Karl Nissen (February 27, 1879 – May 14, 1920) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

pianist, teacher,

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, and conductor. Nissen was born in Kristiania (now

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

), the son of the

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Oscar Nissen Elias Gottlieb Oscar Egede Nissen (31 October 1843 – 4 January 1911) was a Norwegian physician, newspaper editor and politician. He belonged to the Norwegian Labour Party from 1889 to his death, and was both party leader, party secretary as well ...

and pianist

Erika Nissen Erika Nissen, née Lie (17 January 1845 – 27 October 1903), also known as Erika Røring Møinichen Lie Nissen, was a Norwegian pianist. She was born in Kongsvinger as the daughter of jurist Michael Strøm Lie and his wife Ingeborg Birgitte Rør ...

, and he was taught piano by his mother. He first performed publicly at one of his mother's concerts in 1897. Nissen studied under

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

in Berlin, and made concert trips to

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Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

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, and several places in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. He then settled down in his hometown and gave concerts that included, among others, the actress

Gyda Christensen Gyda Martha Kristine Christensen (née Andersen; 21 May 1872 – 20 August 1964) was a Norwegian actress, dancer, choreographer and managing director. Biography Christensen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the only child ...

from 1908 to 1910. He also gave a number of duo concerts together with

pianists A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

Nils Larsen Nils Larsen (19 June 1900 – 29 September 1976) was a Norwegian sea captain. Larsen is perhaps most associated with the Norvegia expeditions of Antarctica. Larsen was born in Sandar, and became a noted whaler, captaining a number of whali ...

and

Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl Fridtjof Backer-Grøndahl (15 October 188521 June 1959) was a Norwegian pianist, composer and music teacher. Biography Backer-Grøndahl was born in Christiania (later Oslo) in 1885, the son of the conductor and singing teacher Olaus Andreas Grøn ...

, including Mozart's double concerto for two pianos. In 1907, Nissen married Aagot Kavli, an actress at the National Theatre and the sister of the painter Arne Kavli. Nissen was a teacher at the

Oslo Conservatory of Music Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

. Among his students were David Monrad Johansen and Elisabeth Munthe-Kaas Sandvik, who debuted at his concert in 1906. He was chairman of the Norwegian National Music Teachers' Federation from 1918 to 1920. In 1911 he became the conductor of the Cæcilia mixed choir, succeeded by

Leif Halvorsen Leif Fritjof Halvorsen (July 26, 1887 – December 28, 1959) was a Norwegian violinist, conductor, and composer. Halvorsen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo) and he debuted in Kristiania in 1908. He was a violinist with the National Theater Orches ...

after his death. Nissen also conducted the Oslo Music Society

from 1913 to 1918 and the Businessmen's Choral Society (''Handelsstandens Sangforening'') in Oslo from 1919 until his death. He was a music reviewer at ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' from 1912 to 1917. Karl Nissen received the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold in 1912.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissen, Karl 1879 births 1920 deaths Norwegian classical pianists 20th-century Norwegian pianists Norwegian music journalists Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Norwegian conductors (music) Musicians from Oslo