Ibsen

The composer Thor Johannes Ibsen (*1899-?) was a trombonist and one of Anton Hansen's many pupils. He studied with Hansen during the period 1917–1925. He also taught himself and had, for a brief period, Denmark's answer to Tommy Dorsey – "Sweet Pete" – Peter Rasmussen as a pupil around 1921. Peter Rasmussen also took lessons with Hansen in 1934. Ibsen became a military musician and later chose to devote himself entirely to his work as a composer. From the Danish Radio's old programmes one can find his music played fairly frequently. A curious detail is that Ibsen's music often has a quality of something exotic and foreign about it. His inspiration certainly comes from further afield than Denmark – thus Serenade Lugubre is decidedly inspired by warmer climes. That Ibsen's sources of inspiration ranged far and wide is revealed by a radio program on 25 January 1931, in which an entire programme with the DRSO under the baton of Emil Reesen was devoted to his music inspired by the Sámi people, Lapland, and joik (traditional Sámi song). In Jørgen Balzer's biography of Danish composers, Ibsen's modest output is listed as Lapland Suite and a number of songs. The material is from Anton Hansen's handwritten manuscripts, held at the Royal Danish Library.