1836–1898 · Denmark
Emil Hartmann (1836–1898) was a Danish composer, organist and conductor, a member of the fourth generation of the musical Hartmann family. He was born and died in Copenhagen, and wrote concertos, orchestral and chamber music, and arrangements of Scandinavian folk dances. The site offers the violin part of his Serenade, op. 24.
Emil Hartmann was born in Copenhagen in February 1836. He was the eldest son of the composer Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann and his wife Emma, also a composer, and he grew up in the Zinn House. The Hartmanns shaped Danish musical life for decades: Emil's father, mother, grandfather and great-grandfather were all musicians and composers, and his brothers-in-law Niels Gade and August Winding belonged to the family circle.
Emil's first teachers were his father and Niels Gade, the husband of his elder sister. For piano he studied with Niels Ravnkilde (1823–1890) and Anton Rée (1820–1886). Hans Christian Andersen's letters reveal that the boy was already writing music before his speech was fully formed.
He began studies at the University of Copenhagen but left them in order to devote himself entirely to music.
Hartmann's earliest composition dates from 1857. In 1858 the first of his large works to reach a public performance was a hymn on the Passion, setting words by Bernhard Severin Ingemann, scored for soprano, chorus and orchestra.
That same year, together with August Winding, his future brother-in-law, he was commissioned to write the music for August Bournonville's new ballet Fjeldstuen. It was first performed at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in May 1859. The ballet was welcomed warmly and stayed on the stage for a long time.
Hartmann received a scholarship in 1859 and went to Germany to improve his craft. He spent most of his time in Leipzig, but also visited Berlin, Paris and Vienna.
After returning home he took a post as organist at St John's Church in Copenhagen in 1861. From 1871 he was organist of the chapel at Christiansborg Palace.
Hartmann married Bolette Puggaard in 1864; her father, Rudolph Puggaard, was a rich merchant and philanthropist. A cantata for the occasion, held in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, was the joint work of Niels Gade and Hans Christian Andersen. The composer acquired the house Carlsminde in quiet countryside outside Copenhagen, to the north, where he could work undisturbed.
Hartmann had three sons and two daughters. Johannes Palmer established a large horticultural business in Ghent, Rudolph Puggaard became an electrical engineer, and Oluf became a painter. His daughter Bodil Neergaard was a soprano and patron of the arts, and Agnete Lehmann was an actress at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.
Hartmann had a talent for conducting. Each year he went to Germany and other countries to lead performances of his own music in the big cities, and audiences always greeted him enthusiastically. In Denmark it was hard for him to step out of the shadow of his father and Gade, so he looked for recognition abroad, above all in Germany.
After the death of Niels Gade, Hartmann briefly succeeded him at the head of the Copenhagen music society, but had to resign for health reasons. From 1890 to 1892 he was at the head of the Danish Music Society.
After 1870 Hartmann's health grew steadily worse, and he suffered from psychological troubles and regular depressions. On several occasions he spent long periods in psychiatric institutions. His character combined great charm, a fiery temper and a darker, melancholic side; when his health allowed, he could show a quirky sense of humour.
In 1881 Hartmann became a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, and in 1889 he received the title of Professor. One of his last major works was the opera Ragnhild, from 1896. He died in Copenhagen in July 1898 and was buried at Holmen Cemetery.
After his death his music fell into oblivion, but lately it has attracted attention again for its verve, its charm and its masterful orchestration.
Hartmann's music is romanticism in a Nordic voice: tuneful, colourful, with a clearly audible Scandinavian flavour. He belonged to the Danish Golden Age and enjoyed great popularity in his lifetime whenever his works were performed. Stylistically his output can be seen as a distant Scandinavian counterpart to the music of more famous contemporaries such as Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.
Among his works are concertos for violin, cello and piano, several overtures, orchestral suites and serenades, ballets, operas, singspiels, incidental music, cantatas and the symphonic poem Hakon Jarl. His chamber music includes a nonet, a quintet with piano, string quartets, quartets with clarinet, trios with piano and violin sonatas with piano; he also wrote songs and piano pieces. The Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, with Hannu Lintu conducting, recorded the piano, violin and cello concertos in 2005.
The Nordic Folk Dances (1859–1860) and the later arrangements of Scandinavian folk music brought him special fame, and gained a reputation comparable to Brahms's Hungarian Dances and Dvořák's Slavonic Dances. His overture to Henrik Ibsen's play Hærmændene paa Helgeland was often played in Germany under the title Eine nordische Heerfahrt. Gustav Mahler conducted the premiere of the opera Ragnhild in Hamburg. Most of Hartmann's works were published by German publishers.
The site offers one piece by him, the violin part of the Serenade, op. 24, an edition at the «Средний+» level, which is a good way to begin getting to know the composer.