Nørgård's Niche

[Mirror Image]

Goodness, that is QUITE a "tear".

I still haven't moved past the Da Capo symphony series, plus a few scattered works that I've collected during my Holmboe-quest.

Indeed. I have no idea when I'll get around to these recordings, but it's nice to have them whenever I get the hankering to hear this composer's music.

[CRCulver]

My understanding of the third is it's his complete culmination of the 'infinity series' he had been experimenting with for a decade (?).

The Third is in many respects a synthesis of experiments carried out in previous works. But the real culmination of this stylistic period, I would say, is Twilight for orchestra from a couple of years later. Get the recording on Dacapo; the recording on Kontrapunkt is not competitive.

[Leggiero]

Nørgård-interest advancing somewhat in Germany, following the Siemens Prize;

there will be no 9th symphony, due to health problems.

https://nsnbc.me/2017/11/14/magical-worlds-of-multidimensional-nature/

According to the announcer at the end of this...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e2hn5v/play/a9hj8g/b0bfxz6v

...he has a ninth "forming in his mind". Let's just hope the curse doesn't get him first...!

[vandermolen]

Norgard's 3rd Symphony was given its UK premiere at the Proms a few days ago, in the presence of the composer. Reviews were mixed but here is one of them:

https://bachtrack.com/review-prom-51-norgard-dausgaard-bystrom-bbc-scottish-august-2018

[relm1]

Nørgård-interest advancing somewhat in Germany, following the Siemens Prize;

there will be no 9th symphony, due to health problems.

https://nsnbc.me/2017/11/14/magical-worlds-of-multidimensional-nature/

Is anyone still able to access this article?

[North Star]

Norgard's 3rd Symphony was given its UK premiere at the Proms a few days ago, in the presence of the composer. Reviews were mixed but here is one of them:

https://bachtrack.com/review-prom-51-norgard-dausgaard-bystrom-bbc-scottish-august-2018

I find it quite surprising that this work hasn't been performed in the UK before.

Is anyone still able to access this article?

Not me, at any rate.

[bhodges]

Norgard's 3rd Symphony was given its UK premiere at the Proms a few days ago, in the presence of the composer. Reviews were mixed but here is one of them:

https://bachtrack.com/review-prom-51-norgard-dausgaard-bystrom-bbc-scottish-august-2018

Thanks, I've been reading great reviews of this on Twitter. (And of course, you don't see any of his symphonies played in the United States, sigh.)

--Bruce

[vandermolen]

Thanks, I've been reading great reviews of this on Twitter. (And of course, you don't see any of his symphonies played in the United States, sigh.)

--Bruce

Here's another positive review from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/22/bbcsso-dausgaard-review-norgard-prom-51

And a negative one from The Times:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/proms-reviews-bbc-singers-oramo-bbc-sso-dausgaard-6dlx9r7z9

[Iota]

Norgard's 3rd Symphony was given its UK premiere at the Proms a few days ago, in the presence of the composer. Reviews were mixed but here is one of them:

https://bachtrack.com/review-prom-51-norgard-dausgaard-bystrom-bbc-scottish-august-2018

Thanks for the review.

I was at this Prom, and after hearing both the Wagner and Strauss suffer rather at the hands of the RAH acoustic (they were audible, but somewhere 'over there') it was really refreshing to hear the Norgard sound so present. I thought Dausgaard seemed very inside and in control of the music, and the whole thing felt in a way like one long, extended moment or breath, shown in incredible detail. Some absolutely exquisite sounds en route.
I'd heard about the 'infinity series' he employed in its composition and although I couldn't hear the detail of it in the score, hearing the overall work as something fractal in nature, rang very true for me.

It was nice to see a seated Norgard taking applause at the end.

[vandermolen]

Thanks for the review.

I was at this Prom, and after hearing both the Wagner and Strauss suffer rather at the hands of the RAH acoustic (they were audible, but somewhere 'over there') it was really refreshing to hear the Norgard sound so present. I thought Dausgaard seemed very inside and in control of the music, and the whole thing felt in a way like one long, extended moment or breath, shown in incredible detail. Some absolutely exquisite sounds en route.
I'd heard about the 'infinity series' he employed in its composition and although I couldn't hear the detail of it in the score, hearing the overall work as something fractal in nature, rang very true for me.

