Nils Holger Petersen was born 1946 in Copenhagen. He took his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Copenhagen in 1969, followed by two years of post-graduate studies at the Institute of Mathematics in Oslo, Norway. He then undertook theological studies since 1972 and became vicar at the parish church of Lindevang in Copenhagen (The Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Church) 1974-1989. Simultaneous studies of theology at the University of Copenhagen (master’s thesis: a theological reading of music history, 1986), ph.d. student at the Institute of Church History (1990–93), ph.d. 1994 (dissertation on the liturgical origin and the genre of the medieval Latin music drama). 1993-1995: Research Fellow (sponsored by the Danish Research Council of the Humanities) at the newly established Centre for Christianity and the Arts at the Copenhagen Faculty of Theology with a project on medievalism in operas of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 1995: Research Lecturer at the Theological Faculty in Copenhagen. Since 2000: Associate Professor at the same institution. In addition, Visiting Professor in Medieval Liturgical Chant at the Centre for Medieval Studies at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway (1997–2002). 2002-2006: Appointed Centre leader at the Centre for the Study of the Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rituals, erected by The Danish National Research Foundation and the University of Copenhagen for a period of 4 years and 5 months.
Has participated in research collaborations in the Nordic Countries, and internationally, supported by funding from National and Nordic Research Councils. Has published on medieval liturgy and drama, music drama and theology, cultural history and theology, and medievalism.
Editor general of the Nordic journal: TRANSFIGURATION, Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kunst og Kristendom (established 1999 – published by Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen).
I have grown up in a family where music performance (including contemporary classical music) was an integrated part of life. I started composing music as a teenager, and later studied composition (privately) with the Danish composers Ib Nørholm and Per Nørgård. Public performance of music in several countries, CD-releases. Compositions include solo works for the piano as well as other instruments, chamber music, and 3 operas. One of these, A Vigil for Thomas Becket (1989) was first performed in 1990 (in Copenhagen), presented and partly performed at the international medievalism conference in Canterbury, England (1997), and re-performed in March 1998 (Copenhagen) at the bi-annual festival of the Composers’ Association. Compositions supported by the Danish Arts Foundation on several occasions. Awarded the Hakon Børresen memorial prize 1993.
List of publications
Petersen, N.H.:
Repræsentation og transsubstantiation. Definition og forståelse af en middelalderlig fromhedstradition. Passepartout. Skrifter for Kunsthistorie 25 (13. årg.), s. 68-79. 2005.
Østrem E., Bruun M.B., Petersen, N.H., Fleischer J.(eds.):
Genre and Ritual. The Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rituals.
Transfiguration: Nordic Journal of Christianity and the Arts 2003, 1-2, 336 s. Museum Tusculanum, København 2005.
Østrem E., Petersen, N.H.:
The Singing of Laude and Musical Sensibilities in Early Seventeenth-Century Confraternity Devotion: Part II.
Journal of Religious History Vol. 29, No. 2, s. 163-176. 2005.
Petersen, N.H.:
Carolingian Music, Ritual, and Theology. in: The Appearances of Medieval Rituals: The Play of Construction and Modification s. 13-31. Nils Holger Petersen, Mette Birkedal Bruun, Jeremy Thomas Llewellyn & Eyolf Østrem (eds.). Brepols, Turnhout 2004.
Petersen, N.H.:
Renaissance Rituals in a Florentine Lay Confraternity: Compagnia dell’arcangelo Raffaello. Analecta Romana Instituti Danici XXX, s. 153-160. 2004.
Petersen, N.H.:
Liturgical Drama: New Approaches. in: Bilan et perspectives des études médiévales (1993-1998): Euroconférence (Barcelone, 8-12 juin 1999). Textes et études du moyen âge, 22 s. 625-644. Jacqueline Hamesse (réd.). Brepols, Turnhout, Belgien 2004.
