With “Elverskud” (“The Erl-Kings Daughter”), Gade presented his second “secular cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra”, the first having been his successful “Comala” Op. 12 (1845/46). The genre was quite popular among his contemporaries. This time, Gade planned to base the work on the text of a folk song. Originally, he had approached Hans Christian Andersen for a text but a collaboration did not materialize. The text Gade ultimately chose for his music was that of a ballad most likely penned by Emil Erslev and Gade himself. A German translation by Edmund Lobedanz was added at a later time.<br>
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The composition, started in 1851 and finished in March of 1854, soon became an international success and one of Gade’s most-performed works. In 1864, the composer made a number of changes to the instrumentation. While the new version was subsequently used for all performances conducted by Gade, the changes were never incorporated into the printed edition of the score. This edition is the first to present this 1864 version.<br>