Hans Christian Lumbye

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Hans Christian Lumbye

Hans Christian Lumbye (born May 2, 1810 in Copenhagen ; † March 20, 1874 there ) was a Danish conductor and composer.

Life

Lumbye's childhood

Lumbye's father, Rasmus Hansen Lumbye, was a soldier and came from the village of Lumbye (now Lumby ) north of Odense . When Hans Christian was born, the family was already living in Copenhagen . When Hans Christian was six years old, his father and his company were transferred to Randers in the winter of 1816 . During the crossing from Zealand to Funen , the boy allegedly fell ill and his hearing is said to have been damaged. This is said to have later led to Lumbye becoming very hard of hearing as an older man.

The military musician

Hans Christian Lumbye learned to play the violin in Randers. In 1821, when he was eleven, Lumbye's father was transferred again, this time to Odense. It was here that Lumbye learned to play the trumpet and, at the age of 14, became a military musician, just like Carl Nielsen some 50 years later. Lumbye became a musician in the dragon regiment. The town musician became aware of Lumbye's talent and taught him music theory. Lumbye soon afterwards began to compose little songs and marches himself. In 1829 Lumbye asked for a transfer to Copenhagen, where he became a trumpeter in the Dragoon Regiment.

Lumbyes Orchestra

When Lumbye was off duty from the Dragon Regiment, he played to the dance under the direction of Copenhagen's leading city orchestra conductor Füssel. Lumbye continued to work as a composer and wrote a lot of dance music. Little by little, Lumbye became a sought-after orchestral conductor at balls and celebrations in the upscale circles of Copenhagen.

There was a decisive turning point in its production when an Austrian orchestra from Styria introduced the Copenhageners to the works of Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss (father) ; these works quickly became very popular. Lumbye accepted the challenge, and soon he was composing and playing in the new style. This appealed to the picky audience, and Lumbye became a very popular man.

Lumbye's family life

Lumbye married Georgine in 1832. They had two sons, Carl and Georg, and three daughters, Caroline, Julie and Amalie. His son Carl Lumbye (born July 9, 1841 in Copenhagen; † August 10, 1910), who also composed dance music, took over his father's chapel. He was followed in 1891 by his younger brother Georg Lumbye (born August 26, 1843 in Copenhagen, † 1922 in Copenhagen). He composed a number of vaudevilles , theater music and the operetta Die Hexenflöte (1869). The daughters Caroline and Julie became actresses, and Caroline could also compose and write lyrics.

Several of his descendants made themselves felt in musical life. His grandson, Georg Høeberg, became the conductor of the Royal Chapel, and a second grandchild, Tippe Lumbye, conducted the Tivoli Orchestra. The opera singer Georg Høeberg (1879–1949) was also his grandson.

In 1872 Lumbye had to quit as an orchestra leader and conductor because he was weakened and hard of hearing. In May 1873 he conducted the champagne gallop for the last time at a concert - seated. Lumbye died on March 20, 1874.

The Tivoli

In 1843 the amusement park in the heart of Copenhagen, the Tivoli , was opened. Lumbye was there from the start. The man who had the idea for the amusement park was called Georg Carstensen . He laid the amusement park on the old city ramparts outside of Copenhagen, which has grown so much since then that the Tivoli is now in the city center.

Lumbye and his orchestra played in the Tivoli concert hall from spring to early autumn. When Tivoli was closed for the winter, Lumbye played with his orchestra in Copenhagen's theaters and at festivals in the better society of Copenhagen, or they went on concert tours across Denmark and abroad.

In 1847 the orchestra conductor Füssel brought a lawsuit against Lumbye and the management of Tivoli. Füssel said that he had the sole right to dance music production in Copenhagen. Füssel lost his suit and Lumbye continued his success. His orchestra grew larger and more prestigious; it also included lighter symphonic music in its program, and Lumbye's musicians made up the basic line in the orchestra of the Copenhagen Music Society since 1850. This orchestra was under the direction of Niels Wilhelm Gade .

During the winter months from 1844 to 1846 Lumbye visited Paris , Vienna and Berlin with his orchestra . In 1850 he spent five months in Saint Petersburg , where he appeared in the popular mineral water establishment run by Johann Luzius Isler . He later visited Paris, Berlin and Hamburg again, as well as Sweden . The larger cities of Denmark were also visited.

Lumbye's orchestra still exists today; in summer it is called the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra and in winter Zealand's Symphony Orchestra .

plant

Lumbye has written more than 700 pieces of music. He is one of the very few Danish composers whose music is known and played abroad. Where the Strauss family and Joseph Lanner mostly wrote waltzes in Vienna, Lumbye composed a lot of gallops , mazurkas , polkas and marches . In addition, he also wrote longer divertissements and fantasies. He also composed ballet music for the royal theater and music for drama, e.g. B. Pieces by Hans Christian Andersen .

Lumbye was quick and up to date. He wrote music when something extraordinary happened in the city, composed in honor of the royal family and other celebrities. Almost a hundred of his melodies have female first names as titles.

His orchestra had a special structure compared to today's concert orchestra. The group of strings was quite small compared to the group of wind instruments. Also, Lumbye used a lot of noise devices, bells and zithers, etc.

His most popular piece of music is the champagne gallop , but a number of works are still performed today. The dream images , the Concert Polka for two Violins (of his sons premiered), The Copenhagen railway gallop , Kroll ball sounds , the Amalie Waltz , Mon Salut à St. Petersbourg are all examples of his production.

Lumbye has been called the ostrich of the north . It is said that Strauss Senior attended one of Lumbye's concerts in Vienna in 1844; maybe he wanted to whistle Lumbye, but he liked the music and after the concert he was enthusiastic. The French composer Hector Berlioz is said to have said the following: "His waltzes are not only attractive and beautiful, but at the same time well-written and well-orchestrated ... without charlatanism." The truth is that Lumbye was inspired by Strauss, but he used his inspiration differently than that Viennese composer family.

Hans Christian Lumbye died in the Danish capital Copenhagen in 1874 at the age of 63. His final resting place is on Holmens Kirkegård there .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ KJ Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . Unchanged edition. KG Saur, Bern, 1993, first volume A – L, Sp. 1316 f., ISBN 3-907820-70-3
  2. ^ Knerger.de: The grave of Hans Christian Lumbye
personal data
SURNAME Lumbye, Hans Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish conductor and composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1874
Place of death Copenhagen