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Denmark has long history of musical tradition, forming a range of folk traditions, while an extensive recording industry has produced local pop stars and a host of performers from a multitude of genres.
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Classical
Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931) is an internationally known composer from Denmark. He is especially known for his six symphonies and his concertos for violin, flute and clarinet. Rued Langgaard (1893 - 1952), a late-Romantic composer, and Niels Gade (1817 – 1890), considered a Romantic nationalist composer, are also notable. German baroque composer, Dietrich Buxtehude (1637 (?) - 1707) was born in Denmark. Vagn Holmboe was a leading Danish composer of the mid to late 20th century, and Anders Koppel and Poul Ruders are current Danish composers.
Light Classical
Tango Jalousie
Though the tango is not a musical form normally associated with Denmark, one of the most universally known pieces of Danish music is the temperamental, romantic Tango Tzigane Jalousie (1925), also known as Tango Jalousie or simply Jalousie, composed by Jacob Gade.
Tango Jalousie has been used in countless films, such as the classic Danish sex comedy I Tvillingernes tegn (1975), where it is the centerpiece of a big nude dancing production number set in the 1930s, and Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried (2000), with Johnny Depp playing a gypsy in the 1920s.
Champagne Galop
Another widely popular Danish composition is The Champagne Galop by Hans Christian Lumbye. This piece of light classical music, which starts with the happy sound of a champagne cork popping, is today closely associated with the Tivoli Gardens (where Lumbye worked as music director and in-house composer, and where the piece was first performed).
Several Danish films quote The Champagne Galop to introduce a Tivoli-sequence, for instance Reptilicus (1961). It is also associated with unbridled carnality as can be seen from its use in several Danish sex films such as Ole Ege's Bordellet (aka: The Best Bit of Crumpet in Denmark) (1972) and in the Swedish 3-D sex comedy Champagnegalopp (aka: What the Swedish Butler Saw) (1975), starring Ole Søltoft and Diana Dors.
Jazz
Valdemar Eiberg formed a jazz orchestra in 1923 in Denmark, and recorded what are thought to be the first Danish jazz records in August 1924 ("I've Got a Cross-Eyed Papa" and "In Bluebird Land"). However, jazz in Denmark is typically first dated to 1925, when bandleader Sam Wooding first toured in Copenhagen with an orchestra. This was the first time most Danes had heard jazz music. Some prominent early Danish jazz musicians include Eric Tuxen, who formed a jazz band and later was named conductor of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Bernhard Christensen, an art music composer who incorporated jazz elements into his pieces, and Sven Møller Kristensen, who was the lyricist for many of Bernhard Christensen's pieces and who wrote a book on jazz theory in Danish.
In the 1930s, jazz became quite popular in Denmark; major figures in this time period are pianist Leo Mathisen, violinist Svend Asmussen, trombonist Peter Rasmussen, saxophonist Kai Ewans, bassist Niels Foss, and pianist/vibraphonist Kjeld Bonfils; many of these musicians played in Valdemar Eiberg's band.
Jazz went underground in 1940 as a result of the Nazi occupation of Denmark, during which time jazz was discouraged by the regime. Nevertheless, it continued to be performed and recorded, even more so as Danish musicians began to fill the void created by the lack of foreign players touring through the area. Musicians such as Eiberg, Bonfils and Asmussen (who played in a band together), along with musicians like Bruno Henriksen and Bertel Skjoldborg continued to make jazz music as a form of political protest. Many singers, such as Freddy Albeck, Ingelise Rune, and Raquel Rastenni, found it necessary to escape to Sweden in the later years of the occupation.[1]
Following World War II, Danish jazz musicians began to split into an older guard, which maintained the style of older New Orleans jazz, and newer musicians who favored the bebop style of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie that was then emerging in America. The former were represented by musicians such as pianist Adrian Bentzon, trombonist Papa Bue, and trumpeter Theis Jensen, while the latter included saxophonist Max Brüel, bassist Erik Moseholm, and trumpeter Jørgen Ryg.
