International Conference on the Role and Place of Music in the Education of Youth and Adults; Music in education; 1955

Music in education

SCHOOL MUSIC EDUCATION

IN DENMARK

by

Willum HANSEN, Secondary School Teacher, and

Rudolf GRYTTER, Headmaster, Music School, Copenhagen

The nineteenth century was an important epoch in Danish spiritual
and intellectual life. To mention just a few of the men who have made
it a remarkable century-Soeren Kierkegaard, the philosopher, Hans
Christian Andersen, the fairy tale writer (not Danny Kaye’s invention)
and Grundtvig, the curious poet, prophet and educationalist who
meant so much to the Danish people as a spiritual regenerator. Grundt-
vig amongst other things founded the Folk High School movement
which has been studied and imitated in quite a few other countries.
Behind the work of these men-and many others-lies the develop-
ment of European liberalism, which in Denmark led to great material
progress, the liberation of the peasant class and the development of
the co-operative movement.
As far as music is concerned, the ‘renaissance’-as we call it-did
not take place till the early part of the present century (almost equi-
valent to what happened in England). The mass of poetry and songs
which resulted from the literary revival and the spiritual awakening
of the nineteenth century, did not meet with adequate musical expres-
sion till composers like Carl Nielsen, the symphonist and the writer
of many charming popular songs (the Vaughan Williams of Denmark)
started setting the words to music from about 1900 onwards. Such
modern composers based their creation firstly on medieval Danish
music, the ballad, secondly on what they could use of the nineteenth-
century romantic tradition in Denmark (here the name of Niels W.
Gade, occurs to mind), and lastly on the music of some German
composers of, or related to, the so-called Berlin School, in particular
J. A. P. Schulz.
Excellent work was accomplished by German musicians who came
to live in Denmark, many of whom became later naturalized. It was,
of course, the simplicity and naturalness of the songs of the Berlin
composers that appealed to modern Danes in search of a fresh musical
start. At this point, the Scandinavian countries went their separate