Finn Høffding

Niels Finn Høffding (10 March 1899 in Copenhagen – 3 March 1997 in Copenhagen) was a Danish composer. Høffding studied composition under Knud Jeppesen and Thomas Laub, and then under Joseph Marx in Vienna from 1921-22. His works first became well known in Denmark in the 1920s, particularly the piece Karlsvognen (chorus and orchestra, 1924). He began to study folk music about 1930, and founded the Copenhagen School of Folk Music in 1931. From 1931 he also taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he served as director after 1954. In 1956 and 1958 he was awarded the Nielsen Prize. His pupils include Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Vagn Holmboe, Bent Lorentzen, and Leif Thybo. See: List of music students by teacher: G to M#Finn Høffding.

In addition to composing, Høffding also wrote several theoretical treatises.

Works

Note:This list is incomplete

Opera

• Kejserens nye klæder (1928)
• Kilderejsen (1942)

Choral

• 4 DIAPSALMATA (Søren Kierkegaard words, four diapsalmata (aphorism) from Either/Or vol. I. 1977
• Karlsvognen (chorus and orchestra, 1924)
• Christofer Columbus (1937)
• Kantate til Det kongelinge danske Musikkonservatoriums drsfest (1948)
• Giordano Bruno (1968)

Orchestral

• Symphony No. 1 "Sinfonia impetuosa" (1923)
• Symphony No. 2 "Il canto liberato" (1924)
• Symphony No. 3 (1928)
• Symphony No. 4 "Sinfonia concertante" (1934)
• Fantasia concertante (1965)

Chamber music

• String Quartet No. 1 (1920)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1925)
• Wind Quintet (1940)

Further reading

• Jens Staubrand, Kierkegaard International Bibliography Music Works and Plays, Copenhagen 2009. In English and Danish. ISBN 978-87-92510-05-1
• Don Randel, The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, Harvard, 1996, pp. 385–386. ISBN 9780674372993.