Aage Oxenvad

Aage Oxenvad (16 January 188413 April 1944) was a Danish clarinetist who played in the Royal Danish Orchestra from 1909. Carl Nielsen wrote his Clarinet Concerto for Oxenvad who played at its premiere in 1928.

Early life Aage Oxenvad was born in the little village of Gettrup, in southern Jutland on 16 January 1884. As a child, he played the flute for dances with his father, the local musician, until he took up the clarinet when he was 12. He travelled every two weeks to Copenhagen to study with Carl Skjerne, the solo clarinetist with the Royal Danish Orchestra, who had studied under Richard Mühlfeld. Oxenvad studied at the Royal Conservatory (1903–1905) and for a short period in Paris.

Career Oxenvad joined the Royal Danish Orchestra in 1909 where he was the first to play the Boehm clarinet rather than the Oehler which Skjerne preferred. He was solo clarinetist from 1919 until his death in 1944. In an interview published in connection with his 60th birthday, Oxenvad explained he preferred living in a small house in the suburbs rather than in a flat in the centre where he worked. There he could chat with the local farmers and keep his own garden. He described the clarinet as "a living being, and must be treated like a woman, with a gentle yet firm hand...also unpredictable, like a woman...the clarinet is somber and expressive, and it possesses passion..." Oxenvad also greatly admired Carl Nielsen: "I loved Carl Nielsen above all...he is Denmark's greatest composer." Perhaps the affinity was based on their similar roots, both being brought up by poor parents living in the country. The first public performance of Nielsen's Wind Quintet by the Copenhagen Wind Quintet was on 9 October 1922.