Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau (11 September 1786 – 12 March 1832) was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age.
He is immortalized in Danish cultural history through his music for Elverhøj, the first true work of Danish National Romanticism and a concealed tribute to the absolute monarchy. To this day it is Kuhlau's version of this melody which is the definitive arrangement.
During his lifetime, he was known primarily as a concert pianist and composer of Danish opera, but was responsible for introducing many of Beethoven's works, which he greatly admired, to Copenhagen audiences. Considering that his house burned down destroying all of his unpublished manuscripts, he was a prolific composer leaving more than 200 published works in most genres.
