Launy Grøndahl (30 June 1886 – 21 January 1960) was a Danish conductor and composer. Grøndahl studied the violin from the age of eight.
[Launy Grondahl , Classical Composers Database]
/ref> His first work as a professional musician was as a violinist with the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen, aged thirteen.Danish National Symphony Orchestra
The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO; ), is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at the Koncerthuset () concert hall in Copenhagen.
Histo ...
. Launy Valdemar Grondahl is known to posterity for two things: his distinguished 31–year conducting career with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orquestra, and his Trombone Concerto dating from 1924.
Launy Grøndahl was born in Denmark on June 30, 1886, dying in 1960, he began his studies with Anton Bloch, Ludolf Nielsen and Axel Gade, and what marks his life as a violinist and composer was a scholarship from the Kobenhavns Orkestreforenings Jubioeumslegat (granting of the Jubilee of the Copenhagen Orchestral Association) in the summer of 1924. This thanks to the manager of the Vacuum Oil Company, Carls A. Muchaelsen, had donated kr. 2500 to honor a talented member in connection with the association's 25th anniversary jubilee on 25 April 1924. With this Grøndahl scholarship you can tour Europe in search of musical knowledge and maturation in Paris, Vienna and Milan, among other cities.
Notable works
Some of his first works included a symphony, works for small string ensembles and a violin concerto.
He is best known for his Trombone Concerto, written in 1924 while traveling in Italy. It was reportedly written for the trombone section of the Orchestra of the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen, of which Grøndahl was a member, due to their high standard of playing.
He is also remembered for his pioneering recordings of the symphonies of his compatriot Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.
Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...
and his original score for Benjamin Christensen
Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 – 2 April 1959) was a Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor, both in film and on the stage. As a director, he was best known for his 1922 film '' Häxan'' (aka ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'') ...
's silent film ''Häxan
''Häxan'' (, ''The Witch''; ''Heksen'' , ''The Witch''; English: ''The Witches''; released in the US in 1968 as ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'') is a 1922 Swedish-Danish silent horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christense ...
''.
References
External links
Biography (in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grondahl, Launy
1886 births
1960 deaths
Danish composers
Danish male composers
Danish male conductors (music)
Composers from Copenhagen
20th-century Danish conductors (music)
20th-century Danish male musicians