In the early 1960s, a club called the Jazzhus Montmartre opened in Copenhagen, which was intended to recreate the air of jazz clubs in Paris and New York City. This became a major venue for both Danish and American jazz musicians. Many American jazz players moved to Copenhagen, starting in the 1950s; Stan Getz and Oscar Pettiford moved there in that decade, followed by Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, and Ben Webster in the 1960s, and Duke Jordan, Horace Parlan, Ed Thigpen, Bob Rockwell, and Thad Jones (who became the leader of Radio Big Band in 1977) in subsequent decades. Kenny Drew formed a trio with Alex Riel and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen which became a staple at the Jazzhus Montmartre.
In the 1960s, Danish musicians began to explore free jazz with saxophonist John Tchicai the most prominent proponent. Alongside this, a more mainstream wing evolved, including saxophonist Jesper Thilo.
As rock music became more popular in the 1970s, jazz's popularity waned, but it continues to be supported in venues such as the Copenhagen Jazzhouse and the annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Prominent Danish jazz musicians today include Carsten Dahl, Jørgen Emborg, Thomas Clausen, Nikolaj Benson, Ole Kock Hansen, Niels Jørgen Steen, Jan Kaspersen, Fredrik Lundin, Thomas Agergaard, Hans Ulrik, Jakob Dinesen, Jens Winther, Marilyn Mazur, Mads Vinding, Jesper Lundgaard, Lennart Ginman, Thomas Ovesen, Ole Lindgren, Ib Glindemann, Pierre Dørge, Jacob Fisher, and Kristian Jørgensen.[2]
Rock
Danish rock music is inspired mainly by American rock and British rock and many, if not most songs are in English as well as most band names. Few bands have had success outside Denmark.
A band popular outside of Denmark are rockers D-A-D (formerly Disneyland After Dark) who had a hit with Sleeping My Day Away in the early 1990s. Another hit outside of Denmark in the early 1990s was "Please Don't Leave Me" by Pretty Maids. Also the ground breaking Savage Rose are Danish, and known for their left-wing views on society, as well as singer Annisette's voice, which inspired the likes of Kate Bush.
The current Danish rock scene is dominated by indie influences in bands such as The Raveonettes, Kashmir, The Kissaway Trail and Mew. Other popular Danish rock groups include Sort Sol (Black sun), Nephew, VETO, Figurines, Kira and the Kindred Spirits, Swan Lee, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, Carpark North and Saybia. Some of the hard rock bands to come out of Denmark are Volbeat, Red Warszawa, Mercenary, Mercyful Fate (later King Diamond), Artillery, The Psyke Project and Royal Hunt. The most popular of the newer Danish bands is by far the band Nephew, with their unique mix of Danish and English lyrics, and their charismatic lead singer and frontman Simon Kvamm, who has grown to become one of Denmark's biggest stars. Nephew's music is a blend of indie and electro rock.
Famous Danish rock musicians are among other Lars Ulrich, the drummer and co-founder of Metallica, and Mike Tramp, the vocalist and co-songwriter of White Lion.
Danmark has band called As We Fight, with generes Deathcore, Death Metal; Like Bring Me The Horizon and Job For A Cowboy.
The annual Roskilde Festival is held in Danish city Roskilde. The festival is the second-largest in Europe with ticket sales normally going in between 70,000 and 100,000. The festival has featured many prominent artists (mainly rock), such as Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, U2, Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath and Green Day, and there has also been an emphasis on world music, alternative genres and Danish music at the festival. In 2000 the festival suffered a terrible accident during a Pearl Jam concert where 9 people were crushed by the wild crowds, making security a primary issue of the following festivals. There have been no further incidents of that kind at Roskilde festival.
Pop
Danish pop music is strongly influenced by the British and American pop scene. Songs are either in Danish or English, but very few songs and bands have gained popularity outside Denmark. The Danish band that have had the biggest impact outside of Denmark itself, is the europop group Aqua with their worldwide hit Barbie Girl.
