Emil Hartmann

He wrote seven symphonies, concertos for respectively violin, cello and piano, several ouvertures, a symphonic poem (Hakon Jarl), orchestral suites, serenades, ballets, operas and singspiels, incidental music and cantatas.

Still in 1859, he received a scholarship and went on study tour to Germany, where he spent most time in Leipzig, but visited also Berlin, Paris and Vienna.

Emil Hartmann was a gifted conductor and went yearly to Germany and elsewhere to conduct his works in the major cities, always to great acclaim.

Emil Hartmann belonged to an old family of artists which dominated Danish musical life for close to a century and a half.

His close relationship with the leading composers of the day in Denmark, his father and Gade, however cast overwhelming shadows over his own works, forcing him to seek recognition abroad, in particular in Germany.

Despite his sparkling talent, Emil Hartmann was undoubtedly one of the tragic figures in the history of music[1] suffering all his life from poor health necessitating long stays in psychiatric hospitals.

Emil Hartmann was a cosmopolitan and used to say: «Yes of course, God, King and Country, and the World Axe goes through the horse in Kongens Nytorv« (statue in Copenhagen’s central square).

After 1870, he suffered increasingly from poor health, psychological troubles and regular depressions, and decided on several occasions to reside for long periods in psychiatric institutions for treatment.

His later years were marked by a growing weakness that often put him in dark moods; he tried then to abreact by taking a walk with a whip and crack it at imaginary critics of his art.