Danish Classical Music
The publication series Danish Classical Music (DCM) aims to make Danish musical heritage accessible for musicians and researchers in Denmark and abroad by providing reliable and meticulous practical-scholarly music editions. The ambition is thus to take over the baton from the Danish Centre for Music Publication which operated as a research centre under the Royal Library from 2009 to 2019. The centre published practical-scholarly editions of high philological quality, and since the closure of the centre, this task has not been undertaken – but the need has not diminished.
While the Danish Centre for Music Publication functioned as a centre with dedicated employees, the conditions for the new DCM are different: it comprises of independent projects funded individually under the DCM framework. Therefore, a new set of editorial guidelines has not been developed – instead, the guidelines formulated by the Danish Centre for Music Publication are being sustained. The only changes to the guidelines relate to layout, and in DCM publications a brief biographical introduction of the composer is added.
The editorial guidelines ensure a high and consistent level of philological quality in the publications, and the fundamental editorial approach can be summarized in a few key points.
On “practical-scholarly editions”
The term “practical-scholarly editions” refers to the aim of making the publications practically useful for musicians without requiring them to engage directly with the editor’s work and philological considerations. The sheet music is therefore “clean”, without footnotes or similar additions. At the same time, the publications are scholarly in nature, as interested readers can find the necessary information about the philological work in sections placed before and after the sheet music: Prior to the sheet music, there is an introduction to the work, its genesis and reception history, as well as general comments on the philological work (such as specific challenges or choices). After the sheet music, a thorough description of sources and an overview of editorial changes, their justification based on the sources, and information about variants are presented.
On the role of the editor
As James Grier writes in his book The Critical Editing of Music from 1996, all philological work is also an act of interpretation, ideally based on thorough, critical, and historically grounded studies of the source material. The notion that the scholarly edition presents the “only correct” version of a work is a fiction: Editors often arrive at varying interpretations of a piece, and equally compelling arguments can often be made for different readings. Therefore, it is important to clarify the rationale behind each choice in the overview of editorial revisions.
sigten over redaktionelle retelser.
I serien undgås såkaldte “eklektiske” editioner, en sammenblanding af forskellige kilder, der kan resultere i en version af værket, der aldrig har eksisteret fra komponistens hånd. Der bestemmes derfor altid en hovedkilde, som editionen er baseret på, mens varianter kan bruges som hjemmel ved retelser af klare fejl.
Om denne udgivelse
Nærværende udgivelse er en del af et indledende projekt på DCM, som fokuserer særligt på danske kvindelige komponister – en gruppe af komponister, hvor behovet for kritisk-videnskabelige og praktisk anvendelige editioner er særlig mærkbart al den stund at meget af deres musik ikke blev udgivet i deres egen levetid og kun sjældent er blevet opført. Det er håbet, at udgivelsen kan være med til at udbrede et overset men vigtigt repertoire i dansk musikkulturarv – både blandt musikere, forskere og andre interesserede.
Udgivelsen er venligt støtet af Augustinus Fonden, hvortil der retes en stor tak.
Thomas Husted Kirkegaard, ph.d.
The series avoids so-called “eclectic” editions, which involve a mixture of different sources and may result in a version of the work that never existed in the composer’s hand. Therefore, a primary source is always determined as the basis for the edition, while variants can be used as evidence for correcting clear errors.
On this publication
The present publication is part of an introductory project within DCM that specifically focuses on Danish women composers – a group of composers for whom the need for scholarly-critical and practically useful editions is particularly pronounced, given that much of their music was not published during their lifetime and has rarely been performed. The hope is that this publication can help disseminate an overlooked yet important repertoire in Danish musical heritage among musicians, researchers, and other interested parties.
The publication is generously supported by the Augustinus Foundation, to whom heartfelt thanks are directed.
Thomas Husted Kirkegaard, Ph.D
Biografi
Hilda Sehested blev den 27. april 1858 født ind i en adelig familie på herregården Broholm på Fyn og døde 15. april 1936 i København.
Som del af den almene dannelse, som kvinder fra Sehesteds socialklasse var pålagt, blev hun som barn undervist i klaver og musikteori. Sehested gik ikke på konservatoriet, men hun begyndte at modtage privatundervisning i klaver hos komponisten C.F.E. Horneman som 15-årig i 1873. Fra 1886 studerede hun komposition privat hos Orla Rosenhoff.
Sehested udtrykte en trang til at frigøre sig fra sin hjemegn og sine selskabelige pligter på Broholm og flytede i 1892 til København. Der var hun tætere på musiklivet i hovedstaden og ligesindede, aspirerende musikere og komponister.
