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Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann

Johanne Luise Heiberg

Niels W. Gade

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

Per Nørgård

Vagn Holmboe

Victor Borge

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Vagn Holmboe

1909-96, Danish composer. He studied with Knud Jeppesen and Finn Høffding at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory, where he himself became a professor in 1955; his students included Per Nørgård and Ib Nørholm. He also taught at the Institute for the Blind and for many years worked as a music critic.

A visit to Romania in 1933-34, where he studied folk music, had a decisive influence on the style of his almost 400 works, which include 13 symphonies, 13 solo concertos, 20 string quartets, three operas, piano music, songs to piano accompaniment and a considerable number of works for a cappella choir, many composed to Biblical texts.

He regarded himself as continuing the classical symphonic tradition from Brahms through Carl Nielsen and Sibelius, but he was also inspired by, among others, Hindemith. On the other hand, he disassociated himself from some of the trends of his time, including the twelve-note technique, which he considered arid.

Peter Ryom, Gyldendal Leksikon

Edited April 25, 2007

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