Sextus Miskow (3 February 1857 in

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

– 24 November 1928) was a Danish singer, composer and music critic.

Biography

Miskow was born on the island of Funen at Nyborg, Denmark. After two years in military school starting in 1871, Miskow continued his studies in violin and piano. From 1876 to 1879, was taught at the

Royal Danish Academy of Music The Royal Danish Academy of Music, or Royal Danish Conservatory of Music ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium), in Copenhagen is the oldest professional institution of musical education in Denmark as well as the largest, with approxima ...

. Here he concentrated on singing lessons with Carl Helsted (1837–1893). He also trained under pianist

Edmund Neupert (Carl Fredrik) Edmund Neupert (1 April 184222 June 1888) was a Norwegian music teacher, pianist and composer. Among Neupert's compositions, the ''24 Concert-Etüden'' and the ''24 Octav-Etüden'' are especially highly regarded. Biography Neupert ...

(1842–1888) and violinist Christian Schiørring (1837–1893). In 1885 and 1886, he received additional training in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He made his debut as a bass singer at the Danish Royal Theatre in 1880. He was never on the staff of the theater and worked since as a singing teacher and as a concert singer. At times he was also a music critic, including for ''

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...

'', Denmark's oldest newspaper, from 1903 to 1914, and choral conductor of the Copenhagen Workers' Choir, which he founded in 1915. Most of his musical composition are forgotten today. He is most associated with one of his first songs, ''Den spillemand snapped fiolen fra væg'', with lyrics by

Holger Drachmann Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann (9 October 1846 – 14 January 1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement. Early yea ...

(1846–1908). The song still appears in new Danish songbooks and is recorded by today's artists. ''Allegretto Fantasia'' for

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

by Miskow appears in "Concert and Contest", a widely used collection of intermediate level clarinet solos compiled and edited by Himie Voxman. Because of this it is a popular number on the Internet, where it can be heard in several versions.

Music (not complete)

Songs on Wikisource
* Nocturne (string orchestra, 2 horns and 2 bassoons) * Snow White (Singspiel with Christian Danning) * Tinderbox (Singspiel) * Karl Knight Rise (Singspiel) * The prisoner at Sønderborg (orchestra and soloist) * Piano Pieces * a sonata for violin and piano * Three Pieces for clarinet and piano * 50 songs
A performance of Allegretto fantasia

References

Other Sources

Artikel i Dansk biografisk Leksikon
*

Gerhardt Lynge Gerhardt is a masculine name of Germanic origin. It can refer to the following: As a first name * Ants Eskola (1908–1989), Soviet-Estonian actor and singer born Gerhardt Esperk * Gerhardt Laves (1906–1993), American linguist * Gerhardt Neef ...

: ''Danske Komponister'' (1917) * Sextus Miskow: ''Det var dengang'' (selvbiografi 1926) * Sextus Miskow: ''Pelikohl eller saa galt gik det'' (selvbiografi 1928) {{DEFAULTSORT:Miskow, Sextus 1857 births 1928 deaths Danish composers Male composers 19th-century Danish male singers 20th-century Danish male singers 19th-century Danish memoirists 19th-century male writers 20th-century Danish memoirists Danish music critics People from Nyborg