Thomas Jensen (

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, 25 October 1898 –

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 ...

, 13 November 1963) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

conductor.

Life and career

Born into a working class household, he studied at the Danish Conservatory of Music.Cane, A. Thomas Jensen and the Nielsen tradition. ''

Classical Recordings Quarterly ''Classical Recordings Quarterly'' (formerly ''Classic Record Collector'') was a quarterly British magazine devoted to vintage recordings of classical music, across the range of instrumental recordings, chamber music, orchestral, vocal and opera. ...

''. Autumn 2014, No 78, p12-18. Jensen led several Danish ensembles, including the

Danish National Symphony Orchestra The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Danish: ''DR Symfoniorkestret''; English abbreviation "DNSO"), is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at th ...

(from 1957) and the

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra The Aarhus Symfoniorkester (Aarhus Symphony Orchestra) is the principal orchestra for the Danish city of Aarhus. Description Established in 1935 as ''Aarhus By-Orkester'' (Aarhus City Orchestra), since 1982 it has performed most of its concerts in ...

(then known as the Aarhus Civic Orchestra). In Aarhus he built the small orchestra up through broadcasts and tours within Denmark and later to Germany and the Netherlands. He also conducted the Tivoli Concert Hall Orchestra. Jensen is best remembered (with

Erik Tuxen Erik Oluf Tuxen (4 July 1902 – 28 August 1957) was a Danish big band leader, composer and arranger, who worked for most of his life in Denmark. From 1936 until his death by cancer on 28 August 1957 he was conductor at the Danish National Symphon ...

and

Launy Grøndahl Launy Grøndahl (30 June 1886 – 21 January 1960) was a Danish composer and conductor. Grøndahl studied the violin from the age of eight. His first work as a professional musician was as a violinist with the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in ...

) as one of the pioneers of the music of

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he ...

. He studied

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where his harmony teacher was Nielsen. As an orchestral cellist he took part in the first performances of Nielsen's 4th and 5th symphonies, and also sat in on many rehearsals of Nielsen. Nielsen's daughters held that Jensen was the conductor whose performances came closest to Nielsen's own. He also played in the orchestra when Sibelius conducted his own music in the Danish capital in 1924 and 1926. Jensen made his recording debut in 1937 with lighter music by

Knudåge Riisager Knudåge Riisager (6 March 1897 in Kunda, Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia follow ...

and the year later led Svendsen's Romance, with Carlo Andersen playing the solo violin part. From 1937 to 1943 Jensen recorded over 60 sides of music for HMV, Odeon and Tono. In Aarhus he recorded works by Kuhlau, Tarp,

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' ...

, Møller,

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and Smetana. His first recordings of Nielsen date from 1941 (the Suite for String Orchestra) with the Helios overture and orchestral opera extracts in the following year. Many of Jensen's classical pieces were inspired from the greats before him such as Mozart and his personal favourite, Ludwig van Beethoven. He received his vision for each piece through his many walks through nature and his travels throughout Europe. Once, he stated in a diary uncovered by close friends, he had gone to the country of England on a date not written. He visited the town of Slough and said it was one of the most incredible and horrible experiences of his life. The chaos and industry of the town made it seem dirty and too fast-paced. He stated that he much rather enjoyed the quietness and tranquility of Denmark. In his travels through Slough, he once said that he met the love of his life, or at least the kindest and most beautiful woman he had ever met, Alison Oxley. In 1952 he received the Ingenio et Arti award from Fredrik IX.List of recipients of Ingenio et Arti
accessed 25 January 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Thomas 1898 births 1963 deaths Musicians from Copenhagen Danish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Royal Danish Academy of Music alumni 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Danish male musicians