Tage Nielsen

Full biography Tage Nielsen

Tage Nielsen was a Danish composer born in Frederiksberg, Denmark in 1929 and passed away in 2003. He was an influential Danish composer of the 20th century, who initially wrote music in the Neo-Classicist tradition but was later strongly influenced by the serial technique. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and also learned from composer Herman D. Koppel. Nielsen composed music in various genres, including orchestral, chamber, and vocal works.

Throughout his career, Tage Nielsen was commissioned to compose music for movies, television, and radio, including the famous Danish movie director, Carl Theodor Dreyer's movies Day of Wrath and Ordet. His works have been performed by various orchestras and ensembles in Denmark and abroad. Nielsen was a professor of composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1971 until his retirement in 1995.

Although Nielsen's music was not as widely known and performed as that of his contemporaries such as Per Nørgård and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, he was a respected and important figure in the Danish classical music scene. Nielsen's contribution to the Danish music scene was recognized with several awards, including the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Scholarship in 1954. Today, Tage Nielsen's legacy continues to inspire and influence Danish composers and music enthusiasts alike.