Melchior Borchgrevinck (1572 – 20 December 1632) was a Dutch-Danish musician, composer, and court

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

. He was born to Bonaventura Borchgrevinck, a Dutch-Danish musician and court Kapellmeister. He had three siblings: two sisters and a brother, Heinrich. On 1 January 1587 Frederick II appointed Dutchman Bonaventura Borchgrevinck as conductor for his musicians and singers, because a large contingent were Dutch nationals. The orchestra was composed of 15 trumpeters, 9 instrumentalists (strings and woodwinds) and 20 singers. In July of the same year, Bonaventura Borchgrevinck was fired for reasons unknown, but son Melchior, an instrumentalist, was in the king's service the rest of his life. A year later, in 1588, the king died and his minor son Christian became

King Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is the longest in Scandinavian history. A member of the H ...

. From then until his coronation in 1596, his regents cut back on expenses at court. After his coronation the king improved upon the Royal Music Corps, turning it into one of the finest in Europe. In time Melchior Borchgrevinck was recognized as a leader amongst his fellow musicians. The number of instrumentalists was increased to 15. 23 singers and 33 trumpeters were added. A

fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets (including fanfare trumpets), French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introdu ...

from the coronation feast called "Melchers Musica" may have been written by Melchior Borchgrevinck. Borchgrevinck was repeatedly sent on foreign travel in the music service to Danzig and London to buy instruments and to Venice in particular to learn from

Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School (music), Venetian School, at the t ...

. He was the leader of a group which was composed of singers Wilhelm Egbertsen (1596–1599) and Truid Aagesen (1596–1621) and instrumentalists Hans Nielsen (1599–1624) and

Mogens Pedersøn Mogens Pedersøn (also ''Mogens Pedersen'', ''Magno Petreo''; c. 1583 – January or February 1623) was a Danish instrumentalist and composer. He is considered the most important Danish-born composer before Buxtehude. Life Early in his career he ...

(about 1585–1623). Over the years his salary increased several times and in 1601 he became canon of

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

Canonry Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the p ...

, at that time, was a sort of lifetime wage or pension and related housing that was awarded to the King's officers instead of or in addition to actual wages. From 1611 he was the de facto leader of music and from 1618 he held the title of court Kapellmeister. In 1627, because of the high cost of

warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

the king had to reduce

government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or ...

and he fired Borchgrevinck at which time he moved to Roskilde and lived there. He was reinstated in March 1631 but died in 1632. His great-grandson Leonard Christian Borchgrevinck founded the Norwegian branch of the family whose descendants can still be found in Norway as well as the United States.

Music

As is typical for composers from this period in the

History of Denmark The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there—the Danes—as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and P ...

very little of his music survived to this day. Borchgrevinck published a

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...

collection in 2 volumes: "Giardino di nuovo bellissimo varii fiori musicali scieltissimi" (Copenhagen 1605–06). Most numbers are by other composers, but a few are by him. The following year he published: "IX Psalms of David, with four votes rimvis exposed" (Copenhagen 1607). This work is probably lost. A dance for 5 Instruments was published in the Paduanen and Galliarden Collection, volume 1 (

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

1607).

Other Musicians with Christian IV

William Brade William Brade (1560 – 26 February 1630) was an English composer, violinist, and viol player of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, mainly active in northern Germany. He was the first Englishman to write a canzona, an Italian form, ...

(1594–1596, 1599–1606 and 1620–1622),

John Dowland John Dowland ( – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...

(1598–1606), Jan Tollius (1601–1603), Vincentius Bertholusius (1607–1608) and later

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

(1633–35 and 1642–1644).

References

DaCapo

The Virtual Music Library

Baci Amorosi E Cari

Werner Icking Music Archive

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borch, Melchior Danish composers Male composers 1570s births 1632 deaths