Niels Eje (born

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 ...

1954) is 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 ...

and

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

Education

Niels Eje was educated at the

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 ...

Academy of Music in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

1974 to 1979. Thereafter he studied with Lothar Koch of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

Career

His career included a position as principal oboist in the

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 ...

, (1979 to 1990) performances in Europe, USA and Japan as soloist and chamber musician. Niels Eje has composed and arranged a large repertoire for different classical ensembles as well as music for concerts, theatre, TV and documentaries. He is the founder of Trio Rococo (harp, Berit Spaelling, oboe Niels Eje, and cello, Inge Mulvad,) whose album 'Norwegian Wood' was released worldwide. Niels Eje has participated on several recordings with various artists in a number of genres, including with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

on the album '' Aura'', and with

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (; 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son o ...

, Berit Spaelling, Inge Mulvad in the album ''In the Name of Music'' In 1998 Niels Eje founded the

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

project Musica Humana Research together with Professor Lars Heslet,

Copenhagen University Hospital Copenhagen University Hospital is a conglomerate of several hospitals in Region Hovedstaden and Region Sjælland in Denmark, together with the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences a ...

. The research projects were aimed at creating a new specially designed music environment in hospitals and with scientific methods documenting the effect. The music and research documentation is published under the name MusiCure.

Grants & Awards

Jacob Gade Jacob Thune Hansen Gade (29 November 1879 – 20 February 1963) was a Danish violinist and composer, mostly of orchestral popular music. He is remembered today for a single tune, ''Jalousie'' (also known as ''Jalousie "Tango Tzigane" '' and ''T ...

Grant * Børge Schrøder and Herta Finnerups grant for special achievements in music * The "Jante Knuser Cultural Award" 2001 for best entrepreneur activity in the field of "cultural business" idea in Denmark - given to Niels Eje by the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs, Denmark. * Gold Award for the Trio Rococo recording "Classical Mystery Tour/Norwegian Wood" * 2007 Blair Sadler AwardBlair Sadler Competition Awardees
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Selected list of works

* ''Faries and Tales'' dedicated to

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...

and

Safri Duo Safri Duo is a Danish electronic percussion duo composed of Uffe Savery (born 5 April 1966) and Morten Friis (born 21 August 1968). Initially classically oriented, they later made a track mixing both tribal sound and modern electronica. Releas ...

* ''Pip’s Theme'', from ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

for oboe,

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

and electronics * ''Biddy'', from ''Great Expectations'', violin/

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* ''

Miss Havisham Miss Havisham is a character in Charles Dickens's 1861 novel ''Great Expectations''. She is a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion with her ...

House'',

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, harp and

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

* ''Estella'', violin, cello, harp * ''Fragile Light'', oboe, cello, harp and electronics( Trio Rococo) * ''Infinity'', oboe, cello and harp (Trio Rococo) * ''Asian Echoes'', oboe, cello and harp (trio Rococo) * ''Sakhalin Fantasy'', flute, oboe, cello and piano * ''The Power of The Harp'', harp solo ( Berit Spaelling) * ''Ablaze suite The Vikings'' Large ensemble and

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

* ''Sakura suite''

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

folk songs for piano and

wind quintet A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon). Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the i ...

* ''Octoman'', wind

octet Octet may refer to: Music * Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble ** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments *** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 compo ...

* ''Oboe in Orbit'', oboe and electronics * ''The Storyteller'', large ensemble and electronics * ''Great Expectations suite'', after Dickens (''Ablaze'') * More than 30 titles for the Musica Humana research project

Discography

With Trio Rococo

* 1988: ''Sonata and Divertimenti'':

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

arranged by Niels Eje * 1991: ''Crystal Bridge'', Music by

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

Palle Mikkelborg Palle Mikkelborg (born 6 March 1941) is a Danish jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger and record producer. He is self-taught on the trumpet, although he studied conducting at the Royal Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He became a professio ...

