Niels Wilhelm Gade - String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 63

 

Niels Gade

 

Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. He is considered the most important Danish musician of his day.

 

String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 63

I. Allegro moderato 0:00​ II. Allegretto vivace 7:02​ III. Andante, poco lento 9:47​ IV. Finale: Moderato sostenuto - Allegro con brio - Sostenuto - Allegro con brio 16:33​

Meadowmount School of Music students: Matthew Vaughan, violin 1 Heemin Choi, violin 2 Malinda McPherson, viola Ben Fried, cello

 

 

As the only child of a carpenter and instrument maker Nils Gade was originally intended a career as his father. After a short time as an apprentice he gave up, however, the craft in favor of music. He studied music theory at A.P. Berggreen and was also violin student at the Royal Chapel, where he had Wexschall F. (1798-1845) as a teacher.

After some years of intense studies, N. Gade his breakthrough as a composer with overture reverberations of Ossian, op. 1 (1840) and Symphony No. 1, op. 5 (1841-42.
This symphony premiered Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, with sensational success in 1843 with Leipzig Gewandhausorkester.

A travel stipend led the same year, Niels W. Gade to Leipzig, where he soon joined the circle around the couple Mendelssohn and Clara and Robert Schumann.

N. Street did then lightning career: In 1844, he was Mendelssohn meddirigent for Gewandhausorkesteret, while he was employed as a teacher at the city's newly created music conservatory. After Mendelssohn's unexpected death in 1847 took over sole leadership N. Street afGewandhausorkesteret.

But already by the end of the season 1847-48, he left Leipzig, including due to the outbreak of war in 1848, and turned for ever returned to Copenhagen, where he occupied until his death a number of central offices in the city's musical life.

In 1849-50 he participated in a reorganization of the Music Society, which resulted in the formation of a new symphony, Music Society Orchestra with N. Street as permanent conductor. From 1851 he served also as organist at the Garrison Church and from 1858 at Holmen Church. Thanks to an enormous capacity for work he could in parallel with these duties continue his career as very productive composer