Gerda Carola Frederikke von Bülow, often known as Gerda Bülow, (1904–1990) was a Danish violinist and music educator. In 1963, she founded the Institut for Nordisk Rytmik (Institute for Nordic Rhythm) which she ran until 1989.

Biography

Bülow was born on 23 September 1904 in the

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

district of Copenhagen, the daughter of the German officer and aristocrat Friedrich August Heinrich von Bülow and his wife Fred Hedvig Christiane Damm. Although she was in fact born a baroness she was not interested in riding or dance, preferring furniture design and the violin. After her father's death in 1916, her Danish mother returned to Denmark with Bülow and her three sisters. She began to play the violin, studying under Gerhard Rafn (1891–1941), whom she married in 1923, and

Emil Telmányi Emil Telmányi (22 June 1892 – 13 June 1988) was a Hungarian violinist. Telmányi was born in Arad, Partium, Transylvania, then in the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1911 he gave the Berlin premiere of the Violin Concerto of Sir Edward Elga ...

. She continued her studies abroad with Firmin Touche in Paris,

Georg Kulenkampff Alwin Georg Kulenkampff-Post (23 January 1898 – 4 October 1948) was a German virtuoso violinist. One of the most popular German concert violinists of the 1930s and 1940s, he was considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century. Kule ...

in Berlin and

Max Rostal Max Rostal (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship. Biography Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn to a Jewish merchant family. As a child prodigy, he started studyin ...

and

Carl Flesch Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium ''Scale System'' is a staple of violin pedagogy. Life and career Flesch was born in Moson (now part of Mosonmagy ...

in London. She debuted in 1929 at the

Tivoli Concert Hall Tivoli Concert Hall ( da, Tivolis Koncertsal) is a 1,660-capacity concert hall at Tivoli (Copenhagen), Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. The building, which was designed by Frits Schlegel and Hans Hansen (architect), Hans Hansen, was built be ...

with

Max Bruch Max Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920) was a German Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a prominent staple of the standard v ...

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, which was positively received. But as life as a concert pianist became too demanding for her, she turned to education, graduating as a music teacher in 1932 and qualifying in ear training under Dagmar Borup the following year. From the early 1940s, she was an active member of the Danish Music Teachers Association and initiated a long-lasting series of Scandinavian music teaching conferences in 1946. She also developed rhythmic musical education in Denmark after studying the method in Hanover in 1957. In 1961, she founded Nordisk Rytmik (Nordic Rhythm) which she ran from her home in

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

. It later received official support, receiving the name Instituttet for Rytmik (The Institute for Rhythm)). Bülow also gave courses in the rhythmic approach throughout Scandinavia, receiving support from her second husband, the music teacher Verner Oluf Mogensen, whom she married in 1945. From 1952 to 1957 she chaired the Danish Ear Training Association and chaired the Rhythmic Educational Organization (RMO) from 1970 to 1978. Gerda von Bülow's awards included culture prizes from

Copenhagen County Københavns Amt () is a former county (Danish, ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the excepti ...

in 1969 and 1980 as well as award for music education in 1983. She died in Lyngby on 4 May 1990. Her son, Gert von Bülow, is a concert cellist.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulow, Gerda 1904 births 1990 deaths Danish violinists Women violinists Danish music educators People from Frederiksberg Danish women writers Women music educators 20th-century women musicians 20th-century violinists People from Kongens Lyngby