Composer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He began as violinist, but on a royal grant studied at Leipzig, and became a friend of Schumann and Mendelssohn. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, several choral works, and a number of smaller pieces. The Scandinavian element in his music distinguishes him from the Leipzig school.
Gade was born in Copenhagen, the son of a joiner and instrument maker. Supported by a fellowship from the Danish government, Gade himself moved to Leipzig, teaching at the Conservatory there, working as an assistant conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and befriending Mendelssohn, who had an important influence on his music.
At Mendelssohn’s death in 1847, Gade was appointed to his position as chief conductor but was forced to return to Copenhagen in the spring of 1848 when war broke out between Prussia and Denmark.
In Copenhagen Gade became director of the Copenhagen Musical Society (a post he retained until his death) and, establishing a new orchestra and chorus, settled in to a career as the most prominent musician in Denmark. He also worked as an organist and was joint director of the Copenhagen Conservatory with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (whose daughter Gade married in 1852) and Holger Simon Paulli, and worked as an organist.
Among Gade's works are eight symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, piano pieces and a number of large-scale cantatas, Comala (1846) and Elverskud (1853) amongst them, which he called koncertstykker ("concert pieces").
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