Topic: Nørgård's Niche

[DieNacht]

Wait, there's an 8th symphony???

The 8th is mentioned in reply #115.


These drawings by Nørgård were made when he was 11 years old, for some early musical tales of his:



They can be found on the Nørgård website, which has recently been re-installed. It has a very detailed & interesting biography section, but stops around the year 2000.

http://www.pernoergaard.dk/index.html

[raduneo]

YES !
 

It depends : it's easier than Carter or Lutosławski for ex.



Very good selection ! I love all these pieces ! Just a little question : which harp concertos are you refering to ?

I am reffering to "Through Thorns" and "King, Queen, and Ace". Two pieces that I do not get are his first two Symphonies, and as I mentionned before his fifth, which for me is more difficult than anything Lutoslawski wrote. (by the way I LOVE both Carter and Lutoslawski)

[kentel]

I am reffering to "Through Thorns" and "King, Queen, and Ace".

That's what I thought, but they are not labelled "Harp Concertos" (actually I whish he wrote a real harp concerto...)

Two pieces that I do not get are his first two Symphonies, and as I mentionned before his fifth, which for me is more difficult than anything Lutoslawski wrote. (by the way I LOVE both Carter and Lutoslawski)

Good taste indeed !

Nørgård's Fifth is not the easiest thing to listen to, even in the context of his own production, but I don't find it excessively difficult. Keep trying !

[lescamil]

That's what I thought, but they are not labelled "Harp Concertos" (actually I whish he wrote a real harp concerto...)

Actually, 'Through Thorns' is called 'Harp Concerto No. 2' by some people, so I assume that would make 'King, Queen, and Ace' his 'Harp Concerto No. 1'? They're close enough, I guess.

[raduneo]

Does anyone know anything about his Accordion Concerto? It was written in 1968 (revised in 1977).

It can be found on this disc, which was just released in March, along with three other Danish Accordion Concertos!

http://www.amazon.com/Accordion-Concertos-Schmidt/dp/B007C7FE5U/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1332469732&sr=1-1

(here's the interview with the soloist/conductor if you're interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VS0GVvwfTc )

[CRCulver]

Does anyone know anything about his Accordion Concerto? It was written in 1968 (revised in 1977).

It's written in a sort of pastiche style, making lots of reference to the Romantic tradition. It is not in the same style as his psychedelic works of the same era.

[DieNacht]

The previously mentioned early drawing series and some early texts by Nørgård, his brother Bent Nørgård and Adolf Wölffli form the basis of a kabaret being performed in Copenhagen from April 21st, called "TECNI - en Kaos Kabaret". It is mainly based on a tale of Nordic viking gods visiting the New York of the 1950s. The poet Ursula Andkjær Olsen and the director Jakob F. Schokking are also contributing. According to reports, the style is simple and partly reflects Nørgård´s teenage fascination with contemporary American popular culture.

some links:
http://www.snyk.dk/nyheder/n%C3%B8rg%C3%A5rds-tecni-genskabt-som-kaos-kabaret (Danish only)
http://www.figura.dk/video.6?sort=most_watched&vid=b8y7t-OSt-Q (you-tube trailer video)
http://www.figura.dk/nyheder1.6?n=17405

Given the general interest in Nørgård, there is no doubt that the cabaret will receive more attention from the media and probably as a release of DVD or the like.

[CRCulver]

There is a recent interview with Nørgård where he lays out the basis of the Symphony No. 8, to be premiered in Helsinki in September. It is in Danish, but perhaps one could run it through Google Translate.

[snyprrr]

I was listening to the first movement of Symphony No.6 during the 'milder' sections of our weekend storm. Frankly, this is music made for listening to at the end of a pier during a storm like the one we had the other week! The peculiar percussion sounds are obviously meant to mimic the sounds of roofs coming off during a hurricane, or the pounding of raindrops. I just don't see the point of playing this on a nice day. It does make me want to go to the beach though,... it does seem specifically 'ocean' music, as opposed to the 'jungle' music of the 7th. Yea, I'd play this on a nice day at the beach,... with a nice breeze to cut all this humidity,... oh,... oh yes, Norgard ,... anyway, yes, weather music!

[katewishing]

There was a concert for Nørgård's 80th birthday on July 13th. The recordings are available on dr.dk (click the first link in the "Hør musikken" box to listen):

Nine Friends, for 9 instruments
Cello Concerto No. 2, "Momentum"
Trip Trap, for cello
"A Rose Leaf" and "Grooving", for piano
Solo Intimo, for cello

[Cato]

There was a concert for Nørgård's 80th birthday on July 13th. The recordings are available on dr.dk (click the first link in the "Hør musikken" box to listen):

Nine Friends, for 9 instruments
Cello Concerto No. 2, "Momentum"
Trip Trap, for cello
"A Rose Leaf" and "Grooving", for piano
Solo Intimo, for cello

Wow!  Many thanks to KateWishing for these!  I will look into them soon!

[mjwal]

As I re-listened to the 6th symphony the other day - I do not know the 7th - and was slightly perplexed, since I could not "make it cohere" any more than the last time, despite being continuously interested and diverted by the sounds and sequences (yes, I know, my failure), I was intrigued to come to this thread and find the link to the Cello Concerto on Danish Radio. I will say immediately that I was knocked out by it, and immediately listened to it again. It seems to describe a "formèd trace" in the air, from tentative reflective beginnings through a post-Bartókian wildness to a questing yet somehow appeased luminosity that is rare nowadays. Especially in that last movement I felt I was hearing the true voice of feeling in some folk or popular song that the cello and ensemble were scraping clean of its accumulated barnacles of sentimentality: Superb. Thank you so much for that link, katewishing - I might have missed this masterpiece!

