Jan Maegaard was a Danish composer and musicologist. He studied piano, bass, composition and music theory at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and continued his studies at the University of Copenhagen. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1972 with for his thesis examining Schönberg and twelve-tone technique. During his studies, he gave lectures at the Royal Danish Academy of Music 1953-1958, then at the University between 1961 and 1996 and from 1971 as professor. Additionally he was a guest professor at a number of universities in the USA between 1974 and 1981.
Maegaard wrote several books and articles about his theories and results, and thus, he has had considerable influence on Danish music since the 1950s. His compositions are influenced by his studies in twelve-tone technique. His most known works are Jævndøgnselegi ("Equinox Elegy”) (1956), music for the performances of the Sofokles tragedy Antigone(1967), the violin concerto Triptykon (1983) and his Cello Concerto (1993).
