Launy Grøndahl (30 June 1886 – 21 January 1960) was a Danish composer and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

. Grøndahl studied the violin from the age of eight.Launy Grondahl , Classical Composers Database
/ref> His first work as a professional

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

was as a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist with the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen, aged thirteen. He was also for a long period (1925–1956) the resident conductor of 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 ...

, Denmark's most prestigious

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 ...

. Launy Valdemar Grondahl is known to posterity for two things – his distinguished 31 – year conducting career with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orquestra, and his Trombone Concerto dating form 1924. Launy Grøndahl was born in Denmark on June 30, 1886, dying in 1960, he began his studies with Anton Bloch, Ludolf Nielsen and Axel Gade, and what marks his life as a violinist and composer was a scholarship from the Kobenhavns Orkestreforenings Jubioeumslegat (granting of the Jubilee of the Copenhagen Orchestral Association) in the summer of 1924. This thanks to the manager of the Vacuum Oil Company, Carls A. Muchaelsen, had donated kr. 2500 to honor a talented member in connection with the association's 25th anniversary jubilee on 25 April 1924. With this Grøndahl scholarship you can tour Europe in search of musical knowledge and maturation in Paris, Vienna and Milan, among other cities.

Notable works

Some of his first works included a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

, works for small string ensembles and a violin concerto. He is best known for his trombone concerto, written in 1924 during Grøndahl's time in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was reportedly written for the

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrat ...

section of the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen (of which Grøndahl was a member) due to their high standard of playing. He is also remembered for his pioneering recordings of the symphonies of fellow Dane

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 ...

and his original score for

Benjamin Christensen Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he is best known for the 1922 film ''Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'' ...

's classic

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

'' Häxan''.

References

External links

Biography (in Spanish)
1886 births 1960 deaths Danish composers Male composers Danish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Musicians from Copenhagen 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Danish male musicians {{Denmark-composer-stub