Jørgen Jersild (17 September 1913 – 6 February 2004) was a Danish composer and music educator. He was a pupil of

Poul Schierbeck Poul Schierbeck (8 June 1888 – 9 February 1949) was a Danish composer and organist. He was a pupil of Carl Nielsen and Thomas Laub. From 1931 he taught composition and instrumentation at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. His pupils include ...

and

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...

.bio
/ref> Jersild worked from 1953 to 1975 as a professor of ear training by

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 ...

in Copenhagen.

Life

Jersild learned how to play the piano at a young age and, when he was twelve, he arranged for the school orchestra and wrote some small compositions. He became a student of Rudolph Simonsen and later

, who taught him theory and composition, and

Alexander Stoffregen Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, who gave him lessons on the piano. After a short stay in Paris in 1936 where he was taught for three months by

, he returned home and studied musicology at the University of Copenhagen. In 1940 he majored in

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

, but in 1939 he was employed as a program secretary with the DR, a national radio station in Denmark. In 1943 he became a teacher at

in Copenhagen, during which his music was reviewed by the Berlingske Tidende. From 1953 to 1975, he was professor and taught ear training, instrumentation and composition. During those years he published a number of theoretical and practical musical works. By 1930 he was engaged in the folkemusikskole movement, which encouraged the teaching of music and schools and the preservation of folk music. Together with

Finn Savery The word Finn (''pl.'' Finns) usually refers to a member of the majority Balto-Finnic ethnic group of Finland, or to a person from Finland. Finn may also refer to: Places * Finn Lake, Minnesota, United States * Finn Township, Logan County, Nort ...

Finn Høffding Niels Finn Høffding (10 March 1899 in Copenhagen – 29 March 1997 in Copenhagen) was a Danish composer. Høffding studied composition under Knud Jeppesen and Thomas Laub, and then under Joseph Marx in Vienna from 1921-22. His works first be ...

and Jørgen Bentzon, he worked to spread musical knowledge and skills to children and adults, both in primary and secondary schools of music. In the years 1949–1953, he was chairman of the Danish Music Education Association.

Music

His output as a composer was not large, but included a large number of very well built choruses including ''3 Madrigali'' (1957), Trois piéces en concert for clavier (1945), wind quintet ''Playing in the woods'' (1947) and the musical adventure play ''Alice in Wonderland'' (1951), based on the book by Lewis Carroll. From 1967 to 1977, he wrote four works which featured the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

. They were inspired by Benjamin Britten and were written for the harp player

Osian Ellis Osian or Osiyan may refer to: * Osian art fund, an arts fund started in Mumbai (2010). *Osian, Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan, India * Osiyan, Unnao, a village in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India * Osian (name), a name common in Wales, derived f ...

. In addition, he wrote music for theater, radio, theater, film and even the winning song of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in 1965, ''

For din skyld Denmark was represented by Birgit Brüel, with the song "For din skyld", at the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 20 March in Naples, Italy. Before Eurovision Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1965 The final was held at the Studio 2 ...

'' (For Your Sake), with text of

Poul Henningsen Poul Henningsen (9 September 1894 – 31 January 1967) was a Danish author, critic, architect, and designer. In Denmark, where he often is referred to simply as PH, he was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark between the Worl ...

and sung by

Birgit Brüel Birgit Brüel (born 6 October 1927 – died 23 February 1996) was a Danish singer and actress who participated in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. Brüel's professional career began in 1950 when she joined the Max Brüel Quartet as a jazz sing ...

in the

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. His music has been regarded as "French" or at least French-inspired - which can be translated as cultured and elegant. It is written in a clear and elegant modal style rooted in

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

. From interview in 1999: When asked, Jersild acknowledged that he was French-influenced he replies: "''It may be true - all my starting points were French. It can be observed in the rate structure. If you hear Trois piéces en concert(1945), it is not hard to hear that it is inspired by Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin. But it is still a bit more harmonious than Ravel. But I do not think it continued to be French. I think it's much more Danish now, but it may well be I am wrong.'' ' When asked about his position on

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

and atonal music, Jersild stated: "'' ... I think it's kind of putting things upside down to begin with theory and then make music. The music must beam of itself. And so it is perhaps sometimes a later generation given to work out technical, theoretical ideas. I find atonal music hard to follow, because I think that the results do not suggest that it is a good approach.'' " Upon receiving the,

Nielsen Memorial Scholarship Nielsen may refer to: Business * Nielsen Gallery, an American commercial art gallery * Nielsen Holdings, global information, data, and measurement company ** Nielsen Corporation, a marketing research firm ** Nielsen Audio, formerly Arbitron, whi ...

in 1999, Karl Aage Rasmussen, another composer, gave a speech that included following: "''Jorgen Jersild's life's work is not comprehensive, and it is perhaps because his music is on the hunt for the particular simplicity and ease with no quick shortcuts to.''"

