Niels Wilhelm Gade was born on February 22, 1817, and died on December 21, 1890. He was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist, and teacher. Along with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the most important Danish musician during the time known as the Danish Golden Age.
Biography
Niels Gade was born in Copenhagen, the son of a woodworker and instrument maker. He was expected to take over his father's work, but his love for music, shown by how quickly and well he learned to play many instruments, could not be ignored. He became skilled at playing the violin with Frederik Wexschall and studied music theory with Christoph Weyse and Weyse's student, Andreas Berggreen. However, he mostly taught himself.
Gade began his career as a violinist with the Royal Danish Orchestra, where his concert overture Efterklange af Ossian ("Echoes of Ossian") premiered in 1841. When his first symphony could not be performed in Copenhagen, he sent it to Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn liked the work and conducted it in Leipzig in March 1843, where the audience responded with great enthusiasm. His music caught the attention of the Danish king, who gave him a government fellowship to study in Leipzig and Italy. In Leipzig, Gade taught at the Conservatory, worked as an assistant conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and became friends with Mendelssohn, who greatly influenced his music.
In 1845, Gade conducted the premiere of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor with Ferdinand David as the violinist. He also became friends with Robert Schumann and Robert Franz. Schumann wrote a long article praising Gade as an extraordinary young musician, comparing his appearance to Mozart and noting that the letters in his name matched the four strings of the violin. Schumann's piano piece Gade is based on the notes G-A-D-E, and his third piano trio is dedicated to Gade. Gade also conducted the first performance of Schumann's piano concerto with Clara Schumann at the piano.
After Mendelssohn's death in 1847, Gade was appointed chief conductor in Leipzig. However, he had to return to Copenhagen in 1848 when war broke out between Prussia and Denmark. In Copenhagen, he met the composer Cornelius Gurlitt, and they remained friends until Gade's death. Gade became director of the Copenhagen Musical Society (Musikforeningen), a position he held until his death. He created a new orchestra and chorus, and became Denmark's most important musician. Under his leadership, the Music Society reached its greatest success. He also worked as an organist, though he lost the prestigious position at Our Lady, today's Copenhagen Cathedral, to Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann. Instead, he served as organist at Holmen Church from 1850 until his death. Gade shared leadership of the Copenhagen Conservatory with Hartmann (whom he married in 1852) and Holger Simon Paulli. He became court conductor in 1861 and retired from government service in 1876. Gade influenced many Scandinavian composers, including Edvard Grieg, Carl Nielsen, Louis Glass, Elfrida Andrée, Otto Malling, August Winding, and Asger Hamerik.
Among Gade's works are eight symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, organ and piano pieces, and several large-scale cantatas, including Comala (1846) and Elverskud (1853), which he called "concert pieces" (koncertstykker). These works, seen as examples of Romantic nationalism after 1848, sometimes draw on Danish folklore. Gade did not value his piece The Bridal Waltz (Brudevalsen), but it became a key part of Danish weddings after August Bournonville included it in his ballet A Folk Tale (Et folkesagn).
Personal life
On April 27, 1852, Gade married Emma Sophie Amalie Hartmann, the daughter of Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann. He dedicated his Spring Fantasy to her as a gift to celebrate their engagement and his 5th Symphony with piano concertante as a wedding present. In 1855, Emma died during childbirth while giving birth to twins; only one child, Johan Felix Gade (1855–1928), survived. Johan Felix became the father of Niels Rudolph Gade, an organist and composer.
Niels Gade remarried in 1857 to Mathilde Stæger, who was also a talented pianist. For their wedding, he composed Fruehlingsbotschfaft, which expressed his love for his first wife, who had passed away, and his new love for Mathilde. This marriage added two more children: a son, Axel Wilhelm Gade (1860–1921), who became a noted violinist, composer, and conductor, and a daughter, Dagmar Gade (1863–1952). Niels Gade died in Copenhagen during the Christmas holidays of 1890.
There is no family connection between Niels Gade and the composer Jacob Gade.
A collection of Gade’s letters to European contemporaries was published by Inger Sørensen as Niels W. Gade og hans europæiske kreds – En brevveksling 1836–1891.