Andreas Berggreen

Andreas Peter Berggreen (2 March 1801, Copenhagen – 8 November 1880, Copenhagen) was a Danish composer and music educator.

He grew up at Frederiksborg Castle, where his grandfather served, and began his musical activities there, singing and playing the flute. By the age of thirteen he was already composing songs and flute melodies. He later received some professional training under C. E. F. Weise, but remained largely self-taught.

In the 1830s Berggreen worked as a music critic and twice attempted to found his own music journal; during the second attempt, in 1845, he titled the publication “Hejmdal,” after a deity of the Old Norse pantheon. From 1838 he served as organist at the Church of the Trinity in Copenhagen.

From 1843 he taught singing at the Metropolitanskolen, one of Denmark’s most prestigious secondary schools. In 1859 he became singing inspector in the Danish Ministry of Education, a post he held until his death. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Copenhagen in 1878.

Berggreen’s output includes vocal and choral works, including pieces written for court occasions, as well as theatrical music and organ pieces. His greatest recognition came from collecting and arranging folk material, especially the anthology “Folk Songs and Melodies” (Folkesange og Melodier, 1842–1847), which was expanded to eleven volumes for its second edition (1861–1871). He was buried at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen.

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