It was nice to see a seated Norgard taking applause at the end.

How nice that you were there. I like Symphony 1 very much but also have the Chandos recording of Symphony 3 which I'm now encouraged to listen to again. Great that Norgard was there as well to hear the UK premiere of his symphony.

[relm1]

How nice that you were there. I like Symphony 1 very much but also have the Chandos recording of Symphony 3 which I'm now encouraged to listen to again. Great that Norgard was there as well to hear the UK premiere of his symphony.

Vandermolen, listen to the Norgard 3rd linked above from the proms.  They do a very good job explaining the infinity concept and how it developed into the symphony.  I found it helped me appreciate the work much more.  But I too love the 1st symphony very much which is overtly Sibelian whereas the 3rd is subtly so.

[vandermolen]

Vandermolen, listen to the Norgard 3rd linked above from the proms.  They do a very good job explaining the infinity concept and how it developed into the symphony.  I found it helped me appreciate the work much more.  But I too love the 1st symphony very much which is overtly Sibelian whereas the 3rd is subtly so.

Thanks v much for this suggestion which I will try to follow up.

[vandermolen]

I listened to 'Terrain Vagues' on You Tube yesterday, which was adventurous for me. I was oddly impressed by it, especially the extraordinary opening. I'm tempted to get the CD on which it features along with Symphony 6. Any other views on 'Terrains Vagues'?

[SymphonicAddict]

I listened to 'Terrain Vagues' on You Tube yesterday, which was adventurous for me. I was oddly impressed by it, especially the extraordinary opening. I'm tempted to get the CD on which it features along with Symphony 6. Any other views on 'Terrains Vagues'?

It sounds tempting. I have that CD but I've never listened to Terrains Vagues yet. It will be a fair reason to get acquainted with it. Thanks for the recommendation, Jeffrey!

[vandermolen]

It sounds tempting. I have that CD but I've never listened to Terrains Vagues yet. It will be a fair reason to get acquainted with it. Thanks for the recommendation, Jeffrey!

Well Cesar - it is not 'a walk in the park' but the opening is extraordinary and it held my attention.

[relm1]

Well Cesar - it is not 'a walk in the park' but the opening is extraordinary and it held my attention.

Why?

[vandermolen]

Why?

I mean that, for me at least, it's quite 'difficult' music but that's a comment on me rather than on 'Terrains Vagues'. Norgard is one of those composers I'd like to explore more and I have the highest opinion of the 'Austera' which I often play, especially the Chandos recording.

[Madiel]

Haven't tried Terrains Vagues yet. I'm going chronological at the moment so it's 30 years away...

Having stumbled across a proper Nørgård worklist that even has programme notes by the composer, he says that the starting point for Terrains Vagues was the coda of the 6th symphony. So someone was being smart when they put those works on a CD together.

[André]

I pulled the disc off the shelves, will give it a spin. Memories are dim and not exactly enthusiastic, but I have only limited confidence in the ol' hard drive.

[André]

C'est fait.

I listened to it again and am no more nor less interested in Norgard's oeuvre than before.  Symphony no 3 is slightly more original but that, too, fails to communicate much of anything. It's not the composer's modernism. For my taste, music by Norholm, Eliasson and Heininen score about as high on the 'modernist' scale, but substantially higher on the musical one. Terrains vagues is more compact than the symphony and sustains the interest better. I suspect that some tricks like the accordion and ticking metronomes in the first part will not wear well over time. The sonic presentation is top notch. Liner notes are informative about the symphony but veer to the pretentious when discussing Terrains vagues. It would have been interesting if the author had interviewed the composer instead. He was very much alive at the time.

In short this is interesting music that unfurls without much incident. It is not modern enough to be criticized on that ground. Quite listenable as a matter of fact. It was the 4th time I listened to it since I acquired the disc some 10 years ago.