Gunnar Heerup

Gunnar Heerup (Copenhagen, 1903 - Copenhagen, 1989) was a Danish writer on music and educator whose work focused on music education in his country. Born and died in the Danish capital, his career is useful for understanding how musical teaching was organised in Denmark throughout the twentieth century.

His training began with an organ diploma from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1924, and continued with studies in musicology at the University of Copenhagen, where he obtained his master's degree in 1928. He taught at the Copenhagen Choir School, founded by Mogens Wöldike, from 1929 to 1948, and later at Aurehøj Gymnasium and the teacher-training college, where he was appointed professor in 1969.

Heerup took a constant part in Danish pedagogical life as an author and editor of textbooks and articles, a member of the editorial board of the Folke- og Skolemusik series, and the founder and president of the Danish Society for Music Therapy in 1969. He edited the journal Dansk musiktidsskrift and, in 1929, published in it the first extensive study of Bartók's music in Scandinavia. During the war he edited Levende musik, a lively and often controversial publication that is remembered as one of his most significant contributions.