Peter Heise (11 February 1830 – 12 September 1879) 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 ...

, best known for the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'' Drot og Marsk'' (''King and Marshal''). Heise's parents tried to press him into becoming a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, but he scored highly in music at school, so he changed direction. He began writing songs at the age of 19. As a young man he collected several hundred folk songs directly from ordinary people. He used these tunes in ''Tornerose'' (Sleeping Beauty) and ''Bergliot'' (A Danish historical romance). He studied under Niels Wilhelm Gade, who was a major influence on his style. From 1857 to 1865 he was a teacher and organist at

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).

Academy. He did a setting of Hans Christian Andersen's poem ''Jylland mellem tvende Have'' (Jutland between two seas) in 1860. The opera '' Drot og Marsk'' tells the story of the murder of a medieval king, and contains some folk ballads. It shows a

Wagnerian Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most ...

influence. His setting of the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

song ''When I was and a little tiny boy'' and ''Five Erotic songs'' are also in print. Many of his songs, usually for soprano and piano, concern dreams, folk-tales and the Middle Ages. Although his instrumental works are almost uniformly excellent, because of the tremendous popularity of his songs, they were overlooked. Among his chamber music works are 6

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

s, 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 In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly (since 1842) a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that ...

, and a number of instrumental sonatas. His Piano Quintet in F Major, composed in 1869, was widely regarded as a major work. Unfortunately, the work remained in manuscript for 140 years. However, in 2009, the world premiere edition of the parts to the Quintet was published by Edition Silvertrust. They have also reprinted his

Cello Sonata A cello sonata is piece written sonata form, often with the instrumentation of a cello taking solo role with piano accompaniment. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were composed in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi, and ...

(1867) and his Two Fantasy Pieces for Cello and Piano.

Personal life

He married Vilhelmine Hage (1838–1912), a daughter of the wealthy merchant Alfred Hage. The couple had no children. They moved from Sorø to Copenhagen in 1865. They first lived at

Kongens Nytorv Kongens Nytorv (literal translation, lit. "The King's New Square") is a town square, public square in Copenhagen, Denmark, centrally located at the end of the Pedestrian zone, pedestrian street Strøget. The largest square of the city, it was l ...

18 (1866–1867) and then at

6 (demolished) from 1868 to 1879. They visited

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in 1861–1862, 1867, 1868–1869 and 1879 and

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in the spring of 1865.

References

*
Peter Heise Piano Quintet, Cello Sonata and Fantasy Pieces
soundbites and discussion of works. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heise, Peter Heise 1830 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Danish classical composers 19th-century Danish male musicians Burials at Holmen Cemetery Danish male classical composers Danish Romantic composers Composers from Copenhagen