Nørgård's Niche

Started by Kullervo, June 15, 2007, 06:43:57 PM

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greg

my favorite Norgard work is...... hm, either the Violin concerto or the 4th string quartet. Hard to choose... he's not my favorite modern composer, but I can definetely say I like his music.

Kullervo

Quote from: greg on July 07, 2007, 12:20:31 PM
Kullervo, there were a few members that almost regularly visit Norgard, but haven't been on this forum in awhile, for maybe 2 or 3 months. Two of them regularly posted, Mikkel and Daniel, and another i don't think ever posted but he might've joined anyways.
Here's a couple of pms Mikkel sent me, i just thought you'd be interested:

And then he said that he visited him like 7 times over the time span of maybe 2 months!
Attached is the picture of all of them together. In the middle is Mikkel and to the right is Daniel.

Ah yes, Xantus sent me that blurb long before I joined the forum here. I am still envious, but I wonder if I would have anything to say to him, as I respect him too much.

greg

Quote from: Kullervo on July 07, 2007, 12:25:41 PM
Ah yes, Xantus sent me that blurb long before I joined the forum here. I am still envious, but I wonder if I would have anything to say to him, as I respect him too much.
just call him up, it's only like $50 a minute.

you can just go, "yo, what's up, Per? What's happening, yo yo yo?! When's yo' 8th dropping man, cuz I fo' shizzle iz gonna get to dat Amazon site an' buy it, you know what I mean, homie?"

greg

he should be able to speak English well enough to have a conversation, but i doubt it if you talked like that  ;D

(but you never know, he might watch hip hop and country music videos all the time)

btpaul674

I think the piece I (and most people) get sucked into is his 3rd symphony. I probably could put the first movement on repeat for days, and as far as the second movement, it's easy to listen to but difficult for me to fully wrap my head around. I often forget that when I listen to the entire symphony, I haven't moved from my seat. Alas I am weary from traveling.

I love his piano music as well.

Kullervo

I mentioned in the Listening thread that I drove 10 miles out to the middle of nowhere for the sole purpose of listening to his 2nd. While I listened I watched a thundercloud form several miles away. It was pretty appropriate, I'd say.

vandermolen

Interesting thread. Symphony 1 is my favourite. Norgard was taught by two of my favourite composers; Vagn Holmboe and Hilding Rosenberg (whose Third Symphony is a great score). I am liking Norgard more and more.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

greg

Quote from: vandermolen on July 11, 2007, 12:37:57 AM
Interesting thread. Symphony 1 is my favourite.
Possibly my favorite of his symphonies, also. But maybe this is just because it's more accessible or memorable? His later styles require tons of repeated listening to really understand, I don't think i'll totally get them for awhile......

bhodges

Quote from: Kullervo on July 10, 2007, 11:08:32 PM
I mentioned in the Listening thread that I drove 10 miles out to the middle of nowhere for the sole purpose of listening to his 2nd. While I listened I watched a thundercloud form several miles away. It was pretty appropriate, I'd say.

Great image!  (And I don't even know the piece.)  This thread is giving me some great directions to pursue, by the way, as a relative newcomer to this composer.

--Bruce

greg

what'd be even more appropriate is if he was driving around listening to the 4th and then all of a sudden he saw an Indian Rose Garden and a Chinese Witch's Lake.

Kullervo

Quote from: greg on July 11, 2007, 06:18:15 AM
what'd be even more appropriate is if he was driving around listening to the 4th and then all of a sudden he saw an Indian Rose Garden and a Chinese Witch's Lake.

Then my name would be Adolph Wölfli.

Kullervo

Quote from: bhodges on July 11, 2007, 06:14:29 AM
Great image!  (And I don't even know the piece.)  This thread is giving me some great directions to pursue, by the way, as a relative newcomer to this composer.

--Bruce

Definitely listen to his 3rd first, as it is basically the apotheosis of his compositional language up to that point in time.

vandermolen

#32
Quote from: greg on July 11, 2007, 06:03:55 AM
Possibly my favorite of his symphonies, also. But maybe this is just because it's more accessible or memorable? His later styles require tons of repeated listening to really understand, I don't think i'll totally get them for awhile......

Yes, that is no doubt why i like Symphony 1 best. I think it is closest in spirit to Vagn Holmboe (on past experience i'll probably be shot down for suggesting the comparison), a composer I greatly admire. However I have the Chandos CD with Norgard's Third Symphony and will persevere with that. For similar reasons, Robert Simpson's First Symphony is, by far, my favourite although I like No 3 also.

Malipiero Symphony 7 is another work I'm greatly enjoying at the moment (Marco Polo).
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Kullervo

Quote from: vandermolen on July 12, 2007, 01:36:18 AM
I think it is closest in spirit to Vagn Holmboe (on past experience i'll probably be shot down for suggesting the comparison)

Not at all. In fact, I think even Nørgård would agree with you.

I've yet to hear any Holmboe, though. I keep seeing a disc of his chamber concerti at the library, but that seems like it would be an odd place to start with him, so I hold off.

Oh - unrelated - does anyone know anything about Ib Norholm? I know nothing about him, but his name is mentioned quite prominently in the essay collection The Music of Per Nørgård.

vandermolen

Quote from: Kullervo on July 12, 2007, 04:23:21 AM
Not at all. In fact, I think even Nørgård would agree with you.

I've yet to hear any Holmboe, though. I keep seeing a disc of his chamber concerti at the library, but that seems like it would be an odd place to start with him, so I hold off.

Oh - unrelated - does anyone know anything about Ib Norholm? I know nothing about him, but his name is mentioned quite prominently in the essay collection The Music of Per Nørgård.

Thanks, re:Vagn Holmboe, if you want to investigate the music of this great composer I'd suggest that you start with any of the symphonies 6-8 or 10. They are all of a very high standard. Can't really help you with Norholm but I'm sure that others here will.

Vagn Holmboe sent me a charming reply to my fan mail letter, apologising for the delay as he'd been in hospital for six months.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Kullervo

#35
Well some actual news here for a change. :D Dacapo has said that the 7th Symphony will be premiering at the grand opening of the new concert hall in Copenhagen. They've already recorded it and are planning to have copies for sell at the end of the concert. Almost as exciting is that the 7th will be paired on disc with a brand new recording of the 3rd, and on SACD. :o

Here is Dacapo's page for the recording.

Some photos from the recording session:






UB

"Oh - unrelated - does anyone know anything about Ib Norholm? I know nothing about him, but his name is
mentioned quite prominently in the essay collection The Music of Per Nørgård."

Kullervo: I have been long a fan of Nørgård's contemporary Ib Norholm and have mentioned him a number of times when someone writes about Nørgård. In my opinion Norholm's symphonies have much more depth than Nørgård. Especially after Nørgård change to a more neo-romantic style sometime in the late 90's.

Luckily for me I was able to get most of Kontrapunkt excellent series of Norholm cds when they came up at Berkshire many years ago. It included all the symphonies - at least through 9 and two excellent cds of chamber music.

I would suggest you get the cd with symphonies 4 & 5 if you can find it.
I am not in the entertainment business. Harrison Birtwistle 2010

greg

Well, it's about time!  :)
I hope it doesn't take to o long to get to Amazon...... i might have to buy it.


Kullervo

Quote from: UB on September 30, 2008, 11:34:27 AM
"Oh - unrelated - does anyone know anything about Ib Norholm? I know nothing about him, but his name is
mentioned quite prominently in the essay collection The Music of Per Nørgård."

Kullervo: I have been long a fan of Nørgård's contemporary Ib Norholm and have mentioned him a number of times when someone writes about Nørgård. In my opinion Norholm's symphonies have much more depth than Nørgård. Especially after Nørgård change to a more neo-romantic style sometime in the late 90's.

Luckily for me I was able to get most of Kontrapunkt excellent series of Norholm cds when they came up at Berkshire many years ago. It included all the symphonies - at least through 9 and two excellent cds of chamber music.

I would suggest you get the cd with symphonies 4 & 5 if you can find it.

Hi, Kullervo here. Thanks for the recommendations. To be honest I had completely forgotten about Norholm until you mentioned him in another thread. After I listen to the new slew of Nørgård recordings I'll be sure to give him a listen.

CRCulver

Quote from: UB on September 30, 2008, 11:34:27 AM
In my opinion Norholm's symphonies have much more depth than Nørgård. Especially after Nørgård change to a more neo-romantic style sometime in the late 90's.

Why do you think Norgard "changed to a more neo-romantic style"? Just to take as examples some of his works after the turn of the millennium: his Violin Concerto No. 2 "Borderlines" is almost a return to the psychadelia of the late 1960s, his Harp Concerto No. 2 "Through Thorns" is a dizzingly complex exploration of the infinity series, and "Mytisk Morgen" for bass clarinet and mixed choir is one of the weirdest sounding pieces of new music around. Norgard is all over the place right now, and just as daring as ever. I certainly don't agree that he has settled in some kind of neo-romanticism.