On 1 January 1587 Frederick II appointed Dutchman Bonaventura Borchgrevinck as conductor for his musicians and singers, because a large contingent were Dutch nationals.
In July of the same year, Bonaventura Borchgrevinck was fired for reasons unknown, but son Melchior, an instrumentalist, was in the king's service the rest of his life.
Borchgrevinck was repeatedly sent on foreign travel in the music service to Danzig and London to buy instruments and to Venice in particular to learn from Giovanni Gabrieli.
In 1627, because of the high cost of warfare the king had to reduce government spending and he fired Borchgrevinck at which time he moved to Roskilde and lived there.
Borchgrevinck published a madrigal collection in 2 volumes: "Giardino di nuovo bellissimo varii fiori musicali scieltissimi" (Copenhagen 1605–06).