Gerhard Rosenkrone Schjelderup (November 17, 1859 – July 29, 1933) 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 ...

composer, known especially for his operas.

Biography

Schjelderup was born in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

. Norway. One of five children, each with an artistic bent, his talent was encouraged from youth. The composer

Mon Schjelderup Mon Schjelderup (16 June 187021 November 1934) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Biography Maria Gustava Schjelderup was born in Fredrikshald (now Halden), Østfold, of parents Captain Christian Bernhard Koren Schjelderup (1819–1889) and ...

was his cousin. In 1878 he traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he studied

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

with

Auguste Franchomme Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (10 April 180821 January 1884) was a French cellist and composer. For his contributions to music, he was decorated with the Légion d'honneur in 1884. Life and career Born in Lille, Franchomme studied at the local conse ...

and music theory with Augustin Savard. He also studied with Jules Massenet at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

. By the time of his return to Norway, in 1884, he had already written a number of works. Norske komponister ved Musikkfesten i Bergen, 1898

Schjelderup was introduced to the work of Richard Wagner while in Paris, and went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for further exposure to his work. This in turn inspired him to write operas, which were to prove the bulk of his output, though he also composed a number of

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 ...

l and

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

works. He also wrote on music for Norwegian publications, and wrote biographies of

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

and of Wagner. In 1921 together with Ole Mørk Sandvik, he published ''Norsk folkemusik, særlig Østlandsmusikken'' which was the first history of Norwegian music. Schjelderup was among the founders of the Norwegian Society of Composers (''Norsk komponistforening'') in 1917, and from that year until 1920 served as its chairman. He continued to promote Norwegian music despite living abroad; he died at

Benediktbeuern Benediktbeuern (Central Bavarian: ''Benediktbeiern'') is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany, 2 kilometers, or 1.25 miles from Bichl. The village has 3,602 residents as of 31 December 2019. The medieval ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany during 1933.

Operas

* ''Austanfyre sol og vestanfyre måne'' (1889-1890) – one act performed at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, 1990 * ''Sonntagmorgen'' (1891–92) – Munich, 1893 * ''Norwegische Hochzeit'' (1894) –

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, 1900 :*as ''Bruderovet'' –

Kristiania 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 ...

, 1919 * ''En hellig aften'' (1895) – Kristiania, 1915 * ''Sampo Lappelill'' (1890-1900) (see Sampo Lappelill) * ''Et folk i nød'' (1906–07) * ''Vårnatt'' (1906–07) –

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, 1908 * ''Opal'' (1915) – Dresden, 1915 * ''Den røde pimpernell'' * ''Sturmvögel'' –

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

, 1926 * ''Liebesnächte'' (1930) –

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

1934

Documents

Letters by Gerhard Schjelderup held by the State Archives in Leipzig, company archives of the Music Publishing House C.F.Peters (Leipzig).

References

External links

Gerhard Schjelderup: Obscure Operas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schjelderup, Gerhard 1859 births 1933 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni Norwegian classical composers Norwegian musicologists Norwegian opera composers Musicians from Kristiansand Norwegian male classical composers