Anti-German feeling
Suspicion of foreigners is nothing new - neither in Denmark - and Kunzen's problem was his German origin. Kunzen's Holger the Dane opera - with libretto by Jens Baggesen - was a great success at its première at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1789 and the two young authors had naturally expected thanks and recognition for their work. But things were to be very different. Sparked by hatred for the Germans and petty jealousies, those in positions of influence came out and opposed the opera, which was in the event only performed six times. This débâcle did not however prevent the ordinary Copenhagener from liking the opera, a fact confirmed by one eyewitness who wrote: People learnt many of the pieces (from the opera) by heart straightaway ... and during the winter of 1789 you could hear these tunes - like folk songs - sung on all the streets and thoroughfares of Copenhagen as well as at guard parades."
Just like film
Magic was the height of fashion at the time - Mozart's Magic Flute was given its Copenhagen première two years later. In the case of Holger the Dane, things went so far that something approaching magic - or modern film technique, dissolving one scene into another - was required to carry out the scene changes. It was daring stuff - almost too much so!
The music survives
The quality of the music in the opera has never been contested. And many people consider Holger the Dane to be the first romantic opera ever written.
Finn Gravesen is an author and editor, his latest work being "Who owns the music?" ("Hvem ejer musikken?") (2006) commissioned by the Ministry of Culture.
Holger the Dane (Holger Danske). By Nicolai Abildgaard. Statens Museum for Kunst.