Povl Dissing (27 January 1938 – 18 July 2022) was a Danish singer, composer, guitarist, and harmonica player. He made his album debut with ''En aften i folkeklubben'' in 1965. His public breakthrough came in 1973 with the album ', a collaboration with poet
Benny Andersen
Benny Andersen (7 November 1929 – 16 August 2018)Benny Andersen er død '' Danish Culture Canon
The Danish Culture Canon () consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian Mikkelsen i ...
.
Povl Dissing grew up in Stavnsholt, a small village near
Farum
Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,369 (1 January 2025).
north of
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 ...
, and was educated
commercial artist
Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...
from which he made a living before turning to music full time. Originally he played the trumpet and jazz music, but an injuring accident in his early youth made him take up the guitar instead. He sang almost exclusively in Danish and played and worked with many other notable Danish musicians. He died on 18 July 2022 at the age of 84.
Style
Dissing played a mixture of blues, folk and rock music and he was among the pioneers in using
Danish language
Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...
in rock in Denmark in the early 1960s. He sang in an unusual and very personal and emotional way, something that caused a lot of animosity towards him in the beginning of his career. However, ''Svantes viser'' from 1973 became a public darling in Denmark and his audience grew.
Throughout his career, Dissing covered and interpreted many traditional Scandinavian and Danish songs and ballads, including Bellman, Grundtvig,
Thomas Laub
Thomas Linnemann Laub (5 December 1852 – 4 February 1927) was a Denmark, Danish organist and composer. He was associated with the 20th century revival of religious music in the country.
Biography
Thomas Laub was born on 5 December 1852. W ...
and
Henrik Rung
Henrik Rung (March 30, 1807 – December 12, 1871) was a Denmark, Danish composer.
Early life and education
Henrik Rung was born in Copenhagen.
Rung received training with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen.
He received a travel grant ...
, but also contemporary ballads and schlagers. He also composed music for several contemporary Danish poets, including
Halfdan Rasmussen
Halfdan Wedel Rasmussen (29 January 1915 in Copenhagen – 2 March 2002) was a Danish poet. He was known for his literary nonsense verse for children and his serious adult writings about social issues and human rights. He was awarded with th ...
Halfdan Rasmussen
Halfdan Wedel Rasmussen (29 January 1915 in Copenhagen – 2 March 2002) was a Danish poet. He was known for his literary nonsense verse for children and his serious adult writings about social issues and human rights. He was awarded with th ...
and Benny Andersen.
Apart from music, Dissing also voiced cartoons and films and narrated audiobooks.
Dissing had two sons, Rasmus and Jonas. They are also musicians and from the early 2000s they played and toured with Povl on a regular basis in their band Dissing, Dissing, Las og Dissing. They released three studio albums. In 2017, Dissing fell and hit his head, losing hearing on both ears.