Kayser, Leif

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Kayser, Leif

Kayser, Leif, Danish composer, pianist, and organist; b. Copenhagen, June 13, 1919. He studied at the Copenhagen Cons., and later took courses with Rosenberg in Stockholm. He then went to Rome, where he studied theology (1942-49), and was ordained a Catholic priest; later studied with Boulanger in Paris (1955). He served as chaplain at St. Ansgar church in Copenhagen (1949–64); in 1964, was appointed to the faculty of the Royal Danish Cons, of Music in Copenhagen. He wrote 4 syms. (1939, 1940, 1956, 1963), Christmas Oratorio (1943), Sinfonietta for Amateur Orch. (1967), Divertimento for 4 Recorders (1968), Organ Sonata, sacred choruses, etc.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire