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 ra-
bevæggrunden for de enkelte valg er tydeliggjort i oversigten over redaktionelle rettelser.
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 rettelser af klare fejl.
Thomas Husted Kirkegaard, ph.d.
tionale behind each choice in the overview of editorial revisions.
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.
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 flyttede i 1892 til København. Der var hun tættere 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 dette 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 forfatteren Sophus Michaëlis, og som blev antaget til opførelse på Det Kongelige Teater. Grundet 1. verdenskrig og den materialemangel, krigen medførte, måtte 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 fortsatte, 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.
Maria Claustad
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 Course 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.
Maria Claustad
1 “Gusch”, Politiken 26.3.1915.
Forord
I sin bog om komponisterne Hilda Sehested og Nancy Dalberg skriver Lisbeth Ahlgren Jensen, at Sehested omkring 1904 fik interesse for messingblæsere. 1 Det første værk hun skrev var Suite for Cornet i B og Klaver (1904), som blev udgivet på Wilhelm Hansens Musikforlag i 1906 med en tilegnelse til solotrompetist i Det Kongelige Kapel, Thorvald Hansen (1847-1915). Inspirationen til at skrive værket skyldtes uden tvivl Thorvald Hansen, der selv komponerede en række værker for messingblæsere. Det var da også Thorvald Hansen, der sammen med komponisten på klaver uropførte suitens første sats, Ballade, og tredje sats, Ritornel, i Kammermusikforeningen i København den 30. marts 1905. I 1907 blev alle tre satser opført ved en privat koncert. I 1906 skrev Sehested i et brev til musikhistorikeren Angul Hammerich om
[…] det herlige Instrument, Trompeten, som trækker en saa lynklar Kontur op, inspirerer En baade Energi og Humør. Og saa aabner dette stolte Instrument ved sin særlige Karakter nye Egne paa Følelsernes Omraade. Trompetens særlige Klang er lige langt fra den Smægten, Valdhornet let henfalder til, og de forfinede, kælne Nuancer, Strygerne raader over. Stolt er altid dens Klang i sin blændende Kraft og Varme – og hvor rørende kan den ikke være naar den er “god ” i en cantabil Strofe, som den altid faar til ligesom at lyse. Og saa dens rytmiske Disposition som ligefrem ægger til Liv og Humør. Den gode, herlige Trompet!
“De kan nok mærke, jeg holder af den”, erkender hun i brevet. 2
Sehesteds originale manuskripter til værket er forsvundet, og udgaven her er således baseret på den trykte udgave fra Wilhelm Hansens Musikforlag, som omfatter klaverstemme (partitur) og en ‘løs’ solostemme. Denne stemmer afviger kun for ganske få og øjensynligt tilfældige detaljers vedkommende fra solostemmen i partituret.
I 2018 udgav forlaget Martin Schmid i Tyskland en ny udgave redigeret og bearbejdet af Edward H. Tarr. 3 Nærværende udgivelse er den første videnskabeligt baserede udgave.
I 1914 instrumenterede Sehested værket for kornet og orkester. Orkestersatsen følger nøje den oprindelige version, bortset fra at komponisten tilføjede 15 indledende takter til midtersatsen, Romance. Uropførelsen fandt sted den 25. marts 1915 i Studenterforeningens Store Sal i København. Dirigent var komponisten Peder Gram og solisten var Tycho Mohr. Ved opførelsen anvendte Mohr sandsynligvis et foreliggende eksemplar
1 Lisbeth Ahlgren Jensen, Hilda Sehested og Nancy Dalberg, Danske komponister, bind 4 (København: Multivers, 2019), 45-46
2 Det Kgl. Bibliotek, Ny kgl. Samling, NKS 4980, dateret 24.4.1906.
3 Hilda Sehested: Suite F-Dur für Kornett und Klavier (Brass Collection 52017), redigeret af Edward H. Tarr. (Nagold: Martin Schmid Blechbläsernoten, [2018]).
Preface
In her book about the composers Hilda Sehested and Nancy Dalberg, Lisbeth Ahlgren Jensen writes that Sehested became interested in brass instruments around 1904. 1 The first work she wrote was Suite for Cornet in Bb and Piano (1904), which was published by Wilhelm Hansens Musikforlag in 1906 with a dedication to Thorvald Hansen (1847 – 1915), the solo trumpetist in the Royal Danish Orchestra. The inspiration for writing the work was undoubtedly due to Thorvald Hansen, who himself composed a number of works for brass. It was also Thorvald Hansen who, together with the composer at the piano, premiered the first movement of the suite, Ballade, and the third movement, Ritornel, at the Chamber Music Society in Copenhagen on 30 March 1905. In 1907, all three movements were performed at a private concert.
In 1906, Sehested wrote in a letter to the music historian Angul Hammerich about
[…] the glorious instrument, the trumpet, which cuts such a clear line, inspires one both in energy and mood. And so this proud instrument, with its special character, opens up new areas in the domain of emotions. The trumpet’s special sound is just as far from the languor that the French horn easily succumbs to, and the refined, tender nuances that the strings possess. Its sound is always proud in its dazzling power and warmth – and how touching it can be when it is “good” in a cantabile stanza, which it always seems to make shine. And then its rhythmic disposition that directly incites to life and humour.
