Royal Danish Orchestra : The World's Oldest Orchestral Institution

Founded over 550 years ago, The Royal Danish Orchestra is the worlds oldest orchestral institution. Starting out as a trumpeter corps, the institution is today an opera and symphony orchestra based at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. Its long history is told in short, independent sections centred on the musicians: to date, over a thousand musicians have been employed in the orchestra. Among them, we discover colourful individuals sometimes also working as officers, entertainers and envoys for their employers who until 1849 were the Danish kings. Its members included world famous composers such as John Dowland, Heinrich Schütz, Niels W Gade and Carl Nielsen. The book is richly illustrated with a selection of the treasures of art that surround The Royal Danish Orchestra, presenting its everyday life as well as its members. There are paintings and drawings by artists such as C W Eckersberg, Louis Aumont, P S Krøyer, Michael Ancher, Erik Henningsen, Carlo Rosberg, Harald Isenstein and Henrik Bloch. Many of their works are here published for the first time.