Friedrich Kuhlau - Elverhøj, Op.100 - Ouverture

Friedrich Kuhlau

Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau (German; Danish sometimes Frederick Kulav)

(1786 –  1832) / 정조 10년-순조 32년, 46세) was a German-born Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic  periods. (고전파와 낭만파 초기에 활동한 독일 태생 덴마크 음악가. 오른 쪽 눈이 실명-7세때 눈 위에 미끄러진 것이 원인- 상태인데도 나폴레옹군이 징집을 하자 이를 피해 덴마크로 피신했다. 베토벤의 영향을 많이 받았고 전반적인 삶은 그리 행복하질 못했다. 덴마크에 음악계에서는 큰 비중을 차지하고 있는 인물이다.)

Elverhøj, Op.100 - Ouverture

Work: Elverhøj / Elves' Hill, Op.100, Comedy in five acts, first performance 6 November 1828, Kongelige Teater, Copenhagen.

Libretto: Johan Ludvig Heiberg

Ouverture (scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, bass trombone, timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, strings.)

Orchestra: The Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Michael Schønwandt

By far the most famous work Kuhlau ever composed was the incidental music to the romantic festive play Elverhøj (The Elf 's Hill) written in 1828 for a royal wedding, and since then it has been the most often performed play in the Danish repertoire. Its highly poetical atmosphere is enhanced by the use of old Danish and Swedish folk tunes, skilfully arranged and imitated by Kuhlau, not least in the grandiose, typical pot-pourri Overture which contains many melodies from the play. In the same way as we hear God save the King (Heil dir im Siegerkranz) at the end of Weber's Jubel-Ouvertüre, so the Elverhøj Overture concludes with the tune Kong Christian stod ved højen mast (King Christian [IV] stood by the lofty mast), which later became the Danish national anthem.