Jacob Gade

Jacob Gade was one of the most successful popular and light music composers in history. Paradoxically, the best-known example of that quintessentially Argentine dance form, the tango, was written by this Danish composer in Copenhagen. He had no formal training as a musician or composer, but learned to play folk fiddle and was successful as a country band fiddler and leader. (He has no relation to the leading Danish classical composer Niels W. Gade.) He became one of the best known figures in Copenhagen as a restaurant and theater bandleader. He composed many hit songs for sal...