Nørgård's Niche

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Per Nørgård passed away today, 92 years old.

RIP.

Ah, man. That's a shame. He was getting up there as he was in his 90s. I'll play some of his music today as a memorial to him. Such a fascinating composer.

[Iota]

I was at the UK premiere of his Third Symphony conducted by Thomas Dausgaard at the BBC Proms in 2018, a concert at which he was present, and at the end the spotlight found him in the audience, and he stood up and the whole Albert Hall cheered him to the rafters.
In memoriam, I listened again to the Third today, and as in 2018, despite finding it a striking and grandly impressive work, with all sorts of notable and often beautiful passages, I find myself unable to really connect with it as yet. I will perhaps try 'Constellations' from earlier in his life, that @brewski has posted above, perhaps that will open the door a little wider for me.

But yes, whether or not it's not for me, clearly a composer with something to say. Hope his passing was peaceful. RIP

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I was at the UK premiere of his Third Symphony conducted by Thomas Dausgaard at the BBC Proms in 2018, a concert at which he was present, and at the end the spotlight found him in the audience, and he stood up and the whole Albert Hall cheered him to the rafters.
In memoriam, I listened again to the Third today, and as in 2018, despite finding it a striking and grandly impressive work, with all sorts of notable and often beautiful passages, I find myself unable to really connect with it as yet. I will perhaps try 'Constellations' from earlier in his life, that @brewski has posted above, perhaps that will open the door a little wider for me.

But yes, whether or not it's not for me, clearly a composer with something to say. Hope his passing was peaceful. RIP

Nørgård is a hit/miss composer for me big-time. Coincidently, I love his 3rd symphony (and his 4th). His SQs are also some of my favorite works of his output. I recall enjoying some of his concerti, but forget which ones at the moment.

[foxandpeng]

Per Nørgård passed away today, 92 years old.

RIP.

Yeah, this sucks. I know 92 is more than most of us will get or can hope for,  but the loss of such figures remains sad. His music has been a growing and then enduring pleasure. I'm glad of his legacy.

[Alex Bozman]

This is sad to hear, one of the Scandanavian greats. Attended a concert in Manchester about twenty years ago where Nørgård gave a pre-event talk and came across as an interesting character. The 3rd symphony remains a favourite. I must have another go at trying to get to grips with his later music.

[not edward]

Listening to the 5th symphony today (a work I never connected with in the Segerstam recording but find to be a staggeringly great work in Storgårds' version) I'm reminded that I never posted on this thread.

And yet there was that curious news (from Kullberg?) that he had participated in a jam session with Copenhagen musicians a few years ago, when for fans he had already disappeared from the public eye and I assumed, due to the illness he had announced, he was bedridden.

In his tribute to the composer posted on the day of Nørgård's death, Kullberg mentioned that Nørgård's wife Helle had said it was the first time he'd played for some years.

A video can be found in the tribute: https://seismograf.org/en/artikel/playful-seriousness-norgard-memoriam

Kullberg's tribute expresses much of why I admire Nørgård's music so much and have found it deeply inspirational: he was one of those composers, like Mahler or Janáček, with whom I connected on a very deep level because of its combination of intellectual rigour, its restless, inquisitive nature, and its obvious generosity of spirit. For me, Mahler's famed quote "the symphony must be like the world. it must embrace everything" perhaps applies even more to a work like Nørgård's 3rd than it does to any of Mahler's own symphonies. (Yet, of course, each of Nørgård's symphonies is wildly different from the other seven, and I could say the same of his works in other genres too.)

I hope that recordings emerge of the many works of his that are as yet unavailable--there's a lot that I want to hear still.

[relm1]

I spent the last few days traversing the symphonies of Norgard.  Quite an enjoyable experience.  My favorites were No. 1, 3, and 6.  My least favorite was 8 but after listening in order, I had a better appreciation of it than I did when I first heard it.  It is more ambiguous to me and ends rather quietly.  But there are some fantastic last symphonies that do the same thing, Shostakovich 15 for instance.  Perhaps now that Norgard is gone, the ambiguity is more acceptable to me.  Overall, they were a very fine set.  I think No. 1 is my favorite because it reminds me of Holmboe and I find it quite intense and very well structured in how one idea leads to the next. 

[Madiel]

Sometime ago, I was partway through a chronological explanation of everything I could find a recording of.

To be honest it was sometimes a little challenging. I've actually decided I'm going to go again but specifically with orchestral works. Partly that's because most of them are available, partly that's because one of the most astonishing things about Nørgård's work is the sounds he can wring out of an orchestra.

I own the symphonies, but not the orchestral pieces, so there will be a mix of familiar and unfamiliar (though a fair number I've heard at least once in the previous exercise).

I'm not sure just when I'll do this, I have so many other projects on the go, and I've created a system to make sure I actually finish some before starting others, and... I'm just not listening to classical much right now. It will come back, but currently I'm more into following the development of Stevie Wonder.

[foxandpeng]

Sometime ago, I was partway through a chronological explanation of everything I could find a recording of.

To be honest it was sometimes a little challenging. I've actually decided I'm going to go again but specifically with orchestral works. Partly that's because most of them are available, partly that's because one of the most astonishing things about Nørgård's work is the sounds he can wring out of an orchestra.

I own the symphonies, but not the orchestral pieces, so there will be a mix of familiar and unfamiliar (though a fair number I've heard at least once in the previous exercise).

I'm not sure just when I'll do this, I have so many other projects on the go, and I've created a system to make sure I actually finish some before starting others, and... I'm just not listening to classical much right now. It will come back, but currently I'm more into following the development of Stevie Wonder.

Well worth the journey when you do. I agree that his music is rarely easy, but it is great!