Abrahamsen, Erik (Schack Olufsen)

(b Brande, Jutland, 9 April 1893; d Copenhagen, 17 Feb

1949). Danish musicologist. After studying at the Royal Danish
Conservatory of Music (191013), where he graduated as an
organist, he was organist and choirmaster at the Luther Church
(191424) and head of the music division of the Copenhagen Royal
Library (191621). As a student he attended Hammerich's lectures in
music history at Copenhagen University (there was no degree
course in music history until 1915) and in 1917 he became the first
MA in musicology in Denmark, graduating with a dissertation on the
transition from Catholic to Protestant liturgy in Denmark in the 16th
and 17th centuries. During his years at the Royal Library he began to
study its large collection of Latin liturgical fragments on the basis of
which he tried to reconstruct the Danish medieval liturgy and to
provide a demonstration of Peter Wagners theory of the two
traditions, Roman and Germanic, of Gregorian chant. He submitted
this as a doctoral dissertation to the university in 1921, but when
Hammerich retired (1922) and no successor was appointed,
Abrahamsen submitted it instead to Wagner at the University of
Fribourg, where he was awarded the doctorate in 1923. In 1924 he
was appointed senior lecturer in music at the University of
Copenhagen and subsequently became the first Danish professor of
musicology (1926), with responsibility for organizing and directing the
study of music in the university and for establishing the musicology
institute, which led him to take an active interest in music education
at the broadest level. He gained first-hand experience of its problems
by teaching music in St Jrgens Gymnasium (192843); he was also
a frequent and popular broadcaster on music on Danish radio, and
music critic of theNationaltidende (19349) and the Berlingske
tidende (193949). His later books all represent varied attempts to
convey elementary musical information and an explanation of
music's place in society to the general reader, while also discussing
important problems for the professional music teacher. He
maintained his earlier scholarly interests by collaborating in the
preparation of the valuable editions En klosterbog fra middelalderens
slutning (1933) and Niels Jespersns Gradual 1573 (1935) and of

the melodies toDanmarks gamle folkeviser (193576).

WRITINGS
Liturgisk musik i den danske Kirke efter
Reformationen (Copenhagen, 1919)
Elments romans et allemands dans le chant grgorien et la
chanson populaire en Danemark (diss., U. of Fribourg, 1923;
Copenhagen, 1923)
Tonekunsten (Copenhagen, 1927)
Musik og samfund (Copenhagen, 1941)
Hvem er musikalsk? (Copenhagen, 1943)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J.P. Larsen: Erik Abrahamsen, Festskrift udgivet af
Kbenhavns Universitet (1949), 17883
JOHN BERGSAGEL