Background
Hilda Sehested was born in Funen, Denmark, of parents Niels Frederik Bernhard Sehested (1813-1882), an archeologist, and Charlotte Christine Linde (1819-1894).
Hilda Sehested was born in Funen, Denmark, of parents Niels Frederik Bernhard Sehested (1813-1882), an archeologist, and Charlotte Christine Linde (1819-1894).
She studied music with C.F.E. Hornemann in Copenhagen and later with Louise Aglaé Massart in Paris. She studied organ with Ludvig Birkedal-Barfod and composition with Orla Rosenhoff, and began composing at the age of 30.
She became engaged to archaeologist and museum director Henry Petersen there, but he died before the wedding. Shocked by his death, Sehested took a job as a nurse for a while and then as a church organist, and eventually returned to composing. She died in Copenhagen.