1786–1832 · Denmark · Classical
Friedrich Kuhlau (1786–1832) was a German-Danish composer and pianist. He was born in Lower Saxony, moved to Copenhagen in 1810 and became a Danish citizen in 1813. For players he is above all the author of piano sonatinas, which are among his most often played and recorded works, and he also wrote a great deal for the flute.
Friedrich Kuhlau was born on 11 September 1786 in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony. Military oboe playing ran in the family: his father, grandfather and uncle all did it. They were poor and the children were many, yet the parents still found money for piano lessons. His father was called Johan Carl and his mother was Charlotte Dorothea, born Seger. The father gave the boy a few music lessons himself, although nobody had decided that he would become a musician.
In childhood Kuhlau lost his right eye after a fall. While he lay ill for a long time, a piano was placed across his bed to distract the child. The boy would not leave the instrument, and his parents noticed his musical gifts. When he recovered, a better teacher was found for him: the organist Ahrenbostel became his piano teacher. His gift for composing showed itself at the same time. Kuhlau wrote small pieces for the flute and took them to an acquaintance, a grocer who loved that instrument.
In the early 1800s Kuhlau found himself in Hamburg. His teacher there was the cantor and music director C. F. G. Schwencke. He taught strictly but skilfully, and from him Kuhlau received a thorough grounding in theory, which shows in all his compositions. Schwencke valued his gifted pupil highly and taught him free of charge. Kuhlau earned his living by giving music lessons.
Besides the piano he studied the violin and cello, but he was best at the piano, on which he reached a rare skill. The cheerful young man soon became a sought-after guest at private and public musical evenings. He composed for voice, piano, flute and strings, and later, among other occasions in the winter of 1808–1809, he appeared in public as a solo pianist. In May 1810 his opus 1–3, three rondos for piano, were published in Leipzig.
In 1810 Kuhlau, wishing to avoid the Napoleonic wars, moved to Denmark. Hamburg had become French by then, and Kuhlau learned that he was on the lists of men to be called up. He fled and arrived in Copenhagen under an assumed name. At first he kept in hiding, fearing pursuit, but soon he was performing under his own name.
He gave his first concert at the Royal Theatre on 23 January 1811. Others followed, and everywhere Kuhlau was met with admiration. Before the end of the year he was summoned to play for the queen, and many respected music-loving houses opened their doors to him. At the first concert he played his piano concerto in C major, which he later dedicated to Weyse.
The first years in Denmark were financially hard for him. To live he gave music lessons, but he disliked it and gave them up as soon as he could. Later he taught only theory and composition, and the young musicians who sought his guidance were not few; among them was Johann Christian Gebauer. In 1812 he still described his stay in Denmark as temporary, but in 1813 he became a Danish citizen. In 1814 his old parents and his youngest sister moved in with him, and his expenses grew. Small pieces that sold easily became his main source of income, and here the flute came to the rescue first and then the piano.
The poet Adam Oehlenschläger was the first to see Kuhlau's rare gift as an opera composer. He sought out the young stranger and commissioned him to write the music for the singspiel Røverborgen. It was first performed on 26 May 1814 at the Royal Theatre. It can fairly be said to have opened a new era for music in Denmark: its breath of romanticism, vivid melodies, colourful, lively tone and rich orchestration were something new on the Danish stage.
The score took in a good many national Danish songs, and the composer sought local colour. This earned him the nickname of the Danish composer, even though by birth he was a German. The success did not please everyone, however: in the musical circles where Kunzen and Claus Schall held sway, the new music met with resistance. Kunzen spoke sharply against Kuhlau's modern music.
His next theatre works went unevenly. The play Trylleharpen, with a text by Jens Baggesen, was first performed on 30 January 1817, but it brought the composer little joy: at the second performance a scandal broke out over Baggesen's alleged plagiarism, and the play was withdrawn. It was revived in 1819, but without success. Elisa (1820) and Hugo og Adelheid (1827) were failures, while Lulu in 1824 was a success once more. Kuhlau also wrote music for performances of Shakespeare's plays.
In 1821 and 1825 Kuhlau travelled to Vienna and made friends there with Beethoven. He knew Beethoven personally and greatly admired him. Kuhlau often played Beethoven's music in concerts and introduced Copenhagen audiences to many of his works. Beethoven's influence is noticeable in many of Kuhlau's own compositions. His contemporaries also admired his ability to improvise at the piano.
His biggest triumph came in 1828 with the music for Elverhøj (Elves' Hill in English). People took to it at once, above all the overture and the closing royal anthem built on the song Kong Christian stod ved høien Mast. Danish and Swedish folk melodies were used to great effect in the score. The piece is often read as a salute to Denmark's monarchy. The same year, 1828, brought him the title of professor.
Kuhlau kept company with the finest musical families of Copenhagen. His house burned down, destroying all his unpublished manuscripts. After the fire, friends and admirers helped him with money. He died in Copenhagen in March 1832. He was buried at Assistens Cemetery. He was honoured at his funeral and after his death, and a monument was raised in his memory.
The flute, the piano and the voice were the main instruments of his music, and his genres included quintets, concertos, fantasias, rondos and sonatas. Published works by him number over two hundred and cover most genres, while his unpublished manuscripts perished in the fire. His piano music takes in sonatas, sonatinas, waltzes, rondos and variations; his first opus 1–3, issued in 1810, are three rondos. He also composed for solo instruments, duos, songs and choir. There are also pieces pairing strings with piano (three quartets, two quintets and a number of violin sonatas), plus a string quartet, incidental music and several operas.
Outside Denmark people know Kuhlau mostly for chamber pieces that combine flutes with each other or with other instruments, and for piano sonatinas. At home, the music for Elverhøj is what is tied to his name for good. Sonatinas, his brief piano pieces, found a wide audience in Denmark as well as elsewhere. Recordings and performances most often feature a handful of piano sonatinas and a great many flute works.
No one shaped his music more than Beethoven. His Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 7, dating from 1810, closely echoes Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, with each of the three movements recalling its counterpart. His flute works earned Kuhlau a nickname in his own lifetime: the Beethoven of the flute.
Kuhlau wrote music for the theatre. The singspiel Røverborgen brought him his first big success, Lulu was a hit in 1824, and the music for Elverhøj in 1828 became his biggest success. In Denmark it is still tied to his name, and the overture and the closing anthem are especially loved. Kuhlau also worked for the spoken theatre, writing music for productions of Shakespeare's plays. Folk melodies from Denmark and Sweden are put to excellent use in his Elverhøj score.
Our site has Sonatine I from the collection O 20, No. 1: three movements, Allegro, Andante and Rondo. Allegro and Andante are at an upper-intermediate level, while Rondo is advanced. You can start with Allegro, then move on to Andante and finish with Rondo.