Jan van Gilse

Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (died 1944)

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Born: May 11, 1881
Died: September 8, 1944
Zodiac sign: Taurus
Birth year: 1881

About Jan van Gilse

Jan Pieter Hendrik van Gilse (11 May 1881 – 8 September 1944) was a Dutch conductor and composer. Among his works are five symphonies and the Dutch-language opera Thijl (1940). == Life == Coming from a family of theologians, Jan van Gilse showed an early aptitude for piano playing and composing. From 1897 onwards, he studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After his teacher, Franz Wüllner, died in 1902, he continued his studies with Engelbert Humperdinck in Berlin. From 1909 to 1911, he studied in Italy. In 1901, van Gilse received the Beethoven-Haus Prize in Bonn for his (First) Symphony in F major; in 1906, the Michael Beer Prize was awarded to him for his Third Symphony, 'Erhebung' ('Elevation'; for solo soprano and orchestra). In addition to composing, van Gilse soon developed an interest in conducting. He started out with the Bremen Opera, a post which was followed by appointments in Munich and Amsterdam. After the outbreak of the First World War made travel difficult, he moved back to the Netherlands.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The German label CPO has recorded his four completed symphonies, with plans under way to record the opera Thijl in the near future, all under the direction of conductor David Porcelijn.
In 1901, van Gilse received the Beethoven-Haus Prize in Bonn for his (First) Symphony in F major; In 1906, the Michael Beer Prize was awarded to him for his Third Symphony, 'Erhebung' ('Elevation'; for soprano solo and orchestra).
During World War II, van Gilse became actively involved with the resistance movement against the German occupation of the Netherlands.

The world when Jan van Gilse was born

Jan van Gilse was born in 1881. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

Top headlinePresident Garfield assassinated
Technology milestoneFirst electric power plant (Godalming, England)
World population~1.41B

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderJames A. Garfield / Chester A. Arthur
U.S. population51.0M

1881 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jan van Gilse's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1881	2026
Population	51.0M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.