(b Copenhagen, 15 April 1898; d Hellerup, 30 Sept 1981). Danish composer and organist. He studied the organ and theory with Gustav Helsted at the Copenhagen Conservatory (1916–20) and then went to Leipzig, where he studied with Straube (organ) and Graener (theory and composition), graduating from the Hochschule für Musik in 1923. After his return to Denmark he was organist at the Annakirke in Copenhagen (1929–68) and also worked as a music critic (for Dagens nyheder, 1953–61, and Politiken from 1964). He also served in a great number of honorary administrative offices, contributing significantly to Danish musical life: for example, he was a board member, assistant chairman and then chairman (1942–56) of Det Unge Tonekunstnerselskab, a member of the Musikråd (until 1971), chairman of the Dansk Komponistforening (1967–71) and chairman for the Samfund til Udgivelse af Dansk Musik.
Although Weis’s first compositions were marked by his stay in Leipzig, he soon freed himself from that derivative late Romantic style, retaining his respect for Bach’s polyphony and combining it with his admiration for Nielsen’s diatonic and linear modernism. This is clear in his vocal music (choral arrangements as well as songs) and chamber works, which, especially those of the 1930s and 1940s, are characterized by interwar Danish neo-classicism (as in the Serenade ‘Uden reelle hensigter’). His two symphonies reveal his ability to compose on a large scale, with a starting-point in Nielsen’s experimental symphonic writings from the 1920s. He also contributed to the development of a serially influenced Danish modernism (as in the Femdelt Form series).
WORKS
(selective list)
orchestral -
Præludium og intermezzo, ob, orch, 1931; Concertino, cl, str, 1935; Symfonisk ouverture, 1938; Introduzione grave, str, pf, 1939; Sym. no.1, 1942; Musikantisk ouverture, str, 1945; In temporis vernalis, 1947; Sym. no.2, 1949; Concertino, str, 1960; Femdelt Form III, small orch, 1962; Sine nomine, small orch, 1972; Chaconne, 1974
| vocal -
Choral, orch: Det forjættede land (M.J. Nissen), 1948; Sinfonia proverbiorum, 1958
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Unacc. choral: 5 forårssange, 1930; 6 sange, 1934; Ps cxx, 1949; 3 motetter (H.W. Longfellow), 1957; 3 Latinske motetter, 1962; 8 små motetter, 1965; Ps xxxviii, 1967; Ps c, 1970; Sjaelen, 1972; Kirsebaer, 1976; 2 motetter, 1977
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Songs for 1v, pf: 7 Lieder, 1921–3; 4 sange, 1925–6; 4 sange, 1930; 5 sange (H. Gullberg), 1940
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Incid music for radio: De udvalgte (K. Munk), 1964
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For 3–5 insts: 2 str qts, 1923, 1925; Musik, fl, cl, bn, 1927; Serenade ‘Uden reelle hensigter’, wind qnt, 1938; Str Qt, 1938; Sonatine, fl, vn, vc, 1939; Diverterende musik, fl, str trio, 1942; Tema con variazioni, ww qnt, 1945; Fantasia seria, str qt, 1956; 5 epigrammer, str qt, 1960; Serenade, fl, str trio, 1961; Femdelt Form II, pf, str qt, 1962; Statiske situationer, str qt, 1970; 3 mobiler, fl, str trio, 1974; 3 studier, ob, cl, sax, bn, 1977; Str Qt, 1977; Str Trio, 1981; Tre for to, fl, pf, perc, 1981
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For 1–2 insts: Sonata, cl, pf, 1928; Pastorale og arabeske, fl, pf, 1935; Sonata, vn, pf, 1941; Sonata, ob, pf, 1945; Sonata, vn, 1948; Sonata, fl, pf, 1953; 3 arabesker, fl, va, 1957; 3 repliker, va, 1957; Tema med variationer, vn, 1962; Sonatine, va, 1962; Rapsodisk suite, vn, 1966; 3 søstre, vc, 1972; Aspekter, gui, 1975; 4 dialoger, fl, gui, 1976; 2 stykker, fl, 1977; Duo, rec, gui, 1980
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For pf: Variations et fuga over et tema af Mozart, 1923; 16 små klaverstykke, 1930–40; Suite, B, 1946; Sonatine, 1948; 12 monologer, 1958; Femdelt Form I, 1962; Limitationes nos.1–2, 1964, 1970
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For org: Concertino, 1957; Suite pastorale, 1960; Für die Orgel, 1969
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Principal publishers: Engstrøm & Sødring, Hansen
| WRITINGS
‘Carl Nielsen and his Art’, The Chesterian, xxv (1950–51), 53–7
‘The Musical Inheritance of a Danish Family’, The Chesterian, xxx (1955–6), 105–9
‘Niels Viggo Bentzon’, The Chesterian, xxxi (1956–7), 84–7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
K.A. Bruun: Flemming Weis som komponist’, DMt, ii (1926–7), 75–8, 97–9
B. Johnsson: ‘To danske klaverkomponister’, Norsk musikktidsskrift, ix (1972), 150–53
M. and M. Winckel Holm: ‘Om Flemming Weis’, Dansk musiktidsskrift, lvi/2 (1981–2), 98 only
NIELS MARTIN JENSEN/DANIEL GRIMLEY
(b Göttingen, 3 May 1744; d Rotenburg an der Fulda, 26 July 1826). German physician and composer. He took his medical degree at Göttingen, where he established a practice and also lectured in botany at the university. Bürger and the members of the Göttinger Hainbund admired his musical talents and often asked him to set their poetry to music. He published three collections of Lieder mit Melodien (Lübeck and Leipzig, 1775–9), a further 16 lieder in the Göttinger Musenalmanach (1773–85), 11 in Voss’s Musenalmanach (1776–8) and others in various anthologies. Strophic form predominates in these works, and several have attractive melodies, though there are frequent inept progressions in the accompaniments. Weis also published two volumes of Charakteristische englische Tänze (Lübeck, 1777–8). In 1786 he was appointed privy councillor and physician in ordinary to the Count of Hessen-Rotenburg, after which his interest in music seems to have ceased.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GerberL
A. Strodtmann, ed.: Briefe von und an G.A. Bürger (Berlin, 1874/R)
M. Friedlaender: Das deutsche Lied im 18. Jahrhundert (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1902/R)
E. Ebstein: ‘Bürgers Gedichte in der Musik’, Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde, vii (1903–4), 177–98 [incl. list of lieder]
H. Grantzow: Geschichte des Göttinger und des Vossischen Musenalmanachs (Berlin, 1909/R)
P. Graf: G.A. Bürgers Romanzen und Balladen in den Kompositionen seiner Zeitgenossen (diss., U. of Bonn, 1925)
H. Gottwaldt and G. Hahne, eds.: Briefwechsel zwischen Johann Abraham Peter Schulz und Johann Heinrich Voss (Kassel, 1960)
D.C. Ossenkop: The Earliest Settings of German Ballads for Voice and Clavier (diss., Columbia U., 1968)
J.W. Smeed: German Song and its Poetry, 1740–1900 (London, 1987)
DAVID OSSENKOP
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