The good, glorious trumpet!
“You can probably tell that I love it”, she admits in the letter. 2
Sehested’s original manuscripts for the work have been lost, and the edition here is therefore based on the printed edition from Wilhelm Hansens Musikforlag, which includes the piano part (score) and a ‘loose’ solo part. This part differs only in a few and apparently random details from the solo part in the score.
In 2018, the publisher Martin Schmid in Germany published a new edition edited and adapted by Edward H. Tarr. 3 The present publication is the first musicologically based edition.
In 1914, Sehested orchestrated the work for cornet and orchestra. The orchestral version closely follows the original version, except that the composer added 15 introductory bars to the middle movement, Romance. The premiere took place on 25 March 1915 in the Studen-
1 Lisbeth Ahlgren Jensen, Hilda Sehested og Nancy Dalberg, Danske komponister, vol. 4 (Copenhagen: Multivers, 2019), 45 – 46.
2 The Royal Danish Library, New Royal Collection, NKS 4980, dated 24 Apr. 1906.
3 Hilda Sehested: Suite F-Dur für Kornett und Klavier (Brass Collection 52017), edited by Edward H. Tarr. (Nagold: Martin Schmid Blechbläsernoten, [2018]).
af den trykte kornetstemme fra klaverudgaven med tilføjede prøvecifre. I Sehesteds autografpartitur rummer solostemmen imidlertid en række varianter i forhold til den trykte udgave vedrørende dynamik, frasering og artikulation. Det er ikke klart i hvilket omfang disse varianter skyldes bevidste ændringer eller er udtryk for tilfældigheder. Udgiverne betragter imidlertid de to solostemmer hver især som en selvstændig version. Til DCMs udgave af orkesterversionen er der udarbejdet en separat solostemme. 4 Denne stemme vil, i kombination med klaversatsen i nærværende udgave, kunne anvendes til solistens indstudering af værket med henblik på en orkesteropførelse.
tet Association’s Large Hall in Copenhagen. The conductor was the composer Peder Gram and the soloist was Tycho Mohr. In the performance, Mohr probably used an existing copy of the printed cornet part from the piano edition with added rehearsal numbers. In Sehested’s autograph score, however, the solo part contains a number of variants in relation to the printed version regarding dynamics, phrasing and articulation. It is not clear to what extent these variants are due to conscious changes or are random diversions. However, the publishers consider each of the two solo parts as an independent version. 4 A separate solo part has been prepared for DCM’s edition of the orchestral version. This part, in combination with the piano movement in the present edition, can be used for the soloist’s rehearsal of the work with a view to an orchestral performance.
Bendt Viinholt Nielsen / Ole Ugilt Jensen
4 Published in 2024 by DCM in Bendt Viinholt Nielsens and Ole Ugilt Jensens edition.
Bendt Viinholt Nielsen / Ole Ugilt Jensen
4 Udgivet 2024 af DCM i Bendt Viinholt Nielsens og Ole Ugilt Jensens redaktion.
Faksimiler Facsimiles
Faksimile 1.
Det var usædvanligt, at en kvindelig komponist udgav et værk for kornet og klaver i 1906 (kilde A). Måske var det for ikke at afskrække kunderne på forhånd, at forlaget valgte kun at bringe hendes efternavn på udgavens omslag! På titelbladet står det fulde navn, og her findes også dedikationen til trompetisten Thorvald Hansen, som havde inspireret Sehested til at skrive værket.
Facsimile 1.
It was unusual for a female composer to publish a work for cornet and piano in 1906 (source A). Perhaps it was in order not to discourage customers in advance that the publisher chose to only include her last name on the cover of the edition! The title page contains her full name, and also includes the dedication to the trumpeter Thorvald Hansen, who had inspired Sehested to write the work.
Faksimile 2.
Første nodeside af originaludgaven (kilde A). Sehested bruger konsekvent betegnelsen Cornet (Kornet) i partiturerne til de tre værker, hun skrev for instrumentet. Det er uden tvivl en kornet med dens lidt blødere klang, hun specifikt har haft i tankerne, selv om hun i generel omtale af værkerne ofte benytter betegnelsen trompet.
Facsimile 2.
First page of the original edition (source A). Sehested consistently uses the term ‘cornet’ in the scores of the three works she wrote for the instrument. It is undoubtedly a cornet with its slightly softer sound that she specifically had in mind, although in general terms she often uses the term trumpet.
Suite for kornet i B og klaver
Hilda Sehested
1. Ballade
2. Romance
3. Ritornel
Critical commentary
Description of Sources
A Score
Cover title: “WILHELM HANSEN / EDITION / No. 1132. / SEHESTED / SUITE / Für / Cornet in B und Klavier. / KOPENHAGEN & LEIPZIG. / WILHELM HANSEN, MUSIK–VERLAG”
Title page: “WILHELM HANSEN EDITION. / HERRN THORVALD HANSEN GEWIDMET. / SUITE / FÛR / CORNET IN B UND KLAVIER / VON / HILDA SEHESTED. / […] KOPENHAGEN & LEIPZIG. / WILHELM HANSEN, MUSIK–VERLAG.”