[snyprrr]

As I re-listened to the 6th symphony the other day - I do not know the 7th - and was slightly perplexed, since I could not "make it cohere" any more than the last time, despite being continuously interested and diverted by the sounds and sequences (yes, I know, my failure), I was intrigued to come to this thread and find the link to the Cello Concerto on Danish Radio. I will say immediately that I was knocked out by it, and immediately listened to it again. It seems to describe a "formèd trace" in the air, from tentative reflective beginnings through a post-Bartókian wildness to a questing yet somehow appeased luminosity that is rare nowadays. Especially in that last movement I felt I was hearing the true voice of feeling in some folk or popular song that the cello and ensemble were scraping clean of its accumulated barnacles of sentimentality: Superb. Thank you so much for that link, katewishing - I might have missed this masterpiece!

Find a pier in a storm. Sit down and listen to the 6th. It will make sense. It's weather music; the 7th is jungle music; what is the 8th?

[mjwal]

Find a pier in a storm. Sit down and listen to the 6th. It will make sense. It's weather music; the 7th is jungle music; what is the 8th?

Trouble is, snyprr, not all of us have your advanced meteorological faculty for sussing out music. I very seldom associate visually when listening. Even the prelude to Walküre Act 1 does not make me think of an actual storm. So I will probably not think of Tarzan & Cheetah when I hear the 7th 
Also: no piers round here.

[edward]

Trouble is, snyprr, not all of us have your advanced meteorological faculty for sussing out music. I very seldom associate visually when listening. Even the prelude to Walküre Act 1 does not make me think of an actual storm. So I will probably not think of Tarzan & Cheetah when I hear the 7th 
Also: no piers round here.

To me, not so much a storm as sheer elemental power, rising up from the bass register in the orchestra. I love the work a lot--it's probably my favourite of the symphonies after the 3rd--but it seems to be a work that many find tough to enjoy. (It's possible that the coupling on the Chandos disc, Terrains vagues, might be illuminating. Rhetorically it operates in similar areas, but it is arguably simpler and less forbidding.)

Random link I just spotted while looking at the Guardian:

Tom Service on Norgard - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2012/jul/30/per-norgard-contemporary-music-guide

[mjwal]

To me, not so much a storm as sheer elemental power, rising up from the bass register in the orchestra. I love the work a lot--it's probably my favourite of the symphonies after the 3rd--but it seems to be a work that many find tough to enjoy. (It's possible that the coupling on the Chandos disc, Terrains vagues, might be illuminating. Rhetorically it operates in similar areas, but it is arguably simpler and less forbidding.)

Random link I just spotted while looking at the Guardian:

Tom Service on Norgard - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2012/jul/30/per-norgard-contemporary-music-guide

Thank you - good short intro. There is a longer and more penetrating one in German, if you read that language, by Christopher Schlüren here:
http://www.musikmph.de/rare_music/composers/m_r/norgard_per/1.html
I am going to listen to 4, 5 & 6 in sequence again soon - and when I get back to my main collection to 7, which I had said I do not know, d'oh! Of course, it's coupled with another recording of 3, my memory is really becoming a problem. Perhaps because I didn't get my head around the 7th at first hearing and found the 3rd less intense as an interpretation than I had expected.

[snyprrr]

Trouble is, snyprr, not all of us have your advanced meteorological faculty for sussing out music. I very seldom associate visually when listening. Even the prelude to Walküre Act 1 does not make me think of an actual storm. So I will probably not think of Tarzan & Cheetah when I hear the 7th 
Also: no piers round here.

With the 6th, I found it very obvious: the Chandos cover has a pier in a storm, and, seriously, the music is full of sounds that DO just sound like wind pounding up against, for instance, a metal sheet. Yes, or elemental.

And those tom toms in the 7th, along with the others sounds which sound ling long roots of giant trees, really give me a similiar, but totally different, impresion than 6.

[mjwal]

With the 6th, I found it very obvious: the Chandos cover has a pier in a storm, and, seriously, the music is full of sounds that DO just sound like wind pounding up against, for instance, a metal sheet. Yes, or elemental.

And those tom toms in the 7th, along with the others sounds which sound ling long roots of giant trees, really give me a similar, but totally different, impression than 6.

Damn, I just didn't look at the cover - in general LPs were better to look at - in fact, I rarely do unless it shows a) a naked woman b) a painting by Klee or Miró c) fruit - (my fave LP record cover was Peter Maxwell Davies' Salome ballet, but that VU LP was fine, too).
Seriously, they DO "just sound like" etc TO YOU. If I have - very occasionally - referential associations like that while listening, I've forgotten by the end. Even Also sprach Zarathustra doesn't make me think of spaceships or Persian prophets.

[CRCulver]

Nørgård's Symphony No. 8 was premiered tonight in Helsinki by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under John Storgårds. The piece will be performed again tomorrow as well, so at 1900 on Thursday, September 20 the concert will be streamed on Finnish radio (Radio 1 and YLE Areena).

If anyone is computer-saavy enough to save the stream to a FLAC file, please do. I have been waiting a long time to hear this piece, but sadly I won’t have internet access during the hours in question.

[lescamil]

Nørgård's Symphony No. 8 was premiered tonight in Helsinki by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under John Storgårds. The piece will be performed again tomorrow as well, so at 1900 on Thursday, September 20 the concert will be streamed on Finnish radio (Radio 1 and YLE Areena).

If anyone is computer-saavy enough to save the stream to a FLAC file, please do. I have been waiting a long time to hear this piece, but sadly I won’t have internet access during the hours in question.

I would record this, but it just SO happens that at this time, my internet will be getting an upgrade and it will be off for a few hours. I am also really hoping that someone can record this concert, lossless or not. Thanks in advance!