Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (14 May 1805 – 10 March 1900) was, together with his son-in-law
Niels W. Gade, the leading Danish composer of the 19th century, a period known as the
Danish Golden Age.[1] According to
Alfred Einstein, he was "the real founder of the Romantic movement in Denmark and even in all Scandinavia".[2] J.P.E. Hartmann was the third generation of composers in the Danish musical Hartmann family.
Biography
Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann was born and died in
Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of composer
August Wilhelm Hartmann (1775–1850) and Christiane Petrea Frederica Wittendorff (1778–1848), and the grandson of composer
Johann Hartmann (1726-1793), who had originally emigrated to Denmark from
Silesia. J.P.E. Hartmann himself was largely self taught. Complying with his father's wishes (who wanted to protect him from the uncertainties of a musician's life), he studied the law and worked as a civil servant from 1829 to 1870, whilst pursuing an extensive musical career. By 1824, he became
organist at the
Garnisons Kirke in Copenhagen, and in 1832, made a first major impression on audiences with the opera Ravnen.[3] The opera received a long and positive review from
Robert Schumann. The libretto was by Hartmann's lifelong friend
Hans Christian Andersen with whom he later cooperated on numerous other works, cantatas, songs, incidental music or operas (among others his popular opera Liden Kirsten, a Danish pendant to the
Bartered Bride, which was performed by
Liszt in
Weimar, and which remains today the most often played Danish opera). Hartmann also cooperated with other important Danish writers of his time, such as
Henrik Hertz on his opera Korsarerne or with
Adam Øhlenschlæger, writing incidental music and overtures to several of his plays, as well as music in the form of both songs and also melodramas for some of his poems (e.g. Guldhornene), and cooperating in writing numerous cantatas.
In 1836, Hartmann made a study tour to Germany and France, where he made the acquaintance of
Frédéric Chopin,
Gioachino Rossini,
Luigi Cherubini,
Gaspare Spontini and
Louis Spohr. In his early musical life, Spohr and the Danish composer
Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse were Hartmann's most important mentors, as well as
Heinrich Marschner. Further journeys to Germany followed in the next few years, during which he met
Mendelssohn,
Schumann,
Liszt,
Brahms and other renowned composers of the time. He also founded the
Copenhagen Music Society (Musikforeningen) in 1836, remaining its chairman until the end of his life. In 1843, he transferred from
Garnisons Kirke to play the
organ for Copenhagen's cathedral, the
Vor Frue Kirke, and became the director of the Student Choral Association. He held both these posts until his death.[4] His proverbially gentle character made him very popular, his compatriots organising year on year numerous impressive feasts to celebrate his birthday.
In 1867, after having taught several subjects at the Danish Academy of Music which originally was founded in 1825 by
Giuseppe Siboni (1780–1839), Hartmann helped co-establish and also direct the
Royal Danish Academy of Music (KøbenhavnsMusikkonservatorium) with
Niels Gade (1817–1890) and
Holger Simon Paulli (1810–1891).[5][6][7]
Hartmann's works are characterized by artistic seriousness, dramatic vitality, and in particular, by national coloring. The Nordic elements, which can be discerned in the themes based on
folksongs,
modulations, and the tendency towards rather dark sounds, emerged strongly after the 1830s. Hartmann united these
Romantic influences with a strong control over both
form and
theme, acquired through his
Classical training.[11]
Hartmann's life covered the whole 19th century and his very varied output makes it difficult to slot him in one category. His early works, such as a Flute Sonata or a Piano Quartet were still written in Beethoven's lifetime and are naturally in the style of the Viennese classicist period. Influences from the then prevailing German models -
Weber,
Spohr or
Marschner - can also be detected. Much of his later work belongs to the generation of
Robert Schumann or
Felix Mendelssohn. Still his style continued developing over the years. Later compositions, such as the monumental A-Minor piano sonata or some Overtures (Yrsa) bear some similarities with Brahms. And there are pre-modernist accents in many of his latest pieces pointing notably to
Carl Nielsen. His work had a strong influence on Scandinavian composers of later generations such as
Edvard Grieg,
Peter Erasmus Lange-Mueller or
Carl Nielsen. His ever increasing originality gave him the nickname of being the «old manprodigy» («Vidunderolding»). Overall, his music displays great diversity, going from humour and poetry to drama and tragedy.[12]