Niels Gade

Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. He is considered the most important Danish musician of his day.

Biography

Gade was born in Copenhagen, the son of a joiner and instrument maker. He began his career as a violinist with the Royal Danish Orchestra, and saw his concert overture Efterklange af Ossian ("Echoes of Ossian") premiered with them in 1841. When his first symphony was turned down for performance in Copenhagen, he sent it to Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn received the work positively, and conducted it in Leipzig in March 1843, to enthusiastic public reaction. 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. In 1845 he conducted the premiere performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor. He also became friends with Robert Schumann. In Copenhagen Niels Gade became acquainted with the composer Cornelius Gurlitt, and they remained friends until the latter's death.

Michael Schønwandt

Michael Schønwandt (born 10 September 1953 in Copenhagen) is a Danish conductor. In Denmark, he studied piano, theory, and composition, and later continued musical studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

In 1979, Schønwandt secured a post as 'permanent conductor' by the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. Schønwandt is Music Director of the Royal Danish Orchestra and the Royal Opera in Copenhagen since 2000. His work in contemporary opera has included conducting the world premiere productions of Poul Ruders' operas The Handmaid’s Tale and Dancer in the Dark.

Schønwandt was principal guest conductor of the Théâtre National de La Monnaie from 1984 to 1987, and held the same post with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra from 1987 to 2000. Schønwandt has also served as chief conductor of the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester from 1992 to 1998. In May 2009, Schønwandt was named principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic and formally took up the post in August 2010.

Collegium Musicum

The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in German and German-Swiss cities and towns during the Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century.

Generally, while societies such as the Kantorei (chorale) cultivated vocal music for church performance and the convivium musicum discussed musical philosophy over a banquet, the collegia musica performed both vocal and instrumental music for pleasure; they focused on instrumental music as it rose in stature during the Baroque era. Though closed amateur societies in concept, collegia frequently included professionals to fill out the music and admitted non-members to performances. Moreover, they often provided music for church, state, and academic occasions and gained the patronage of leading citizens. From the 1660s, their functions largely constituted the beginnings of public concert life in Germany.

Leipzig

Leipzig collegia musica, consisting mostly of university students, enjoyed a succession of particularly illustrious directors, including Johann Kuhnau (1688), refounded by Telemann (1702), and Bach (1729–1737), who composed several concertos and dramme per musica for weekly performances at Café Zimmermann, Gottfried Zimmerman's coffeehouse, and for "extraordinary" concerts. Telemann went on to promote professional concerts by Frankfurt and Hamburg collegia in the late 1720s, thus fostering the emergence of public subscription concerts in Germany. With the Moravian emigration, American collegia sprang up beginning in 1744 in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and the Carolinas.