Johanne Fenger facts for kids
Johanne Amalie Fenger (born September 5, 1836 – died August 11, 1913) was a Danish composer. She was born in the town of Lynge into a family of important people, including priests and doctors. Her father, Johannes Ferdinand Fenger, was a priest and a religious scholar. Johanne started composing music when she was young. Her family knew the famous poet Bernhard Severin Ingemann, which likely helped her love for music grow, especially writing songs for poems.
Learning and Composing Music
In 1854, when Johanne was 18, her father moved to a new church in Høje Tåstrup. This allowed her to travel to Copenhagen by train. There, she took piano lessons and learned about how music works from teachers like Leopold Rosenfeld and Edvard Helsted. She also learned a lot from her relative Christian Barnekow, who was a composer and led a group that published Danish music.
Between 1866 and 1911, Johanne Fenger published 46 songs and two piano pieces. She often released them in collections of 6 to 8 songs. Most of her works were published before 1885. Her early music was inspired by the ideas of a famous Danish thinker named N. F. S. Grundtvig. These songs were usually based on texts about faith or Danish history. Later, she composed important works like Lyriske Sange (Lyric Songs) in 1881 and Digte af Helene Nyblom (Poems by Helena Nyblom) in 1884.
Later Life and Final Works
After her parents passed away, Johanne Fenger lived with her uncle, Carl Emil Fenger. She taught choir and piano to others. In 1885, Johanne had a serious illness called a stroke. This made her partially blind and caused her to have confused thoughts. She went to a special hospital to help her recover and stayed there until 1896. Her very last composition, Menneskets Engle (The Angels of Man), was published in 1904.
Her Notable Compositions
- Sex danske Sange (1866)
- Ahasverus (1871)
- Lyriske Sange (1881)
- Digte af Helene Nyblom (1884)
- Menneskets Engle (1904)