Petersen, N.H., Clüver C., Bell N.(eds.):
Signs of Change. Transformations of Christian Traditions and Their Representation in the Arts, 1000-2000. 490 s. Rodopi, Amsterdam 2004.
Petersen, N.H., Schwab, H.W.:
The Devotional Genre of the Hymn Around 1800. The Hallelujah of Creation. in: Signs of Change. Transformations of Christian Traditions and Their Representation in the Arts, 1000-2000 s. 427-452. Nils Holger Petersen, Claus Clüver, and Nicolas Bell (eds.). Rodopi, Amsterdam 2004.
Østrem E., Petersen, N.H.:
The Singing of Laude and Musical Sensibilities in Early Seventeenth-Century Confraternity Devotion: Part I. The Journal of Religious History Vol. 28, No. 3, Oct. 2004, s. 276-297. 2004.
Llewellyn J.T., Petersen N.H., Østrem E., Bohlin F., Nilsson Nylander E., Piltz A., Rydén T.(Udg.):
Liber Scole Virginis: En medeltida samling av Mariamusik i Lund. A Medieval Collection of Marian Music in Lund.
181 s. Universitetsbiblioteket i Lund, Lund, Sverige 2003.
Petersen N.H.:
Danielis ludus and the Latin Music Dramatic Traditions of the Middle Ages.
i: The Past in the Present (vol. 2) s. 291-307. László Dobszay (ed.). Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest 2003.
Petersen N.H.:
Les planctus d’Abélard et la tradition des drames liturgiques.
i: Pierre Abélard. Colloque international de Nantes s. 267-276. Jean Jolivet et Henri Habrias. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, Frankrig 2003.
Petersen N.H.:
The Representational Liturgy of the Regularis Concordia .
i: The White Mantle of Churches. Architecture, Liturgy, and Art around the Millennium s. 107-117. Nigel Hiscock. Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, Belgien 2003.
Petersen N.H.:
Reviewed: Emma Dillon: Medieval Music-Making and the «Roman de Fauvel»..
4s. The Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, www.hti.umich.edu/t/tmr, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA 2003.
Petersen N.H.:
Freedom, Oppression, and Celebration: Rossini’s Guillaume Tell.
i: Medievalism: The Year’s Work for 2001 s. 21-36. Gwendolyn Morgan. Studies in Medievalism, Bozeman, Montana, USA 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Lutheran Tradition and the Medieval Latin Mass.
i: The Arts and the Cultural Heritage of Martin Luther s. 35-49. Eyolf Østrem, Jens Fleischer og Nils Holger Petersen. Museum Tusculanums Forlag, København 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Liturgi som interartiellt fenomen.
i: Intermedialitet: Ord, bild och ton i samspel s. 119-127. Hans Lund. Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sverige 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Intermedial Strategy and Spirituality in the Emerging Opera: Gagliano’s La Dafne and Confraternity Devotion.
i: Cultural Functions of Intermedial Exploration s. 75-86. Erik Hedling and Ulla-Britta Lagerroth. Rodopi, Amsterdam 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Introductions.
i: The Arts and the Cultural Heritage of Martin Luther s. 9-18. Eyolf Østrem, Jens Fleischer og Nils Holger Petersen. Museum Tusculanums Forlag, København 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Opera og livstolkning.
Tro & Tanke 77, s. 39-53. 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Time and Divine Providence in Mozart’s Music.
i: Voicing the Ineffable s. 265-286. Siglind Bruhn. Pendragon Press, Hillsdale, New York, USA 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Ritual og teologi i J.P.E. Hartmann og H.C. Andersens Liden Kirsten (1846).
Transfiguration. Nordisk tidsskrift for Kunst og Kristendom årg. 3, nr. 2, s. 77-92. 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Religiöse Aktualisierung in Claudio Monteverdi’s dramatischer Kantate Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda.
i: Religion – Literatur – Künste II: Ein Dialog s. 347-357. Peter Tschuggnall. Verlag Ursula Müller-Speiser, Salzburg 2002.
