Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) (April 8, 1843 – July 13, 1923) was a Danish composer of the late romantic period.

Life and career

Born in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

(near

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

), he studied music with J.P.E. Hartmann and

Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day. Biography Gade was bor ...

, being related to the former through his mother, a cousin of Emma Hartmann. He wrote his first pieces in his teens, including an unperformed symphony. His family were friends with

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

, with whom Hamerik corresponded regularly. Later, he left Denmark in 1862 to study music in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, with

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for es ...

, and Paris where he was a protégé of

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

. In 1864 he began using the more unmistakably Danish version of his last name, rather than Hammerich, in the swell of Danish national feeling after the Danish-Prussian war. He left Paris in 1869 for Italy, and then Vienna. In 1871 he was offered the post of director of the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, where his influence won praise from influential visitors including

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

and

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

.Tim Smith,
Danish Composer Raised Standards at the Peabody Conservatory
, ''The Baltimore Sun'' (December 27, 2009). He composed most of his large-scale concert works for the Institute's orchestra. His students at Peabody included Eliza Woods. He left his position as director of Peabody in 1898. He returned to Denmark in 1900 with his American pianist and composer wife, born Margaret Williams, but had essentially retired. He would sit on competition boards and conduct, including his own works. He composed 41 opus numbers, including seven

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...

, four operas, five orchestral suites and popular orchestral music, much of it based on

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

n folk tunes. During his lifetime he was considered the best-known Danish composer after Gade, and one who was primarily influenced by Berlioz. His ''Requiem'' was his most successful work, and the one he considered his best. His son

Ebbe Hamerik Ebbe Hamerik (5 September 1898 – 12 August 1951) was a Danish composer. Born in Frederiksberg, he was the son of composer Asger Hamerik. He died at the age of 52 in Kattegat when his sailboat sank and he drowned. Notable operas include ''S ...

was a conductor and celebrated composer himself, and his daughter

Valdis Hamerik Valdis is a Latvian language masculine given name. It is derived from two possible sources; from the Latvian word ''valdīt'' ("rule") or as a shortened form of Valdemārs, the Latvian form of Waldemar. Valdis may refer to the following: *Valdis ...

an opera singer. His brother was the musicologist

Angul Hammerich Angul (also known as Anugul) is a town and a municipality and the headquarters of Angul district in the state of Odisha, India. Angul has an average elevation of above sea level. The total geographical area of the district is 6232 km2. ...

(1848-1931), professor at

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

and founder of Copenhagen’s Music Instruments Museum.

Musical style

Hamerik was an influential teacher in the US, as the director of Peabody in Baltimore for over a quarter of a century; and his works were performed in both the United States and Europe. The most obvious influence in his music is Berlioz, particularly given Hamerik's choice of rooting his music in French influences, the French subtitles to his symphonies, and the use of an ''idée fixe''. His music is often described as having a "Nordic" cast, and in letters he told friends that even though he was going to America he would always remain a Dane. His opera, ''La Vendetta'', was created in 1870 by the composer in La Scala in Milan and has a claim to be the first verismo opera in history. His later work incorporates influences from composers such as

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

and

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...

and the more roving harmony and extended tonality, including movements in different keys and expanded use of vagrant chords. His Seventh Symphony has been compared with Mahler's works from the same period, involving hundreds of musicians in its first performance in Baltimore, which was directed by fellow von Bülow student

Joseph Pache Joseph Pache (1861–1926) was a composer, teacher, and director of the Baltimore Oratorio society from 1892 to 1924 when the society disbanded. Move to the United States and Professional Career Pache was a native of Germany and studied at the M ...

Works

Orchestra

Symphonies

* 1860 Symphony in C minor, Op. 3 (lost) * 1879–1880 Symphony no. 1 "Symphonie poétique" in F major, Op. 29 *# Allegro moderato ed espressivo *# Allegro marcato *# Andante con moto *# Allegro giusto * 1882–1883 Symphony no. 2 "Symphonie tragique" in C minor, Op. 32 *# Grave – Allegro non troppo e patetico *# Andante penitente *# Allegro marcato *# Adagio – Allegro passionato – Allegro molto vivace * 1883–1884 Symphony no. 3 "Symphonie lyrique" in E major, Op. 33 *# Largo – Allegro molto vivace *# Allegro grazioso *# Andante sostenuto *# Allegro con spirito * 1884–1889 Symphony no. 4 "Symphonie majestueuse" in C major, Op. 35 *# Largo – Allegro impetuoso *# Adagio espressivo *# Allegro moderato *# Maestoso e solenne * 1889–1891 Symphony no. 5 "Symphonie sérieuse" in G minor, Op. 36 *# Largo – Allegro con fuoco *# Adagio non troppo *# Scherzo allegro *# Grave – Allegro * 1897 Symphony no. 6 "Symphonie spirituelle" in G major, for string orchestra, Op. 38 *# Allegro moderato *# Allegro molto vivace *# Andante sostenuto *# Allegro con spirito * 1897 rev. 1901–1906 Symphony no. 7 "Korsymfoni", for mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and orchestra, Op. 40 *# Largo *# Andante sostenuto *# Grave

Other orchestral works

* 1871–1872 ''Northern Suite'' no. 1 in C major, Op. 22 * 1872 ''Northern Suite'' no. 2 in G minor, Op. 23 * 1873–1874 ''Northern Suite'' no. 3 in A minor, Op. 24 * 1875 ''Northern Suite'' no. 4 in D major, Op. 25 * 1876 ''Northern Suite'' no. 5 in A major, Op. 26 * 1879 ''Concert Romance in D Major for Cello and Orchestra'', Op. 27 * 1879 ''Jewish Trilogy'', Op. 19 * 1912 Variations on the Folk Song "Jeg gik mig ud en sommerdag", for string orchestra and harp, Op. 41

Harmony band

* 1867 ''Hymne à la paix'', for large band, mixed choir, two organs, and 12 harps

Operas

Vocal works

Spiritual

* 1882 ''Christian trilogy'', for baritone, mixed choir and organ, Op. 31 * 1886–1887 ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'', for soloists, mixed choir, and orchestra, Op. 34 in C minor *# Requiem et Kyrie *# Dies irae *# Offertorium *# Sanctus *# Agnus Dei * 1900 ''Ave Maria'', for mezzo-soprano and organ, Op. 14

Wereldlijk

* Nocturne "Da giovine regina la luna maestosa", for mezzo-soprano and orchestra * ''Ballade Roland'' * ''Erntetanz'', voor women's choir (four voices) and orchestra, Op. 37

Chamber music

* 1862 Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 6 * 1878 ''Concert Romance'', for cello and piano (or orchestra), Op. 27

Organ

* 1905 Four Preludes, Op. 39a

References

*Alexander J. Morin (editor)
''Classical Music: The Listener's Companion.''
Hal Leonard Corporation, 2002. ; p. 377 *E. Douglas Bomberger (editor)
''Brainard's Biographies of American Musicians, Vol. 79.''
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. ; pp. 129–132

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamerik, Asger 1843 births 1923 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Danish composers 19th-century American male musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Danish composers 20th-century German male musicians Danish classical composers Danish expatriates in the United States Danish music educators Danish male classical composers Danish Romantic composers Musicians from Berlin Musicians from Baltimore Musicians from Paris Musicians from Vienna Peabody Institute faculty People from Copenhagen People from Frederiksberg