A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Gade, Niels

by Edward Dannreuther

GADE, Niels W., one of the most gifted and accomplished of living composers and conductors, was born Oct. [App. p.643 "Feb."] 11, 1817, at Copenhagen, the son of a maker of musical instruments. His first instruction in music was obtained from a teacher who esteemed mechanical industry beyond talent, and it seems was not very well satisfied with the progress of his pupil. Gade learned a little about guitar, violin, and pianoforte, without accomplishing much on either instrument. Later on he met with more able masters in Wershall, Berggreen, and Weyse. Various compositions were the result, of which their author now thinks little. He afterwards entered the royal orchestra at Copenhagen as violinist, and in that practical school attained that rare degree of mastery in instrumentation which his publications show from the first. Through his 'Ossian' overture, which, on the approval of Spohr and Schneider, was crowned in 1841 with the prize awarded by the Copenhagen Musical Union, he attracted the attention of the music-loving king, and at once received, like many other men of talent in Denmark, a royal stipend, intended to assist him in a foreign journey. Thus equipped, Gade turned towards Leipzig, where by Mendelssohn he was introduced to the musical public at large. (See Mendelssohn's letters Jan. 13, March 3, 43.)

After the production of his first symphony (March 2, 1843) and the cantata 'Comala' at Leipzig (March 3, 46), Gade travelled in Italy, and on his return in 1844, Mendelssohn, who was then staying at Berlin and Frankfort, entrusted him with the conducting of the Gewandhaus concerts. In the winter of 1845–46 he acted as sub-conductor to Mendelssohn at Leipzig, and after the death of the latter conducted alone till the spring of 1848, when he returned to Copenhagen for good, to occupy a post as organist and to conduct the concerts of the Musikverein. In 1861, at the death of Glaeser, he was appointed Hof-capellmeister, and received the title of Professor of Music; and he is still busy composing, teaching, and conducting. He visited England for the first time in 1876, to conduct his 'Zion' and 'The Crusaders' at the Birmingham Festival.

The intimate friend of Mendelssohn and Schumann, Gade is in some sense their disciple; his earlier works showing faint traces of the influence of the former as his later works do that of the latter. Still Gade's distinguished and amiable musical physiognomy is far from a mere reflex of theirs; he has always had something to say for himself, and has from the first contrived to say it in a manner of his own. His musical speech is tinged with the cadences of Scandinavian folk-song, and almost invariably breathes the spirit of northern scenery. All his works show the same refined sense for symmetry, for harmonious colouring and delicate sentiment. His themes, if rarely vigorous or passionate, are always spontaneous as far as they go, and never without some charm of line or colour. As with a landscape painter the fascination of his pieces lies in the peculiar poetical impression conveyed by the entire picture rather than by any prominent details; and as in a landscape this fascinating total impression is always the result of perfect harmony of colour, so in Gade's works it is traceable to the gentle repose and proportion of his themes and the suave perfection of his instrumentation.

Gade has published 7 symphonies, ops. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 32, 45, in C minor, E, A minor, B flat, D minor (with Piano), G minor, and F respectively; five overtures—'Nachklänge aus Ossian' (op. 1), 'Im Hochland' (op. 7), in C (op. 14), 'Hamlet' (op. 37), 'Michael Angelo' (op. 39); the cantatas 'Comala' (op. 12), 'Frühlingsfantaisie' (op. 23), 'Erlkönigs Tochter' (op. 30), 'Die heilige Nacht' (op. 40), 'Frühlingsbotschaft' (op. 35), 'Die Kreuzfahrer' (op. 50), and Zion; an octet (op. 17), sestet (op. 17), and quintet (op. 8) for strings; a trio called 'Novelletten' for pianoforte and strings; two sonatas for pianoforte and violin in A and D minor, of which the second is particularly good; many choral songs for mixed and for male voices; songs for one voice with pianoforte, and a number of solo pieces for the pianoforte for two and four hands, of which the sonata (in E minor, op. 28) the sketches called 'Aquarellen,' and the Volkstänze (op. 31) are the best. [App. p.643 adds "An eighth symphony in B minor, op. 47; 'Novelletten' for orchestra, op. 53; two concertos for violin and orchestra; 'Psyche,' a cantata produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1882, op. 60; and a sonata for violin and piano, in B♭, op. 62."]

[ E. D. ]