Portrett av Halfdan Kjerulf - kopi etter Knud Bergslien - Oslo Museum - OB

Halfdan Kjerulf (17 September 181511 August 1868) 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.

Biography

Kjerulf was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of a high government official. His early education was at

Christiania University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

, for a legal career, but his studies ended in 1839 as a result of illness, and the next year he spent some time in Paris. Soon after his return his father and two siblings died and he took a job as a journalist at one of Oslo's main newspapers, ''Den Constitutionelle'' where

Andreas Munch Andreas Munch (19 October 1811 – 27 June 1884) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright and newspaper editor. He was the first person to be granted a poet's pension by the Parliament of Norway. Personal life Munch was born in Christiania, as s ...

(1811–1884) was editor and where Kjerulf worked until 1845. Kjerulf started his career as a music teacher and composer of songs before ever having seriously studied music at all, and not for ten years did he attract any particular notice. He was counted among those in the

Modern Breakthrough The Modern Breakthrough ( no, Det moderne gjennombrudd, da, Det moderne gennembrud, sv, Det moderna genombrottet) is the common name of the strong movement of naturalism and debating literature of Scandinavia which replaced romanticism near the ...

movement in literature, painting and music which was replacing romanticism within Scandinavia. It was typified by the poet

Johan Sebastian Welhaven Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven (22 December 1807 – 21 October 1873) was a Norwegian author, poet, critic, and art theorist. He has been considered "one of the greatest figures in Norwegian literature." Background Johan Welhaven was born ...

, whose poems he set. In 1848 he studied with German musician and composer Carl Arnold (1794-1873), and after studying with

Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day. Biography Gade was bor ...

(1817–1890) in

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 a ...

, the Norwegian Government paid for a year's instruction for him at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1850, where he was taught by

Ernst Richter Ernst Friedrich Eduard Richter (24 October 18089 April 1879), was a German musical theorist and composer, born at Großschönau, Saxony. He first studied music at Zittau, and afterwards at Leipzig, where he attained so high a reputation that in ...

(1808–1879). For many years after his return to Norway, Kjerulf tried in vain to establish regular classical concerts, while he himself was working with Bjørnson and other writers at the composition of lyrical songs. He did present some concerts, at which he introduced the Norwegian public to

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's Fifth Symphony and other standards otherwise little known to them.Grove's Dictionary, 5th ed (1954), ed.

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of '' Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Bio ...

, Vol IV, pp.772-773 He obtained some official recognition during the 1860s. He died in

Grefsen thumbnail, 250px, Grefsen Church Grefsen is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway. Grefsen was a part of the municipality of Aker before the Second World War, later incorporated into Oslo. Together with Kjelsås, Grefsen then formed the bo ...

, near Christiania, in 1868, aged only 52.

Legacy

His fame rests mainly on his beautiful and manly national partsongs and solos. His piano music is equally charming.

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 ...

was an enthusiastic admirer of it and he was undoubtedly influenced by it in writing his '' Lyric Pieces''. It was recorded in its entirety in 2001 by Einar Steen-Nøkleberg. His piano students included Agathe Backer-Grøndahl and

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 ...

(then known as Erika Lie).

References

Citations

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kjerulf, Halfdan 1815 births 1868 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Norwegian composers 19th-century male musicians Musicians from Oslo Norwegian classical composers Norwegian male classical composers Norwegian Romantic composers University of Oslo alumni