A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Svendsen, Johan

SVENDSEN, Johan Severin, was born Sept. 30, 1840, at Christiania, where his father was a military band-master. At the age of 11 he wrote his first composition for the violin. When 15 he enlisted in the army, and soon became band-master. Even at that age he played with considerable skill flute, clarinet, and violin. He soon left the army, and worked during the next few years in the orchestra of the Christiania theatre, and at a dancing academy, for which he arranged some études by Paganini and Kreutzer for dancing. A strong desire to travel drove him, at 21, on a roving tour over a great part of Sweden and North Germany. Two years after, being in Lübeck in extremely reduced circumstances, he fortunately met with the Swedish-Norwegian Consul Herr Leche, whose interest he gained, and who shortly after obtained a stipend for him from Charles XV. to enable him to perfect himself as a violinist; but being soon afterwards attacked with paralysis in the hand, he was compelled to give up the bow for composition. He came to Leipzig in 1863, and his works being already known there, he was placed in the finishing class of the Conservatorium, receiving, however, instruction in elementary theory of music, which he had never been taught. His instructors were Hauptmann, David, Richter, and Reinecke, of whom he considers that he owes most to the first. Whilst in Leipzig he wrote a Quartet in A, an Octet and a Quintet, all for strings; Quartets for male voices; and a Symphony in D. The following anecdote of this period is both characteristic and authentic. On hearing that his octet had been played with great success by the students, Reinecke asked to see it; he declined, however, to suggest any improvements in so splendid a work, but remarked somewhat sarcastically, 'The next thing will be a symphony, I suppose.' Barely a week after Svendsen laid his Symphony in D before his astonished instructor.

On leaving Leipzig in 1867 he received the great honorary medal of the Academy. After travelling in Denmark, Scotland, and Norway, Svendsen went in 1868 to Paris. The French Empire was then at its zenith, and his sojourn in the capital of France influenced the composer to a very great extent. Whilst there, he played in Musard's orchestra, and at the Odéon, and became intimately acquainted with Wilhelmine Szarvady, De Beriot, Vieuxtemps, and Léonard. He arranged the incidental music to Coppée's 'Le passant,' in which both Sarah Bernhardt and Agar performed, but on the whole his Paris productions were few—a Concerto for violin in A, and orchestral arrangements of studies by Liszt and Schubert; he also began 'Sigurd Slembe,' the overture to a Norwegian drama of that name. He left Paris at the beginning of the war in 1870 for Leipzig, where he had been offered the conductorship of the well-known Euterpe concerts, which however were discontinued, owing to the war. At a great musical festival at Weimar, in the same year, he first met Liszt and Tausig, and his octet was played by a party containing David, Helmesberger, Grützmacher, and Hechmann, with great approbation. Early in the following year his Symphony in D was performed at the Gewandhaus, and his fame as a composer established. He composed in that year his Concerto for cello in D. In the autumn he went to America to be married to an American lady, whom he had met in Paris, and returned the same year to Leipzig, where, after the end of the war, he undertook the leadership of the Euterpe concerts for one year. There he finished the overture to 'Sigurd Slembe,' which was played at the Euterpe then, and in the following year at the musical festival at Cassel, where Liszt was present, and both times with great success. This year was one of the most momentous in Svendsen's life, since in it he met Wagner at Bayreuth, and soon became his intimate associate. He took the opportunity of making himself fully acquainted with Wagner's music and ideas. In Wagner's house he met the Countess Nesselrode, who formed a warm friendship for the Norwegian composer, and whose talents and experience became of great benefit to him. In Bayreuth some of his happiest days were spent, and it was during this stay he composed his Carnaval à Paris, a charming composition which depicts with great force the varied aspects of the capital of pleasure. The longing to see his country after an interval of so many years made him disregard various tempting offers, and he left Bayreuth for home. For the next five years he was conductor of the Christiania Musical Association and teacher of composition, and composed comparatively few works, which may be explained by the unfortunate want of pecuniary independence. The pieces of this period are:—Funeral march for Charles XV; 'Zorahayde,' a legend for orchestra; Coronation march of Oscar II, and a Polonaise in E for the same occasion; 'Romeo and Juliet,' a fantasie for orchestra; four Norwegian rhapsodies; arrangements of some Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic ballads for orchestra; and his chef-d'œuvre, a symphony in B♭. In 1874 his labours found some appreciation from his countrymen in the shape of an annuity granted by the Storthing, and several decorations conferred on him by the king. After five years of hard work, he was enabled once more to proceed abroad. In 1877 he revisited Leipzig, and conducted a new work at the Gewandhaus; went thence to Munich, and eventually to Rome, where he spent the winter. In 1878 he visited London for the first time, and there met Sarasate, who assisted him in the performance of his quartet, quintet, and octet. From London he went to Paris, where he stayed until 1880, during which time his works were several times performed—as also at Angers, where the post of conductor was offered him by the Musical Association. But Svendsen, true to his resolution to return home, refused this lucrative appointment, and in the autumn of that year we again find him in his old post as conductor of the Musical Association in Christiania, in which capacity he has since acted. During the last few years he has produced only some minor compositions, besides arranging for orchestra several studies by foreign composers. [App. p.797 "Add that in 1888 he visited England, conducting his Symphony in D at the Philharmonic Concert of May 31, as well as the last concert of the season on June 16."]

Svendsen's music is all of very high character, remarkable for strong individuality, conciseness, and the absence of anything national or Scandinavian; as well as for an elaborate finish strictly in harmony with the traditions of the great masters. Of these there is, however, only one whose influence can be traced in his compositions, namely Beethoven. He is one of the most cosmopolitan composers of the age.

His printed works are as follow:—

Op.	1.	String quartet, in A minor.
	2.	Songs for men's voices.
	3.	Octet for strings in A minor.
	4.	Symphony in D.
	5.	String quintet in C.
	6.	Concerto for violin and orch. in A.
	7.	Do. for cello and orch. in D minor.
	8.	Overture in C to Björnson's drama of 'Sigurd Slembe.'
	9.	Carnaval à Paris, for orch.
	10.	Funeral march for Charles XV.
	11.	Zorahayde, legend for orch.
	12.	Polonaise for orch.
	13.	Coronation march for Oscar II.
	14.	Marriage Cantata, for chor. and orch.
	15.	Symphony no. 2 in B♭.
	16.	Carnaval des artistes Norvégiens.
	17.	Rhapsodie Norvégienne no. 1, for orch.
	18.	Overture to Romeo and Juliet.
	19.	Rhapsodie Norvégienne no. 2.
	20.	Scandinavian airs arranged for string quartet.
	21, 22. Rhapsodies Norvégiennes nos. 3, 4.
	23.	Five songs, French and German, for voice and PF.
	24.	Four do., French and Norwegian, do.
	25.	Romance by Popper, arranged for cello and PF.
	26.	Romance for violin and orch. in G.

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