Eyvind Rafn was born in Copenhagen in 1931 and studied with Holger Gilbert-Jespersen at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and with Severino Gazzelloni in Rome. Since 1955 he has been a member of the Royal Danish Orchestra, from 1956 as a principal. He has appeared as a soloist at frequent concerts at home and abroad.

Esther Vagning (1905-86, piano) made her debut after studying with the legendary pianist Agnes Adler in Copenhagen in 1928. This was in the Tivoli Concert Hall, and since then she gave innumerable concerts in Denmark and abroad, as a soloist and not least as a chamber musician playing with several generations of the best known Scandinavian artists. Esther Vagning also worked as a lecturer at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.

Born near Hanover, Kuhlau settled in Denmark in 1810 as a pianist and composer, winning an important position in Danish music of the period and a reputation as a concert pianist. Much of his music was destroyed in a fire in 1832.

Stage Works

Kuhlau’s operas and incidental music show contemporary French and German influences in the age of Weber. His incidental music for Elverhøj (‘The Elf Hill’) was written in 1828 for royal wedding celebrations and makes use of Danish folk-melodies.

Chamber Music

In addition to his piano quartets and violin sonatas, Kuhlau left a larger quantity of music for the flute, an instrument he himself did not play. These compositions satisfied a contemporary demand and retain a place in present flute repertoire.