Else Marie Pade: From WWII Prisoner to Denmark's First Female Electronic Composer

Else Marie Pade, born in Denmark, was a sickly child who spent long periods confined to bed due to frequent kidney inflammations, finding solace in radio listening. During the Nazi occupation of Denmark in World War II, she spat on marching German soldiers and fled into the Danish Resistance, distributing underground newspapers and training with explosives to sabotage enemy telephone lines. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1944, she was held in solitary confinement, where she vowed to dedicate her life to music if she survived. She began composing by scratching staves on her cell wall with a garter belt fastener, and the camp commandant arranged for the Red Cross to supply her with music paper and writing utensils. Transferred to Frøslevlejren internment camp, she reunited with her piano teacher Karen Brieg, who had recruited her into the Resistance. There, Pade wrote Danish songs for a three-part women's choir and schlager ballads to earn money for future music studies. After the war, she studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, initially aiming to become a pianist. A 1952 Danmarks Radio broadcast on Pierre Schaeffer's musique concrète redirected her career. She went on to compose A Day at Dyrehavsbakken, Denmark's first electronic musique concrète work, and studied with pioneers Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Ligeti, and Pierre Boulez. A compilation of her music from 1985 to 1995 showcases her innovative soundscapes inspired by everyday noises.