Niels Wilhelm Gade

Songs and Ballads

Throughout his entire career, Gade composed songs and ballads, from his first known composition in 1834 to 1888. Two thirds of the 112 songs were published during his lifetime, and the remaining ones are now available for the first time. Twelve of the songs are Gade’s arrangements of his own music or of music by other composers, and the edition also includes discarded songs.

The contents of the two volumes span from short strophic songs to through-composed art songs set to German and Danish poems. Among Gade’s preferred authors are for instance Goethe, Uhland and H.C. Andersen. Gade composed the majority of his songs for use in domestic settings, and only a few of them found their way into the concert repertoire of his time. Nevertheless, Gade was widely recognized for his songs during his lifetime, as evidenced by contemporary reviews and by the large number of editions and reprints in his own days. Among his most popular songs are "The Songs of Ogier the Dane", and the collection of duets, "Neun Lieder (im Volkston)", Op. 9.