When I first came to Denmark one of my greatest pleasures was learning about Carl Nielsen's music. Nielsen (1865-1931) is undoubtedly the Danish composer who had the deepest influence on 20th century Danish musical life. Mention his name here and people immediately think of his symphonies, concertos and chamber music to say nothing of his works for piano and his two operas one of which "Maskerade" ("Masquerade") became Denmark's "national" opera. He also wrote a large number of Danish songs and hymns which were known and loved by his contemporaries and their children many of whom sang them at school morning assembly. These songs and hymns are less well known now, which is a shame as many are truely lovely. For this posting I've picked a performance of the beautiful song "Lær mig nattens stjerne" by one of my favourite Danish choirs the Kammerkoret Trinitatis Kantori ("Trinitatis Kantori Chamber Choir").
Click here to listen to the music and read the rest of the posting ...
