Svend Schultz

Svend Schultz

Biography

Svend S. Schultz (30 December 1913, Nykøbing Falster, Denmark - 6 June 1998) was a Danish composer, educator and conductor.

Schultz graduated from upper secondary school in 1933. He entered the Royal Danish Academy of music the same year, with piano as his principal subject, where he was greatly influenced by his studies in orchestration and composition with Poul Schierbeck. While at the Danish Academy, The Young Tone Artists Society performed many of Schultz’s early works, and he held his own composition recital immediately following his graduation in 1938.

During the subsequent years, Schultz worked as a music teacher and from 1942 to 1949, as a music critic for the Danish newspaper Politiken. Moreover, he distinguished himself as an influential choral director. In 1949, he was appointed conductor and instructor of The Danish National Radio Choir, a position he held for over 30 years. Under his tutelage, the choir was highly praised for their presentations of both classic and modern literature. Schultz’s high standards for vocal timbre and diction became the model for amateur choirs through the nation.

As a composer, Svend S. Schultz is particularly known for his choral works and his arrangements of Danish songs. He also enjoyed a great deal of success as an opera composer. His one-act opera Bryllupsreise (1951) was given an extensive concert tour and his opera Høst (1950) received a televised broadcast. Schultz was lesser known for his many instrumental works (e.g., five symphonies and ten string quartets), of which only a few were published and almost none are available in modern recordings.

Works for Winds

• Divertimento (1961)

Resources

• Svend S. Schultz. Wikipedia Accessed 5 November 2021