Lumbye, Hans Christian
Lumbye, Hans Christian
Lumbye, Hans Christian, famous Danish conductor and composer; b. Copenhagen, May 2, 1810; d. there, March 20, 1874. He studied in Randers and Odense. At age 14, he became a military trumpeter. At 19, he entered the Horse Guards in Copenhagen, and in 1839 he founded his own orch. in Copenhagen. In 1843 he became music director of the Tivoli Gardens there, where he gained renown as the “Johann Strauss of the North,” He retired in 1872. Lumbye composed about 400 scores, among them many waltzes, galops, polkas, and marches. He had two sons: Carl (Christian) Lymbye (b. Copenhagen, July 9, 1841; d. there, Aug. 10, 1911) was a violinist, conductor, and composer. He was a student of Stockman (violin) and Helsted (theory). He played in his father’s orch and conducted orchs. Among his works were dances, marches, and songs. Georg (August) Lumbye (b. Copenhagen, Aug. 26, 1843; d. there, Oct. 29, 1922), was a conductor and composer. After training at the Paris Cons., he pursued his career in Copenhagen. He composed operettas, incidental music, and songs.
Bibliography
G. Skjerne, H.C. L. og hans Samtid (Copenhagen, 1912; second ed., 1946); D. Fog, L.-katalog: Fortegnelse over H.C. L.s trykte kompositioner: Verzeichnis der gedruckten Kompositionen von H.C. L. (1820–1874) (Copenhagen, 1995).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire