whom Kuhlau knew personally, exerted the greatest influence upon his music. Kuhlau's C major Piano Concerto, Op. 7 from 1810 displays a strong influence from Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, written 14 years earlier. All three movements of the work are strongly reminiscent of the corresponding movements in Beethoven's work, making it a musical pastiche.
In addition to the above-mentioned piano concerto were a string quartet and several works for piano that included all the current genres of the day: sonatas, sonatinas, waltzes, rondos and variations. He also created several works for strings with piano (three quartets and two quintets, and several violin sonatas), works of incidental music and several operas. However, his most-often recorded and played works are several piano sonatinas and numerous works for flute. It is because of these flute works that he was nicknamed "the Beethoven of the flute" during his lifetime.
Some of the information on this page appears on the website of Edition Silvertrust but permission has been granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
External linksEdit
Media related to Friedrich Kuhlau at Wikimedia Commons
at the Wayback Machine (archived June 26, 2008) International Friedrich Kuhlau Society
Friedrich Kuhlau Grand String Quartet Op.122 Soundbites and short biography
friedrich, kuhlau, friedrich, daniel, rudolf, kuhlau, german, danish, sometimes, frederick, kulav, september, 1786, march, 1832, danish, pianist, composer, during, late, classical, early, romantic, periods, central, figure, danish, golden, immortalized, danish. Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau German Danish sometimes Frederick Kulav 11 September 1786 12 March 1832 was a Danish pianist and composer during the late Classical and early Romantic periods He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age and is immortalized in Danish cultural history through his music for Elves Hill the first true work of Danish National Romanticism and a concealed tribute to the absolute monarchy To this day it is his version of this melody which is the definitive arrangement Friedrich Kuhlau pastel by Christian Horneman from 1828During his lifetime Kuhlau was known primarily as a concert pianist and composer of Danish opera but was responsible for introducing many of Beethoven s works which he greatly admired to Copenhagen audiences Kuhlau was a prolific composer as evidenced by the fact that although his house burned down destroying all of his unpublished manuscripts he still left a legacy of more than 200 published works in most genres Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Music 3 1 Operatic works 3 2 Other works 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksEarly life and education EditKuhlau was born on 11 September 1786 just south of Luneburg in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony Germany At the age of seven he lost his right eye when he slipped on ice and fell His father grandfather and uncle were military oboists Even though Kuhlau was born to a poor family his parents managed to pay for piano lessons In 1802 he moved to Hamburg where he began learning the piano with scholar C F G Schwencke 1 2 Career EditIn 1804 Kuhlau made his debut and began working as a concert pianist It was around this time that he began composing songs and chamber music to earn money Many of Kuhlau s compositions throughout his life were for the flute though he himself did not play the instrument In 1810 he fled to Copenhagen to avoid conscription in the Napoleonic Army which overwhelmed the many small principalities and duchies of northern Germany In the same year Kuhlau published his first piano and flute compositions Kuhlau made a living in Copenhagen as a piano teacher and composer in 1811 He was later appointed as a non salaried musician in the Danish Court in 1812 Kuhlau eventually became a Danish citizen in 1813 Following the success of his singspiel The Robber s Castle Kuhlau 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 Kuhlau travelled to Vienna where he befriended Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven s influence is evidential in Kuhlau s later works such as his singspiel Elverhoj 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 Kuhlau was awarded an honorary professorship 3 Music EditOperatic works Edit Kuhlau had his breakthrough in 1814 at the Royal Danish Theatre with Roverborgen The Robbers Castle a singspiel with a libretto by Adam Oehlenschlager 4 His next few dramatic works including Trylleharpen 1817 Elisa 1820 and Hugo og Adelheid 1827 lacking drama failed miserably With Lulu from 1824 he finally once again experienced success with one of his singspiels He also wrote music for performances of William Shakespeare s plays 5 In 1828 he achieved his greatest success when he wrote the music for Elverhoj It won immediate popularity especially for its overture and the final royal anthem his setting of Kong Christian stod ved hoien Mast King Christian Stood by the Towering Mast In the music Kuhlau made very effective use of Danish and Swedish folk tunes In 1976 the overture was rearranged by Danish composer Bent Fabricius Bjerre and used as the soundtrack in a scene in the film The Olsen Gang Sees Red The scene depicts the Olsen Gang breaking into The Royal Theater of Copenhagen making their way through bricked up walls using explosives and other means The whole break in is choreographed so it corresponds directly to the music The scene is one of the most if not the most recognized in the history of Danish film Other works Edit See also List of compositions by Friedrich Kuhlau Alongside his dramatic works Kuhlau wrote several compositions for flute and a large number of works for piano Particularly his short pieces sonatinas for piano enjoyed great popularity both in Denmark and abroad Beethoven whom Kuhlau knew personally exerted the greatest influence upon his music Kuhlau s C major Piano Concerto Op 7 from 1810 displays a strong influence from Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 1 in C major written 14 years earlier All three movements of the work are strongly reminiscent of the corresponding movements in Beethoven s work making it a musical pastiche In addition to the above mentioned piano concerto were a string quartet and several works for piano that included all the current genres of the day sonatas sonatinas waltzes rondos and variations He also created several works for strings with piano three quartets and two quintets and several violin sonatas works of incidental music and several operas However his most often recorded and played works are several piano sonatinas and numerous works for flute It is because of these flute works that he was nicknamed the Beethoven of the flute during his lifetime See also EditMusic of DenmarkReferences Edit Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau The Kennedy Center Retrieved 2020 05 25 Denmark Culture Music Foreign Ministry of Denmark Archived from the original on January 8 2007 Retrieved 2010 08 23 Friedrich Kuhlau Biography by Robert Cummings All Music Retrieved 2020 05 25 Frederik Daniel Rudolph Kuhlau Golden Days Archived from the original on 2011 07 19 Retrieved 2010 08 23 Frederik Kuhlau Gyldendal Retrieved 2010 08 23 Some of the information on this page appears on the website of Edition Silvertrust but permission has been granted to copy distribute and or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License External links Edit Media related to Friedrich Kuhlau at Wikimedia Commons List of works at the Wayback Machine archived June 26 2008 International Friedrich Kuhlau Society Friedrich Kuhlau Grand String Quartet Op 122 Soundbites and short biography Free scores by Friedrich Kuhlau at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP The Mutopia Project has compositions by Friedrich Kuhlau Friedrich Kuhlau at AllMusic Friedrich Kuhlau at IMDb Friedrich Kuhlau at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Friedrich Kuhlau amp oldid 1165021832, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
