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 ...

's ''At the Bier of a Young Artist'' (''Ved en ung Kunstners Baare'') for string orchestra, FS 58, was written for the funeral of the Danish painter Oluf Hartmann in January 1910.

Background

Oluf Hartmann was the son of composer

Emil Hartmann Emil Hartmann (1 February 1836, Denmark – 18 July 1898, Copenhagen, Denmark) was a Danish composer of the romantic period, fourth generation of composers in the Danish Hartmann musical family. Early life and education Hartmann was born o ...

and the brother of

Bodil Neergaard Ellen Bodil Neergaard née Hartmann (10 February 1867 – 18 May 1959) was a Danish philanthropist and patron of the arts. She is remembered for her many philanthropic activities as well as for her life in Fuglsang Manor on the island of Lollan ...

, the lady of

Fuglsang Manor Fuglsang is a 19th-century manor house now operated by Det Classenske Fideicommis as a cultural centre as an active agricultural estate at Toreby on the island of Lolland, in southeastern Denmark. The estate was owned by members of the de Neerga ...

, a gathering place for musicians and artists on the

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 ...

island of Lolland. Hartmann died on Sunday, 16 January 1910. By the following Wednesday, Nielsen had completed the draft of his "Andante lamentoso". Perhaps originally written for string quartet, the piece was later adapted by the composer for string orchestra.Niels Bo Foltmann, "At the Bier of a Young Artist", Orchestral Works 2
Carl Nielsen Edition
, ''Royal Danish Library''. Retrieved 13 November 2010. The four-minute piece in

E-flat minor E-flat minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature consists of six flats. Its relative key is G-flat major (or enharmonically F-sharp major) and its parallel key is E-flat major. ...

was first performed by the Gade Quartet at Oluf Hartmann’s funeral on 21 January in the chapel at Holmen’s Cemetery 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 ar ...

. By April 1912, Nielsen had adapted it for strings in connection with an Easter concert he conducted at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen. He conducted the piece on several other occasions during his lifetime and it was also played at his funeral on 9 October 1931 by his son-in-law Emil Telmányi's chamber orchestra. The piece has been known under different names. It was first entitled "Andante doloroso" for the concerts in Copenhagen in 1912 and then it became known as "Andante dolorosa (Ved en ung Kunstners Baare)" or "Andante dolorosa (At the Bier of a Young Artist)".

Music

Writing in connection with Deutsche Grammophon's recording by the

Emerson String Quartet The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, is an American string quartet that was initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and beg ...

, Anthony Burton writes: "In the dark key of E flat minor, with an initially subdued middle section in D major and a calm major-key ending, it has a poignant intensity quite remarkable for a work of its modest duration".Anthony Burton, "Northern Voices"
, ''Deutsche Grammophon''. Retrieved 13 November 2010.

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Carl Nielsen Funerary and memorial compositions Death in music 1910 compositions Compositions for string quartet Compositions for string orchestra