One of the most popular Danish pop artists is Thomas Helmig who has won awards at the Danish Music Awards (DMA) 8 times. More recent successes are the bands Nephew and Safri Duo who has won 7 and 5 awards at the DMA respectively.[3]
Denmark also participates in the annual Eurovision Song Contest, and holds its own Dansk Melodi Grand Prix competition to select the song that will represent Denmark in the Eurovision contest. Denmark has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice: first with Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann's "Dansevise" in 1963; and won again with Brødrene Olsen's (Olsen Brothers) "Fly on the Wings of Love" (from the Danish Smuk Som Et Stjerneskud, literally "Beautiful as a shooting star") in 2000.
Some hit songs with Danish origin have becomed international hits after being covered by foreign artists. Vengaboys covered The Walkers' "Shalala Lala", Jamelia covered Christine Milton's "Superstar", Shayne Ward covered Bryan Rice's "No Promises" and Celine Dion covered Tim Christensen's "Right Next To The Right One". Different covers of Rune's "Calabria" have also been international hits.
Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, also known as Bent Fabric, won an American Grammy award in 1963 for his instrumental hit Alley Cat.
Folk
Danish folk music has long been dominated by a fiddle and accordion duo, much like its northern neighbors in Scandinavia. An important difference, however, is that Danish fiddlers almost always play in groups, and so there is no tradition of virtuoso fiddle players capable of solo performance; Danish bands also tend to feature the guitar more prominently than the other Nordic countries, especially in recent years.
Fiddle and accordion duos play generally rhythmic dance music, local versions of the Nordic folk dance music. The oldest variety is called pols, and it is now mostly found on Fanø and includes even smaller variety likes sønderhoning from Sønderho. Sønderho has produced a family of widely-respected musicians in Søren Lassen Brinch and his descendents. Another dance from Fanø is called fanik, while Danish dance music included its own versions of polka, waltz, schottisch, trekanter, firtur, tretur and rheinlænder, displaying its multicultural influences from Germany, Poland, Austria, Bohemia, Sweden, England and Norway.
Musicians continued to play, and the regional traditions in particular remained robust but very local, with performers including Fanø's Jæ' Sweevers and East Jutland's Mølposen. The formation of the Danish Folk Council to actively promote the music both at home and abroad helped raise the profile. Curiously, Danish folk music received its biggest boost from the home chart success of Sorten Muld, who used acoustic and electric instruments and electronica on old songs to create something very contemporary on its best-selling albums.
By then a number of groups, such as Phønix were already in existence. The creation of a folk music program at the Carl Nielsen Academy under fiddle player Harald Haugaard has brought forth a number of talented, highly trained and skilled young musicians, such as singer Helene Blum and members of the group Zar. They've taken their place alongside established talents like Baltinget, Instinkt, and the duo Haugaard and Høirup, as well as the now old guard of Lang Linken.
Underground Music Scenes
In the largest cities of Denmark, the underground music scene flourishes. On the main peninsula of Jutland, the underground music scene is based around a variety of genres ranging from electronic music to more extreme genres like Death metal and Black metal, which are particularly prominent in the city of Aarhus. Copenhagen has a somewhat more typical spectrum of genres, most notably various forms of metal music, experimental music and punk rock. Because of the anti-solemn spirit of the Danish underground, fusions between different types of music continuously take place. However, unlike the neighbouring country of Sweden, Danish underground music is little known outside of Scandinavia, few token bands aside.
See also
- List of Danish bands
- List of Danish composers
- Danish rock
- Music of the Faroe Islands
- Music of Greenland
- Roskilde Festival
- Danish Music Awards
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External links
- ^ Danish Golden Age Jazz. DVM. Accessed September 26, 2007.
- ^ Jazz, Pop and Rock. Undenrigsministeriet. Accessed September 26, 2007. passim.
- ^ Winers of Danish Music Awards and Dansk Grammy from 1989-2008
- Denmark Music
- The 11 most played Danish works outside of Denmark in 2004
- A List Of Danish Indie Artists
Sources
- Cronshaw, Andrew. "A New Pulse for the Pols". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 58–63. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
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