Sehested blev forlovet med arkæologen Henry Petersen, som dog døde kort før deres planlagte bryllup i 1896. Efter dete stoppede hun både med undervisningen hos Rosenhoff og med at komponere. I de efterfølgende år forsøgte hun at finde en ny vej i livet og uddannede sig som organist. Hun fik sit afgangsbevis i 1899, men vides ikke at have haft embede som organist efterfølgende.
Først i 1900 vendte hun tilbage til sin gamle musikalske omgangskreds og begyndte igen at komponere og udgive musik. I 1903 udgav hun værkerne Klaversonate i As-dur og Intermezzi for violin, cello og klaver, og året efter begyndte hun at komponere for blæseinstrumenter. I 1905 skrev hun Suite für Cornet in B und Klavier, der i 1915 blev bearbejdet til Suite for Kornet og Orkester. Klaversonatens kompositionsstil blev af hendes læremester Orla Rosenhoff beskrevet som “hyper-romantisk,” og han mente, at den bar præg af hendes kærlighed til Wagner og Schumann.
I 1913–1914 skrev hun sin første og eneste opera Agnete og Havmanden, der havde tekst af forfateren Sophus Michaëlis, og som blev antaget til opførelse på Det Kongelige Teater. Grundet 1. verdenskrig og den materialemangel, krigen medførte, måte opsætningen aflyses.
I 1910’erne havde hun opnået anerkendelse som komponist, og hendes værker blev opført af flere solister og ensembler. Orkesterstykkerne Lygtemænd og Mosekonen Brygger blev begge opført ved en kompositionskoncert i 1915, hvor Politikens anmelder skrev, at Sehested viste sig som en “virkelig dygtig Dame.” 1
Sehesteds forkærlighed for at komponere musik for blæseinstrumenter fortsate, og hun skrev i midten af 1920’erne de to større værker for basun Morceau pathétique pour trombone avec accompagnement de piano i 1924 og Course des athlètes du Nord. Morceau symphonique pour trombone avec orchestra ou piano i 1925.
I de sidste ti år frem til sin død i 1936 indstillede Hilda Sehested komponistkarrieren.
Biography
Hilda Sehested was born on 27 April 1858 into a noble family at the Broholm manor on Funen and died on 15 April 1936 in Copenhagen.
As part of the general education that was required of women of Sehested’s social class, she was taught piano and music theory as a child. Sehested did not attend the conservatory, but began receiving private piano lessons from the composer C.F.E. Horneman as a 15-year-old in 1873. From 1886 she studied composition privately with Orla Rosenhoff.
Sehested expressed a desire to free herself from her home environment and her social duties at Broholm and in 1892 moved to Copenhagen. There she was closer to the musical life of the capital and like-minded, aspiring musicians and composers.
Sehested became engaged to the archaeologist Henry Petersen, who, however, died shortly before their planned wedding in 1896. Following this, she stopped both her lessons with Rosenhoff and composing. In the following years, she tried to find a new path in life and trained as an organist. She obtained her graduation certificate in 1899, but is not known to have held office as an organist afterwards.
It was not until 1900 that she returned to her old musical circle and began to compose and publish music again. In 1903 she published the works Piano Sonata in A Major and Intermezzi for Violin, Cello and Piano, and the following year began composing for wind instruments. In 1905 she wrote Suite for Cornet in Bb und Piano, which in 1915 was adapted into the Suite for Cornet and Orchestra. The compositional style of the piano sonata was described by her teacher Orla Rosenhoff as “hyper-romantic,” believing that it was influenced by her love of Wagner and Schumann.
In 1913 – 1914 she wrote her first and only opera Agnete og Havmanden, to a text by the author Sophus Michaëlis, and which was accepted for performance at the Royal Theatre. Due to the 1st World War and the shortage of materials caused by the war, the staging had to be cancelled.
By the 1910s, she had achieved recognition as a composer, and her works were performed by several soloists and ensembles. The orchestral pieces Lygtemænd and Mosekonen Brygger were both performed at a composition concert in 1915, where Politiken’s reviewer wrote that Sehested proved to be a “really talented lady.” 1
Sehested’s penchant for composing music for wind instruments continued, and in the mid-1920s she wrote the two major works for trombone Morceau pathétique pour trombone avec accompaniment de piano in 1924 and wwCourse des athlètes du Nord. Morceau symphonique pour trombone avec orchestra ou piano in 1925.
In the last ten years before her death in 1936, Hilda Sehested suspended her career as a composer.
1 “Gusch”, Politiken 26.3.1915.
1 “Gusch”, Politiken 26 March 1915.
1. Præludium 1
Hilda Sehested
2. Drømme Hilda
Hilda Sehested: Fire Fantasistykker for Fløjte og Klaver - 17
4. Epilog
