• Source: Asger Hamerik

Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) (April 8, 1843 – July 13, 1923) was a Danish composer of the late romantic period.
Aged 80 at time of death.




Life and career


Born in Frederiksberg (near Copenhagen), he studied music with J.P.E. Hartmann and Niels Gade, being related to the former through his mother, a cousin of Emma Hartmann. He wrote his first pieces in his teens, including an unperformed symphony. His family were friends with Hans Christian Andersen, with whom Hamerik corresponded regularly.
Later, he left Denmark in 1862 to study music in Berlin, with Hans von Bülow, and Paris where he was a protégé of Hector Berlioz. In 1864 he began using the more unmistakably Danish version of his last name, rather than Hammerich, in the swell of Danish national feeling after the Danish-Prussian war.
He left Paris in 1869 for Italy, and then Vienna. In 1871 he was offered the post of director of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, where his influence won praise from influential visitors including Tchaikovsky and Arthur Sullivan. He composed most of his large-scale concert works for the Institute's orchestra. His students at Peabody included Eliza Woods. He left his position as director of Peabody in 1898. He returned to Denmark in 1900 with his American pianist and composer wife, born Margaret Williams, but had essentially retired. He would sit on competition boards and conduct, including his own works.
He composed 41 opus numbers, including seven symphonies, chamber music, four operas, five orchestral suites and popular orchestral music, much of it based on Scandinavian folk tunes. During his lifetime he was considered the best-known Danish composer after Gade, and one who was primarily influenced by Berlioz. His Requiem was his most successful work, and the one he considered his best.
His son Ebbe Hamerik was a conductor and celebrated composer himself, and his daughter Valdis Hamerik an opera singer. His brother was the musicologist Angul Hammerich (1848-1931), professor at Copenhagen University and founder of Copenhagen’s Music Instruments Museum.




Musical style


Hamerik was an influential teacher in the US, as the director of Peabody in Baltimore for over a quarter of a century; and his works were performed in both the United States and Europe. The most obvious influence in his music is Berlioz, particularly given Hamerik's choice of rooting his music in French influences, the French subtitles to his symphonies, and the use of an idée fixe. His music is often described as having a "Nordic" cast, and in letters he told friends that even though he was going to America he would always remain a Dane.
His opera, La Vendetta, was created in 1870 by the composer in La Scala in Milan and has a claim to be the first verismo opera in history.
His later work incorporates influences from composers such as Paul Dukas and César Franck and the more roving harmony and extended tonality, including movements in different keys and expanded use of vagrant chords. His Seventh Symphony has been compared with Mahler's works from the same period, involving hundreds of musicians in its first performance in Baltimore, which was directed by fellow von Bülow student Joseph Pache.




Works






= Orchestra

=



Symphonies

1860 Symphony in C minor, Op. 3 (lost)
1879–1880 Symphony no. 1 "Symphonie poétique" in F major, Op. 29
Allegro moderato ed espressivo
Allegro marcato
Andante con moto
Allegro giusto
1882–1883 Symphony no. 2 "Symphonie tragique" in C minor, Op. 32
Grave – Allegro non troppo e patetico
Andante penitente
Allegro marcato
Adagio – Allegro passionato – Allegro molto vivace
1883–1884 Symphony no. 3 "Symphonie lyrique" in E major, Op. 33
Largo – Allegro molto vivace
Allegro grazioso
Andante sostenuto
Allegro con spirito
1884–1889 Symphony no. 4 "Symphonie majestueuse" in C major, Op. 35
Largo – Allegro impetuoso
Adagio espressivo
Allegro moderato
Maestoso e solenne
1889–1891 Symphony no. 5 "Symphonie sérieuse" in G minor, Op. 36
Largo – Allegro con fuoco
Adagio non troppo
Scherzo allegro
Grave – Allegro
1897 Symphony no. 6 "Symphonie spirituelle" in G major, for string orchestra, Op. 38
Allegro moderato
Allegro molto vivace
Andante sostenuto
Allegro con spirito
1897 rev. 1901–1906 Symphony no. 7 "Korsymfoni", for mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and orchestra, Op. 40
Largo
Andante sostenuto
Grave



Other orchestral works

1871–1872 Northern Suite no. 1 in C major, Op. 22
1872 Northern Suite no. 2 in G minor, Op. 23
1873–1874 Northern Suite no. 3 in A minor, Op. 24
1875 Northern Suite no. 4 in D major, Op. 25
1876 Northern Suite no. 5 in A major, Op. 26
1879 Concert Romance in D Major for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 27
1879 Jewish Trilogy, Op. 19
1912 Variations on the Folk Song "Jeg gik mig ud en sommerdag", for string orchestra and harp, Op. 41




= Harmony band

=
1867 Hymne à la paix, for large band, mixed choir, two organs, and 12 harps




= Operas

=




= Vocal works

=



Spiritual

1882 Christian trilogy, for baritone, mixed choir and organ, Op. 31
1886–1887 Requiem, for soloists, mixed choir, and orchestra, Op. 34 in C minor
Requiem et Kyrie
Dies irae
Offertorium
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
1900 Ave Maria, for mezzo-soprano and organ, Op. 14



Profane

Nocturne "Da giovine regina la luna maestosa", for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
Ballade Roland
Erntetanz, for women's choir (four voices) and orchestra, Op. 37




= Chamber music

=
1862 Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 6
1878 Concert Romance, for cello and piano (or orchestra), Op. 27




= Organ

=
1905 Four Preludes, Op. 39a




References



Alexander J. Morin (editor). Classical Music: The Listener's Companion. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2002. ISBN 978-0-87930-638-0; p. 377
E. Douglas Bomberger (editor). Brainard's Biographies of American Musicians, Vol. 79. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. ISBN 978-0-313-30782-9; pp. 129–132




Further reading


John Bergsagel. "Hamerik: (1) Asger Hamerik [Hammerich]". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001.
Christopher Follett. "The Remarkable Asger Hamerik". Nordic Sounds no. 4 (November 2004): 13–17.




External links


Free scores by Asger Hamerik at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Asger Hamerik
• Asger
• List of Danish composers
• 1862 in music
• Ebbe Hamerik
• 1871 in music
• 1879 in music
• Aline Reese Blondner
• Peabody Institute
• Frederiksberg