, Thomas Clausen and Niels Eje * 1992: ''Trio Rococo plays Rococo Trios''. Music by Johann Wilhelm Hertel and

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

, arranged by Niels Eje * 1992: ''Hexerie eller Blind Alarm'' (stage music) – Music by Niels Eje (cassette) * 1994: ''Classical Mystery Tour'', Trio Rococo plays

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Gefion Records GFO 20112 * 1994: ''Sangen er et Eventyr'' (The song is a fairy-tale), Music by

Frederik Magle Frederik Reesen Magle (; born 17 April 1977) is a Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist. He writes contemporary classical music as well as fusion of classical music and other genres. His compositions include orchestral works, cantatas ...

– feat. Trio Rococo (arranged by Niels Eje), NHØP, and others * 1996: ''Friends'' Music by

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

and Niels Eje. Gefion Records GFO 20120 * 1998: ''In The Name Of Music'', Trio Rococo and NHØP. Gefion Records 3672634848639 * 2001: ''No Time At All'' – Michael Vesterskov (‘Bromzkij Garden’) * 2002: ''Den danske sang til hver en tid'' (Danish Songs), Tritonus Choir & Trio Rococo. Arranged by John Höybye and Niels Eje. Exlibris

Niels Eje

* 1993: ''Pride of The Ocean'' (single) – Music by Niels Eje * 1997: ''Ablaze'', Music by Niels Eje, Gefion Records GFO 2012

With Selandia Wind Ensemble

* 1989: Wind Chamber Music I – Danish and French composers * 1990: Wind Chamber Music II – W.A. Mozart * 1992: Wind Chamber Music III – Bach & Villa-Lobos * 1999: Wind Chamber Music IV – Carl Nielsen

With Solisti Pro Musica

* 1990: Sonatas & Arias – J. S. Bach * 2005: Klassisk Jul – Merete Hjortsø – (Niels Eje: oboe & arrangement.)

MusiCure

Music composed and produced by Niels Eje and Inge Mulvad Eje: * 2003: MusiCure 1. ''The Journey'' * 2003: MusiCure 2. ''Equator'' * 2004: MusiCure 3. ''Fairy Tales'' * 2004: MusiCure 4. ''Northern Light'' * 2005: MusiCure 5. ''Seasons'' * 2006: MusiCure 6. ''Waves'' * 2007: MusiCure 7. ''Horizons'' * 2008: MusiCure 8. ''Peace'' * 2009: MusiCure 9. ''Scandinavia'' * 2010: MusiCure 10. ''Dreams'' * 2011: MusiCure ''Nature Editions'' (2-CD set) * 2013: MusiCure ''Moonlight & Nature Meditation'' (2-CD set)

Other CD releases where Niels Eje appears (selected)

* 1985: '' Aura'':

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, COL 463351 2,

. Danish Radio Big Band. Conductor and composer:

. * 1990: ''Homage/Once Upon a Time'' – NHØP/Mikkelborg * 1993: ''Kærlighedens Triumf'' (stage music) – Arranged by Niels Eje (cassette) * 1995: The musical ''Atlantis'' – Peter Spies et al. (oboe solo on ''Morgen på Atlantis'') * 1995: ''Du Kan Få Mig Til Alt'' – Lis Sørensen and Stig Kreutzfeldt (solo on ‘Vågen I Drømmeland’) * 1997: ''Michael Brydenfelt, Trompet'' – (Niels Eje soloist in J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto no. 2) * 1999: ''Imprints'' – by Jan Lippert * 2001: ''Misty Paradise'' –

Hanne Boel Hanne Boel (born 31 August 1957 in Bagsværd, Copenhagen) is a Danish singer. Hanne Boel covers in her songs a range of styles including pop, soul, gospel, rock, and jazz. Over the course of her career, she has sold over 2.5 million records, an ...

* 2001: ''King of Nothing'' – Henrik Andersen * 2006: ''Vores Bedste'' – Danser med Drenge, and others

References

External links

Niels Eje website

MusiCure

The Research

Trio Rococo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eje, Niels 1954 births Living people Musicians from Copenhagen Danish composers Danish male composers Danish oboists Male oboists