Musikforeningen in Copenhagen was Denmark's most important concert venue in the 19th century. It operated from 1838 to 1931 but it was especially under the leadership of Niels Gade (1850–90) that it became a meeting place for the city's music life with its own symphony orchestra and choir. Carl Nielsen was director from 1915–27. Other leaders included Franz Gläser, Emil Hartmann and Franz Neruda.

Niels Wilhelm Gade was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day, in the period known as the Danish Golden Age.