Nørgård's Niche

[Maciek]

There was a new Norgard work premiered earlier today in Warsaw.

[snyprrr]

If anyone's looking for some really current masterworks for SQ, check out Norgard's disc of SQs 7-10. No one carries the torch quite like Norgard does. He is really stretching and exciting and loads of mysterious, utilizing practically every technique we know, and then some. A tour de force. I'm sure I posted this earlier.

[Maciek]

I agree. I haven't got any recordings, but the all the SQs I've heard live were fantastic.

[CRCulver]

I have no idea how long it will be up, but at the Danmarks Radio website one can hear Norgard's recent 3 Scenes for Percussion and Ensemble, his wind quintet Whirls World and an interview with the composer.

[UB]

Thanks for the links...

[CRCulver]

The website of Danmarks Radio still features some audio samples of Norgard's Cello Concerto No. 2 "Momentum" which was broadcasted earlier this year.

[CRCulver]

Tomorrow evening, January 19 the Finnish RSO will perform Norgard's Symphony No. 6. You may be able to listen in over the internet. Details at the RSO's website.

[snyprrr]

Anyone really deep into the Norgard discography? I'm looking for some not-so-obvious recommends.

[greg]

Can't escape the CDCD, huh?...
As for not-so-obvious, have you listened to I Ching or the first 6 String Quartets? Very fine stuff. 

[CRCulver]

Helsingin Sanomat has reported that Norgard's Symphony No. 8 will be premiered in Helsinki in Fall 2012.

[snyprrr]

Anyone really deep into the Norgard discography? I'm looking for some not-so-obvious recommends.

Umm... maybe you should start with Symphony No.3. I was just literally BLOWN AWAY by this Messiaen/Xenakis/Grisey with choir piece that I've held off on for so long.

What can I say but that this was the most positive and life affirming creation music I've ever heard, so neatly fitting in between the Composers listed above, that hasn't been thought by all you already?

It sounds like a world of icy monolithic halls meeting verdant jungles, and the icy steam,... the HotIce, if you will, haha... wow,... truly this work ties so much other stuff together.

You can put me in the 'slightly disconcerted by the great use of the choir but fairly got used to it by the end' camp. Certainly I could have settled for something less, but, as it stands, it makes me want to go back for more. Who am I to critique this?

Really, I had totally forgot about this piece, and that I've purposely held off from YouTube, and, I am soooo impressed. I mean, it's 50mins long, and there's stuff going on the whole time, and it's ALL GREAT!

I haven't gone back over the Thread, but will; I feel like a little girl jumping up and down, haha... I'm gushing




The only 'letdown' on the Chandos recording, that I noticed, was what appeared to be clipping at certain times when the orchestra and choir were both at 100%... I think the clipping was in the choir, but, it really didn't mar the image that bad. The recording itself reminds me of a plush Denon... it totally lends itself to the atmosphere, and Segerstam is totally inside the interpretation. I've heard this version still trumps the new one coupled with No.7, though that one's recording is superior?


BOTTOM LINE: STOP THE PRESSES... Norgard's 3rd is State of the Art Creation Music!! it's... it's... (breaks down in superlatives)...





Haven't yet got into the PC. Will haaave to get 4/5, and go from there... or 6... or the Violin Concerto...

pant pant

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

It sounds like a world of icy monolithic halls meeting verdant jungles, and the icy steam,... the HotIce, if you will, haha... wow,... truly this work ties so much other stuff together.

Yes indeedy  I also "forgot about" this work for a long while - in the sense that I tried it out years ago, was puzzled/bored, and laid it aside. I came back to it 2 years ago, and it started to make sense.

Perhaps it's the contemporary equivalent of an earlier 3rd Symphony: Mahler's. Unfortunately Norgard didn't put cute little titles on the episodes ("Pan awakens," "What the animals tell me"), so one has to dig a bit more.

Going back another hundred years: is it Haydn's Creation updated for our time?

Unfortunately I'm not really getting on with N's other works at this time (heard the 6th Sym. a couple of times, no head or tail yet). But I'll stick with it.

[Coco]

I like 6 a lot — The first movement feels a bit like it would if airplanes went underground instead of above, like a descent into the maelstrom. The second movement is like a dark plain with strange animals calling in the distance, and the third movement is some sort of warped alternate-dimensional mambo.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I will bear these descriptions in mind the next time I listen. Looking out for the animals should be fun.

[Coco]

Ha, I admit my description is fanciful but those were the first things that came to mind when I thought to describe that symphony.

[snyprrr]

Ha, I admit my description is fanciful but those were the first things that came to mind when I thought to describe that symphony.

The 3rd was nothing if not imaginatively descriptive! I'm reminded of the ice cave scene from Logan's Run, haha.

[snyprrr]

Finally got around to the Piano Concerto.

Once again, I am reminded of Xenakis and Messiaen, perhaps with a dose of Gloria Coates's alien landscape. This piece is very...mm...boiiing-y, I think, very rhythmically oriented (there is even a part for 4 metronomes!), with a very wild harmonic palette. The piano part reminds me of Messiaen's obstinacy, very rigid and clocked in. Overall, I just felt as if I were listening to a very Modern piece indeed, brimming with forwardness.

The piano also plays quite obsessively with the deepest register, which yields loads of fun. This actually 'sounds' all pretty easy on the ears, and there is a spikiness at times,... I'd sum it up as a Messiaenic piece extolling the glories of creation, but with more of the spikiness of later Messiaen.

I'm certainly up for the VC now!

(btw- I'm almost afraaaid to listen to the 3rd right away it's so good)

Oh, btw, silly question (but with absolutely grave intent!) about the Chandos 3rd. Did/Does it come with a white cd tray, or a regular dark tray? I got a white tray with what appears to be a cut-out,... but, in the spirit of true CDCDCD, I traded the white tray for a regular one from a Linda Ronstadt cd (unclean! unclean! ). But,... I must know ...

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Finally got around to the Piano Concerto.

You mean the so-called Concerto in due tempi? I still haven't listened to that one all the way thru. Another assignment for me 

Oh, btw, silly question (but with absolutely grave intent!) about the Chandos 3rd. Did/Does it come with a white cd tray, or a regular dark tray? I got a white tray with what appears to be a cut-out,... but, in the spirit of true CDCDCD, I traded the white tray for a regular one from a Linda Ronstadt cd (unclean! unclean! ). But,... I must know ...

Mine just has the normal dark tray. I hope the white tray didn't detract from your enjoyment of the music.

[lescamil]

The Concerto in Due Tempi is perhaps one of Nørgård's most visceral works. Just make your way to that cadenza on the bottom octave of the piano halfway through the work and see for yourself. It doesn't have as much of that shimmer and sheen that you see in a lot of works written around that time, like the symphonies. It reminds me almost of his 7th symphony, written only a couple of years ago. Also, the addition of the "anti-soloist" in the alto-saxophone is particularly poignant. It goes really well with the jabbing figures in both the pianos and strings.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

OK I've finally listened to the concerto (after owning the disc for years and totally ignoring it. See how this forum helps one to be an active listener?), and I must say it's a captivating work. That deep dark cadenza in the middle is a highlight, but there's lots of interesting stuff going on here.

I agree with snyprrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr's characterization, as somehow between Messiaen and Xenakis...but I feel the Xenakis side dominates slightly, due to an often aggressive and spiky sound.

The slightly "Javanese"-sounding coda also reminds me a bit of the ending of Lutoslawski's 3rd Sym...but there's no question Norgard is very much his own man stylistically. I look forward to going back to this one.

BTW, any1 want to give a rundown on PN's other concerti? I've got my eye on the ones for violin.