Compositions by year (incomplete)

* Duets for All and Tenor Recorder s (1931) * The running (plays of Oehlenschläger - 1931) * Capriccio for piano (1935) * Ruskantate (1940) * Two strophic songs (1944) * Three Songs (1944) * Trois Pieces en concert (piano - 1945) * Pastorale for string orchestra (1945) * Trois pièces en concert for piano - Tambourin, Romanesque, Farandole (1945) * Playing in the woods - Serenade for wind quintet (1946) * Days on a cloud (play by

Kjeld Abell Kjeld Abell (25 August 1901 – 5 March 1961) was a Danish playwright, screenwriter, and theatrical designer. Born in Ribe, Denmark, Abell's first designs were seen in ballets directed by George Balanchine at Copenhagen's Royal Danish Theatre an ...

- 1947) * Alice in Wonderland - musical tale for children (1950) * Quartetto piccolo for string quartet (1950) * Lune Full Lucinda - Ballet (1954) * Duo concertante - 18 pieces of the 3 - and 4-hændig piano (1956/98) * Three madrigals for mixed choir a cappella (1958) * Music for the film Gertrude by

Carl Th. Dreyer Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his movies are noted for their emotional aus ...

(1964) * For your sake (Eurovision winner 1965) * Fantasia e canto affettuoso per Flauto, clarinetto, violoncello e arpa (Libro d'arpa, seconda parte) (1967) * Three Danish love songs for mixed chorus (1968) * Pezzo elegiaco per arpa sola - Libro d'arpa, prima parte (1968) * Three romantic choral songs for choir a cappella (1971, revised 1984, 1989) * Concerto per arpa e orchestra - (Libro d'arpa, parte terza) (1972) * Puzzles from Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) (1975) * 30 polyrhythmic etudes (1975/76) * Fantasia per arpa sola (Libro d'arpa, parte Quarta) (1977) * Für gefühlvolle Spieler - Impromptuer for two harps (1977/82) * Pastoral for string orchestra (1977) * Quartetto per archi (1980) * 2 Impromptus - two strainers (1984) * 15 piano pieces to Juliet (1984/85) * Fantasia per organo (1985) * Three madrigali latini per coro a cappella (1987) * 10 Impromtus for violin & guitar (1987) * Fantasia per piano solo (1987/89) * 21 selected nursery rhyme of Halfdan Rasmussen (1989) * Cadenzas to Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp (April 1991) * Il Cantico delle creature (

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

/ John Jorgensen - 1992) * Jeu polyrythmique, Trois études pour piano (1992) * Cadenzas for Mozart's concerto for flute and harp

V 299 V, or v, is the twenty-second and fifth-to-last letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''vee'' (pronounced ), plural ...

(1992) * A stick I found - a puzzle by Lewis Carroll (mixed choir 1995) * The church bell - 3 and 4-part rate (

Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential peo ...

- 1995) * Recorder Music I - 7 duets (1997) * Recorder Music II - 7 quartets (1997) * Two Impromptus for piano solo (1997)

Books

* Textbook in solfege (1950) * Basic rhythm exercises (1957) * Textbook of melody reading (1959) * Textbook of rhythm reading (1961) * The functional principles of Romanticism harmonics (1970) * Higher rhythm studies - cross rhythms (1975/98) * Jorgen Jersild: Analytical harmony (1989) * Scales, cadences and 3-tones - practiced templates, fingering, pedal use mm. and 5 pieces for piano (1999)

Honors and awards (incomplete)

* 1952 The Anckerske Scholarship * 1962 Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music * 1995 Årets Korkomponist (Choral composer of the year) * 1999 Nielsen Memorial Scholarship

References