Louis Christian August Glass (23 March 1864 – 22 January 1936) was a Danish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Glass, born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, was an almost exact contemporary of

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, like Nielsen, was a student of

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, in the period known as ...

. However, Glass also studied at the

Brussels Conservatory The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

, where he became enamored of the music of

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

and

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

, both of whom stylistically influenced his writing. For several years, he was one of Denmark's leading concert pianists until a paralysis in one arm made him retire from the stage. He then devoted himself primarily to composing. He composed in most genres and wrote several

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

works of worth, including four string quartets, a string sextet, a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

, a piano quintet and several instrumental sonatas. He wrote six symphonies (1893–1926), which have been recorded on the Danacord and CPO record labels, while some chamber music has been recorded on

Da Capo Da capo ( , , ; often abbreviated as D.C.) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an easie ...

. Glass died in Copenhagen.

Symphonies

* Symphony No. 1 in E-major, Op. 17 (1894) * Symphony No. 2 in C-minor, Op. 28 (1899) * Symphony No. 3 in D-major, Op. 30 "Forest symphony" (1901) * Symphony No. 4 in E-minor, Op. 43 (1911) * Symphony No. 5 in C-major, Op. 57 "Sinfonia Svastika" (1919) - Note on the title: This work celebrates the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

as a

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

good fortune or Sun symbol. At the time of composition in 1918-1919, the Nazi movement had not been established. * Symphony No. 6 "Skjoldungeæt" (The Birth of

Scylding The Scyldings ( OE Scyldingas) or Skjǫldungs ( ON Skjǫldungar), both meaning "descendants of Scyld/Skjǫldr", were, according to legends, a clan or dynasty of Danish kings, that in its time conquered and ruled Denmark and Sweden together with ...

s), Op.60 (1924)

References

* Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, Ed. Cobbett, W.W., Oxford University Press, 1929 & 1963, London. * Some of the information on this page appears on the website of Edition Silvertrust but permission has been granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. *

External links

*
Louis Glass String Sextet soundbites and discussion of workFirst editions by AlbisMusicDetailed curriculum vitae (german).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass, Louis 1864 births 1936 deaths 19th-century Danish classical composers 19th-century Danish male musicians 20th-century Danish classical composers 20th-century Danish male musicians Danish classical pianists Danish male classical composers Danish Romantic composers Danish male classical pianists Composers from Copenhagen Pupils of Niels Gade