Danish Composer Jacob Gade and His Tango Jealousie

I attended last Saturday Great Performance, Faroe Islands and Denmark as part of Month of April Travel Series here at THD( see program above). The highlight of the evening presentation was Carl Nielsen, Symphony #4, The Inextinguishable.  The last 2 two minutes of the piece featuring a drum solo was to me, the most moving piece of music ever played. 

The program made me curious. So I searched for Danish most popular music.  I was shock and very much surprise to learn that the Tango Jealousie composed by Danish Jacob Cade was cited as the most popular light classical music from Denmark. 

I thought that the tango piece was originally from Argentina- The Land of the Tango. I am mistaken and this incident shows that you are never too old to learn new things.

The Tango Jealousie ( Jealousy) as well as La Cumparsita were the two tango pieces that my father  (RIP) used to teach us ( me, my brother and cousins) dance the tango when we were teenagers in the mid 1940's just after the Japanese- American War In the Philippines.  So today, I can still dance the Tango and of course the Cha Cha, the Rumba and the Jitterbug. 

Here's a video of the Tango Jealousie by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, composed by Jacob Gade, conducted by Clemens Schuldt and performed by solo violinist, Christina Astrand.     

https://youtu.be/ELDZ67kkYfM?si=moyhLaZnKQGmRCiE

Here's a short biography of the composer Jacob Gade and the Piece Tango Jealousie from Wikipedia:

Jacob Thune Hansen Gade (29 November 1879 – 20 February 1963) was a Danish violinist and composer, mostly of orchestral popular music. He is remembered today for a single tune, Jalousie (also known as Jalousie "Tango Tzigane" and Tango Jalousie).

Recordings

In 1998 Dacapo Recordings published a record with a part of his works—some unpublished—performed by the Odense Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Mathias Aeschbacher featuring the soloist Bjarne Hansen on violin. Critics commented: «It is incredible that an unknown and so good music has been displayed because of the popularity of “Jealousy”».

Written to accompany the silent era blockbuster Son of Zorro when Gade was leader of the orchestra of the Palads Cinema, the tango premiered on 14 September 1925 and was an instant international hit including the Philippines👫. When talkies were introduced it was featured in numerous films.

Music composition

The royalties allowed Gade to devote himself to composition full-time for the rest of his life. Arthur Fiedler made the first recording of the piece with the Boston Pops in 1935, further increasing Gade's income. The royalties now fund a foundation for young musicians.

As a symphony composer Gade did not fare as well. In an interview two years before his death, Fiedler recalled that Gade came especially to Boston to thank him for the recording. Gade also presented Fiedler with a score of a symphony which Fiedler recalled as "one of the worst pieces of music I ever looked at".

Here's a video of the Tango Dance with The music Jealousy. The music and dance reminds me of many pleasant memories of my late father and my teenager years in Barotac Viejo. Iloilo, Philippines in the mid-1940's.  

https://youtu.be/a3MnLeeMGfU?si=YJvC_gvtFhcRnoHl

Again, I would never have thought in a thousand years that the Great Performance Presentation, Denmark here at THD would led me to many pleasant memories of my younger years because of Danish Jacob Gade, composition of Tango Jealousie.  The tune of Tango Jealousy is still linger on my memory...Thank You Galen for this Month Travel Series. I am hoping and lobbying that our June travel series would be the Philippines to celebrate Philippine Heritage Month here in the US.