- Peter Arnold Heise
Peter Heise (
February 11 1830 -September 12 1879 ) was a Danishcomposer , best known for theopera "Drot og Marsk " ("King and Marshal").Heise's parents tried to press him into becoming a
lawyer , 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 underNiels Wilhelm Gade , who was a major influence on his style. From 1857 to 1865 he was a teacher and organist atSorø Academy. He did a setting of Hans Christian Anderson'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 influence. Apart from the opera, he is known for writing what is probably the best Danish piano quintet (1869). His setting of theShakespeare 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.External links
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