1. Johan Severin Svendsen was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist.
12 Facts About Johan Svendsen
1. 2.
At one time Johan Svendsen was an intimate friend of the German composer Richard Wagner and Icelandic composer Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson.
3.
Johan Svendsen's father was a music teacher and military bandmaster, who taught him both the violin and clarinet.
4.
Johan Svendsen began playing in orchestras at age nine when he learned violin, and began composing by age eleven.
5.
Johan Svendsen began his studies with Ferdinand David, but problems with his hand forced him to switch to composition, which he studied with Carl Reinecke.
6.
Johan Svendsen completed his studies in Leipzig in 1867, receiving first prize in composition.
7.
Johan Svendsen was conductor of the Musical Society Concerts in Christiania, then spent three years in Germany, Italy, England and France.
8.
Johan Svendsen returned to teach and conduct in Kristiania.
9.
In stark contrast to his more famous contemporary and close friend, Edvard Grieg, Johan Svendsen was famous for his skill of orchestration rather than that of harmonic value.
10.
Johan Svendsen was very popular in Denmark and Norway during his lifetime, both as a composer and a conductor, winning many national awards and honors.
11.
Johan Svendsen's first published work, the String Quartet in A minor, Op.
12.
Johan Svendsen's works won prizes and received public performances to much acclaim.