Ø strem E., Fleischer J.E.C., Petersen N.H.(red.) Transfiguration: Nordic Journal of Christianity and the Arts:
The Arts and the Cultural Heritage of Martin Luther.
208 s. Museum Tusculanums Forlag, København 2002.
Petersen N.H.:
Sedit angelus ad sepulchrum: Reading the Words and Music of a Processional Easter Chant.
i: Cantus Planus. Papers Read at the 9th Meeting, Esztergom & Visegrád, Hungary, 1998 s. 611-24. Laszlo Dobszay. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Musicology, Budapest 2001.
Petersen N.H.:
Den dobbelte Jesus.
Transfiguration. Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kunst og Kristendom vol. 2, nr. 1, s. 115-117. 2000.
Petersen N.H.:
Les textes polyvalents du «Quem quaeritis» à Winchester au Xe siecle.
Revue de musicologie Vol. 86, nr. 1, s. 105-118. 2000.
Petersen N.H.:
Liturgy and Ambiguity in J.P.E. Hartmann and Hans Christian Andersen’s «Little Kirsten» (1846).
i: The Year’s Work in Medievalism, vol. X 1995 s. 50-62. James Gallant (ed.). Thomson-Shore, Inc., Holland, Michigan, USA 2000.
Petersen N.H.:
» Quem quaeritis in sepulchro?» The visit to the Sepulchre and Easter processions in Piacenza 65.
i: Il Libro del Meastro. Codice 65 dell’ archivio Capitolare della cattedrale di Piacenza (sec. XII) s. 109-122. Pierre Racine (red.). Tip.Le.Co.Editore, Piacenza (Italy) 1999.
Petersen N.H.:
Review of: Frank Hentschel, ed.: Musik – und die Geschichte der Philosophie und Naturwissenschaften im Mittelalter, Brill 1998.
The Medieval Review -, s. www.hti.umich.edu/b/bmr/tmr.. 1999.
Petersen N.H.:
Frihed og form hos Mozart.
Transfiguration – Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kunst og Kristendom 1, s. 117-139. 1999.
Petersen N.H.:
Review of Thomas E.A. Dale: Relies, prayer and Politics in medieval Venetia. Princeton 1997.
The early Drama, Art, and Music Review vol. 21 no. 2, s. 106-108. 1999.
Petersen N.H.:
Skal og kan salmer være moderne?
Hymnologiske Meddelelser vol. 28, nr. 2-3, s. 194-200. 1999.
Petersen N.H., Auken S., Fleischer J.E.C.:
Indledning til første nummer af tidsskriftet Transfiguration.
Transfiguration- Nordisk tidsskrift for kunst og kristendom 1, s. 7-19. 1999.
Petersen N.H.:
» In Rama sonat gemitus…». The Becket Story in a Danish Medievalist Music Drama. A Vigil for Thomas Becket.
i: Medievalism in the Modern World. Essays in Honour of Leslie J. Workman s. 341-358. Richard Utz, Tom Shippey (ed.). Brepols, Turnhout 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
A Mutual Lamenting: Mother and Son in «Filius Getronis».
i: Roma, magistra mundi. Itineraria culturae medievalis s. 687-701. Jacqueline Hamesse (éd.). Fédération Internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales/Homland Foundation, Louvain-La-Neuve 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
Understanding Medieval Chant and Liturgy.
i: Gregorian Chant and Medieval Music s. 139-50. Antun Dybdahl,Ola Kai Letang, Nils Holger Petersen. Tapir, Trondheim 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
The Musical and Liturgical Composition of Visitatio Sepulchri Offices.
i: Cantus Planus 1995. Papers read at the 7th Meeting, Sopron s. 451-462. Laszlo Dobszay (ed.). Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Musicology, Budapest 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
Messiaen’s «Saint Francois d’Assise» and Franciscan Spirituality.
i: Messiaen’s Language of Mystical Love. (Studies in contemporary music and culture, vol. I) s. 169-193. Siglind Bruhn (ed.). Garland Publishing, Inc., New York/London 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
Getrons søn: Den nære og fjerne middelalder.
i: Teologien i samfundet. Festskrift til Jens Glebe-Møller s. 369-384. Theodor Jørgensen, Peter K. Westergaard (red.). Anis, København 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
Composition and Local Planning of Liturgical Chant in the Middle Ages.
Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 39/2, s. 259-266. 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
» The Martyrdom of Saint Magnus» (1976). Biblisch-theologische und musikalisch-literarische Traditionen in der Oper von Peter Maxwell Davies.
i: Religion-Literatur-Künste. Aspekte eines Vergleichs s. 430-439. Peter Tschuggnall (Hrsg.). Verlag Müller-Speiser, Anif/Salzburg 1998.
Petersen N.H.:
King and Marshal: Ballad and Liturgy in a Danish Music Drama.
i: Medievalism in europe II. Studies in Medievalism, Vol. VIII s. 72-85. Leslie Workman, Kathleen Verduin. D.S. Brewer, Cambridge , Mass 1997.
Petersen N.H.:
Søren Kierkegaards Aesthiticist and Mozarts Don Giovanni.
i: Interart Poetics Essays on the Interrelations of the Arts and Media s. 167-76. Ulla-Britta Lagerroth, Hans Lund, Erik Hetling. Rotopi, Amsterdam 1997.
Petersen N.H., Cappelørn N.J., Koch C.H., Mortensen F.H.:
Kommentarer til Enten-eller. Første del.
i: Søren Kierkegaards skrifter. 5. Kommentarbind til enten-eller s. 85-243. Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, Joakim Garff, Johnny Kondrup, Alastair McKinnon, Finn Hauberg Mortensen. Gads Forlag, København 1997.
Petersen N.H.:
A newly discovered fragment of a visitatio sepulchri in Stockholm.
Comparative Drama Vol. 30, No.1, s. 32-40. 1996.
Petersen N.H.:
Liturgy and Musical Composition.
Studia Theologica, Scandinavian Journal of Theology Vol. 50, nr. 2, s. 125-143. 1996.
Petersen N.H.:
Liturgi og kunst.
i: Margrete 1. nordens frue og husbond kalmarunionen 600 år essays og udstillingskatalog s. 179-181. Poul Grinder-Hansen. Nationalmuseet, København 1996.
Petersen N.H.:
Liturgical representation and late medieval piety.
i: Liturgy and the arts in the middle ages. Studies in Honour of C. Clifford Flanigan s. 179-202. Museum Tusculanum, København 1996.
Petersen N.H., Lillie E.L.:
Liturgy and the arts in the middle ages. Studies in Honour of C. Clifford Flanigan.
249 s. Museum Tusculanum, København 1996.
Petersen N.H.:
Middelalderen og barndommens kirke. I anledning af: Jørgen I. Jensen: Den fjerne Kirke.
Hymnologiske Meddelelser 4, årg. 24, s. 227-233. 1995.
Petersen N.H.:
Passionsoratorium og -drama. I anledning af Peter Thyssen: Af kærlighed vil min frelser dø. Musik og kristendom i Johann Sebastian Bachs Matthæus-passion.
Hymnologiske Meddelelser 3, årg. 24, s. 162-170. 1995.
Petersen N.H.:
Another VISITATIO SEPULCHRI from Scandinavia.
The Early Drama, Art and Music Review Vol 14, no.1, s. 10-21. 1991.
Petersen N.H.:
Dramaet i gudstjenesten og gudstjenesten i dramaet?
Fønix Nr.4, s. 203-220. 1991.
Petersen N.H.:
Gudstjeneste som musikteater.
Hymnologiske Meddelelser Nr.1, s. 54-61. 1991.