33 × 27 cm. Cover, title page, pp. 2 – 21. Plate number 13808 [1904].
B Solo part (appendix to source A) No title.
Headings: “BALLADE” (p. 1), “ROMANCE” (p. 2), “RITORNEL” (p. 3).
33.5 × 25 cm. 4 pp. numbered 1 – 4.
Plate number 13808 [1904].
Designated: “CORNET IN B”.
Commentary on the Edition
The only extant sources are the printed score (piano part), source A, and the accompanying solo part, source B. No copy used or annotated by the composer is known. Thus, the edition is based on A; variants in B are listed in the comments below (a few of them have been incorporated in the edition).
The lack of an autograph source makes it impossible to determine which details in the printed edition may have been overlooked, misunderstood or misplaced by the music engraver. The manuscript seems to have been characterized by inconsistencies in terms of phrasing and articulation, which is particularly evident in the sections that are repeated, movement 2, bars 39 – 53 (repetition of bars 1 – 15), and in movement 3, where the entire first part, bars 1 – 61, is repeated as bars 126 – 186. The variants in the last movement are of a nature and extent, which makes it irrelevant for the editors to complete and normalise the musical text. In a few places, however, the editors have added details, which seem to have been overlooked by the composer or the engraver.
Editorial Emendations and Alternative Readings
1. BALLADE
Bar Part Comment
9 cnt.
B: mf (instead of mp)
41 cnt. note 2: ten. added by analogy with B
52 cnt. B: mf (instead of mp)
125 cnt.
128 cnt.
131 cnt.
B: cresc begins at note 3 (instead of at note 1)
B: notes 1 – 2: cresc (but missing in b. 131, a mistake?)
B: notes 1 – 3: no cresc
132 cnt. note 5: stacc. (unclear in the print in A) omitted by analogy with b. 131 cnt.
B: note 5: stacc. (but no stacc. b. 131, note 5)
2. ROMANCE
Bar Part Comment
5 pf.2 top part, note (harmony) 2: # before c added by analogy with # before c1
14 pf.1 lower part, notes 6 – 7: portamento added by analogy with the top part and b. 52
15 pf.2
top part, notes 1 – 2: portamento added by analogy with pf.1 and b. 53 pf.2 last harmony: stacc. added by analogy with pf.1
16 cnt.
B: note 3: stacc., B: note 4: ten.
32 pf.1 lower part, notes 1 – 2: ties added (an unmotivated tie or slur is found in A below the top part, notes 1 – 4, probably a misplaced tie)
41 pf.1 slur added by analogy with b. 3
45 pf.1 top part, top notes 1 – 2: tie added by analogy with b. 7 lower part, notes 1 – 3: slur added by analogy with b. 7
3. RITORNEL
Bar Part
9 cnt.
18 cnt.
28 cnt.
45 cnt.
Comment
last note: stacc. added by analogy with b. 134 and B
B: cresc begins at note 1 in b. 18
B: mp (instead of mf)
B: no poco rit.
47 cnt. mf added by analogy with mf in the piano (b. 45)
49 cnt.
B: last note: no stacc.
60 pf.2 note (harmony) 1: stacc. added by analogy with pf.1
64 cnt.
B: cresc begins at note 4 in b. 65
84 – 87 cnt. slur added in accordance with B
100 cnt.
102 cnt.
102 – 103 cnt.
B: mf (instead of mp)
B: notes 1 – 3: slur
B: note 4: new slur ending b. 103 at the last note
107 pf.2 chord 3 – 4: tie g 1 – g 1 added by analogy with the rest of the chord
136 pf.2 lower part: slur added by analogy with b. 11
136 – 137 pf.1 slur b. 136 last note to b. 137 last note added by analogy with bb. 11 – 12
137 cnt. notes 1 – 4: slur emended from notes 1 – 5 by analogy with b. 12 and in accordance with B cnt. note 5: stacc. added in accordance with B
141 cnt. notes 2 – 5: slur emended to notes 1 – 4 by analogy with b. 16 and in accordance with B
144 cnt.
150 pf.2
167 cnt.
B: molto crescendo (b. 145 in A)
top part, notes 1 – 3: slur added by analogy with b. 25
B: notes 3 – 4: cresc
169 cnt. notes 3 – 4: dec added by analogy with b. 45 and in accordance with B
189 – 190 cnt.
B: cresc begins b. 189 note 2 and ends b. 190 at note 4
191, 192 pf.1 third last note: ab2 emended to a2; the lack of n before a must be a notational error due to the tonality (leading to C-major), the unmotivated clash with the cornet’s g and because the three last notes of b. 191 and b. 192 must be considered an imitation of notes 2 – 4 in the cornet part transposed a semitone up.
192 cnt. B: notes 2 – 4: no slur
193 cnt. B: note 4: stacc. (instead of ten.)
199 pf.2 lower part: rest added at the end of the bar
204 pf.2 lower part: note 1: dot added by analogy with bb. 200, 201 and 202
