Ulla Laage | |
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Born | 10 July 1949 |
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Years active | 1970s–present |
Ulla Laage (born 10 July 1949) is a Danish carillonneur and composer. She was the first carillonneur to hold a full-time carillon performance position in Denmark, [1] and one of a small number of women to hold a professional carillon post in Europe during the twentieth century.
Laage was born in 1949 to architect Vagn Laage and artist Aase Laage. She earned a diploma in organ performance from the Royal Danish Academy of Music studying with Aksel Andersen, who advocated for the establishment of a Scandinavian Carillon School. She pursued carillon study through masterclasses and workshops and earned the first diploma awarded by the new Scandinavian Carillon School in Løgumkloster in 1982. [1] Laage studied intensively in 1986 and 1988 with noted American carillonneur Milford Myhre at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. In 1989, she earned the advanced Artist Diploma from the Scandinavian Carillon School. [2]
Laage became carillonneur of the Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen, in 1974 and held that position until 2006. [3] In 1983, her position was expanded into the first full-time carillon performance job in the country. After her departure in 2006, the position was reduced to a part-time responsibility of the organist, the predominant arrangement in Denmark. [4] From 1993 through 2000, she adjudicated carillonneur exams for the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs (Denmark).
Her concert career took her throughout Europe and the United States of America, where she performed on both tower carillons and mobile carillons. She was featured at the first international carillon festival at Bok Tower Gardens in 1986 [5] and again at the 1999 festival. [6] She performed at the first international carillon festival in West Berlin in 1988, later returning at the invitation of the Berliner Festspiele to perform on the Olsen Nauen Bell Foundry's mobile carillon before the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin at midnight on 2–3 October 1990 for the official reunification of Germany. [7] She performed at the 1990 World Carillon Federation congress in Zutphen, Netherlands. In 1994, she performed on the mobile carillon in Tønsberg, Norway, for the 1994 Winter Olympics torch relay. [2]
Laage performed inaugural recitals for two carillons: at the Church of the Holy Ghost, Copenhagen in 1993 and at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød in 2005. She consulted on the design of both instruments. [8]
As a composer, Laage is noted for her hymn setting Free variations on "Built on a rock the Church doth stand" (2000). In 2015, she was commissioned by the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs to compose Billede, which was premiered at the 2016 Congress of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. [9]
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song Der er et yndigt land, which is one of the national anthems of Denmark.
A carillon ( KERR-ə-lon, kə-RIL-yən) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are cast in bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together. They are struck with clappers connected to a keyboard of wooden batons played with the hands and pedals played with the feet. Often housed in bell towers, carillons are usually owned by churches, universities, or municipalities. They can include an automatic system through which the time is announced and simple tunes are played throughout the day.
The Church of Our Saviour is a baroque church in Copenhagen, Denmark, most famous for the external spiral winding staircase that can be climbed to the top, offering extensive views over central Copenhagen. It is also noted for its carillon, which plays melodies every hour from 8 am to midnight.
A chime or set of chimes is a carillon-like instrument, i.e. a pitched percussion instrument consisting of 22 or fewer bells. Chimes are primarily played with a keyboard, but can also be played with an Ellacombe apparatus. Chimes are often automated, in the past with mechanical drums connected to clocks and in the present with electronic action. Bellfounders often did not attempt to tune chime bells to the same precision as carillon bells. Chimes are defined as specifically having fewer than 23 bells to distinguish them from the carillon. American chimes usually have one to one and a half diatonic octaves. According to a recent count, there are over 1,300 existing chimes throughout the world. Almost all are in the Netherlands and the United States, with most of the remainder in Western European countries.
The Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" is a music school in Mechelen, Belgium, that specializes in the carillon. It is the first and largest carillon school in the world. The Belgian government defines it as an "International Higher Institute for the Carillon Arts under the High Protection of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola". The school has trained many of the foremost carillonneurs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and houses a rich archive and library.
Frobenius is a Danish firm of organ builders.
Martin Borch (1 March 1852 – 8 February 1937) was a Danish architect.
Esbjerg is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is 71 kilometres (44 mi) west of Kolding and 164 kilometres (102 mi) southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,921 it is the fifth-largest city in Denmark, and the largest in West Jutland.
Denmark and Germany are full members of NATO and of the European Union. The border between the countries, which lies in the Schleswig region, has changed several times through history, the present border was determined by referendums in 1920. The Danish-German border area has been named as a positive example for other border regions. Substantial minority populations live on both sides of the border, and cross-border cooperation activities are frequently initiated.
Gordon Frederick Slater is a Canadian carillonneur, conductor, bassoonist and organist. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music of the University of Toronto, he is best known for holding the position of Dominion Carillonneur of Canada from 1977 to 2008. He is only the fourth person to have held that post since its inception in 1927, performing daily recitals on the carillon in the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's national capital.
Sankt Annæ Gade is a street in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It connects the main harbourfront at Asiatisk Plads in the west to Christianshavn Rampart in the east via the Snorrebroen bridge. Church of Our Saviour is located in the street.
Frederik Christian Rosenkrantz was a Danish noble, statesman and a wealthy landowner.
Blegdamsvej is a street in Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Sankt Hans Torv in Nørrebro to Trianglen in Østerbro. The busy artery Fredensgade separates the Nørrebro and Østerbro sections of the street from each other. The north side of the street is dominated by the Panum Building and Rigshospitalet, located on either side of Tagensvej.
Ronald Montague Barnes was an American carillonist, composer, and musicologist. He first began playing the carillon as a teenager at his hometown's church. In 1952, at 24 years old, he was appointed to play the carillon at the University of Kansas, where he developed as a musician. He was later the carillonist for the Washington National Cathedral from 1963 to 1975 and the University of California, Berkeley, from 1982 until his retirement in 1995. He was an involved member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, having served as its president, vice president, and several other roles.
Mary Mesquita Dahlmer was an American carillonneur, the first to be employed as one in the United States, and the first woman carillonneur in North America.
Nora Violet Johnston was an English carillonneur and inventor, and one of only two female carillonneurs active in England during the first half of the twentieth century.
Sally Slade Warner was a leading American carillonneur, carillon composer and arranger, and a church organist. She played the carillon at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and the former carillon at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
The De Gruytters carillon book is a manuscript notebook that the Dutch Baroque musician Joannes de Gruytters used for performance on the carillon of the city of Antwerp. It contains 194 pieces of music, mostly arrangements and a few original compositions, in the form of marches, gavottes, arias, gigues, preludes, and minuets, among others.
The Queen Fabiola Competition is an international music competition for carillon. It was established in 1987 by the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" to supersede the smaller annual competitions held in Belgium. Named after Queen Fabiola of Belgium, the competition's original patron, it was modeled after the Queen Elizabeth Competition. Its establishment was supported by the Flemish Government, Antwerp Province, and the city of Mechelen.