Knud Jeppesen facts for kids
Knud Jeppesen (born August 15, 1892 – died June 14, 1974) was a Danish musicologist and composer. A musicologist is someone who studies music, its history, and how it's made. Jeppesen was especially known for his deep knowledge of the composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, writing many books and studies about his life and music.
About Knud Jeppesen
Knud Jeppesen showed a talent for music when he was just 10 years old. He was encouraged by Hakon Andersen and Paul Hellmuth, but he mostly taught himself. After finishing school in 1911, he worked in Germany as a coach for opera singers and a conductor.
In 1914, he found a job in Berlin, but he had to return to Denmark when World War I started. In Copenhagen, he became a student of famous Danish composers Carl Nielsen and Thomas Laub. He also studied music history at Copenhagen University. He passed his organist exam in 1916. Later, he earned his doctorate degree in music from the University of Vienna in 1922.
Jeppesen worked as an organist at St. Stephens Church from 1917 to 1932, and then at the Holmen Church from 1932 to 1947. He also taught music theory at the Royal Danish Academy of Music for many years. In 1946, he became a professor of music at Aarhus University. There, he started an Institute of Musicology in 1950, which he led until 1957. Some of his students became famous composers, like Vagn Holmboe and Bent Lorentzen.
After he retired in 1957, Jeppesen moved to Italy. This allowed him to find many old music pieces in Italian libraries. His most important work from this time was La frottola (1968–70). This was a detailed study of frottole, which were popular Italian songs from the late 1400s and early 1500s. He was also very active in the International Musicological Society, even serving as its president from 1949 to 1952.
His Work in Musicology
Knud Jeppesen is most famous for studying counterpoint. Counterpoint is a way of writing music where two or more melodies are played at the same time, but they sound good together. He was the top expert on the counterpoint style of Palestrina, a famous composer from the 1500s.
His 1930 book, Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century, became a very important textbook. It's still used today to teach students about music from that period. His earlier work, The Style of Palestrina and the Dissonance (1927), was also highly praised for its detailed analysis of Palestrina's music.
Jeppesen spent a lot of time doing original research. He would find old handwritten music and printed copies of scores. Then, he would prepare new versions of these scores with notes and explanations. In 1962, he completed the first full list of all of Palestrina's known works. A big achievement was when he discovered ten masses by Palestrina that no one knew about before, in 1949.
His Music
At first, Jeppesen's own musical compositions weren't very popular, so he stopped writing music in 1919. But after 15 years, he started composing again. He is known for writing beautiful songs with Danish words, church music, and motets (short choral pieces).
He also wrote longer pieces like cantatas, music for the organ, and an opera called Rosaura. This opera was performed by the Royal Danish Theatre in 1950. Jeppesen also helped with Danish hymn books. His hymn Bygen flygter, Forunderligt så sødt et smil is a classic for Danish church choirs. His music style combined his knowledge of old counterpoint with the sound of later romantic composers like Gustav Mahler.
Some of His Compositions
- 1906 "Nordisk Festmarche" (for violins, cello, harmonium or piano)
- 1911 Staka, Symphonic poem
- 1912 "Foraar" (for solo singers and orchestra)
- 1915 String quartet in F
- 1919 Violin sonata
- 1930 Sonatine in C major (for piano)
- 1934 "Gud, vend Øren til min Bøn" (Motet for choir)
- 1936 Reformation Cantata
- 1938 Sjællandsfar (symphony)
- 1941 Horn concerto
- 1941 Lille Sommertrio (Little Summer Trio) (for flute, cello, and piano)
- 1942 Prelude and fugue in E minor (for organ)
- 1945 Dronning Dagmar Messe
- 1950 Rosaura, opera
- 1951 Dagen viger og gaar bort, cantata
- 1957 50 choral preludes (for organ)
- Intonazione boreale (for organ)
See also
- In Spanish: Knud Jeppesen para niños
