Lorentz Christian Kragelund was a Danish composer, music director, and instrument maker of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born on September 26, 1825, and passed away on September 28, 1916, in Copenhagen.
Kragelund was a well-known figure in the cultural life of Copenhagen from the 1860s onward, serving as a music director for several popular entertainment venues and theaters in the Danish capital. In addition to conducting and composing, he operated a workshop at Nytorv 13 in Copenhagen, where he built and signed guitars. He achieved widespread popularity by composing melodies for the popular songs of his era; his most famous enduring work in Scandinavia is the song “Jomfru, vil De med i skoven”.
His Guitar Compositions
Kragelund’s guitar output is closely tied to the Danish guitar tradition of the 19th century. His most significant surviving work for the instrument is preserved in the renowned Swedish Boije Collection (Musik- och Teaterbiblioteket, Stockholm):
- “Etuder og Soloer for Guitar (med Fingersætning)” (Published by Petersen & Steenstrup, Copenhagen).
This volume was “arranged and partly composed” (arrangeret og tildels komponeret) by Kragelund himself. It includes:
- Didactic Etudes: Technical study pieces (such as the Etude in A minor, dedicated to Lieutenant Hans Bergh) written in the standard Western European classical style of the 19th century.
- Classical Arrangements: Transcriptions of contemporary guitar works, including selections from the award-winning etudes of Napoléon Coste (which won a prize in Brussels in 1856).
