| Arne Nordheim |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT ARNE NORDHEIM | |
| norwegian composers | |
| 1931 births | |
| people from oslo | |
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At the then Oslo Conservatory of Music (now the Norwegian Academy Of Music ), where Nordheim studied from 1948 to 1952 , he started out as a theory and Organ student, but changed to composition, studying with Karl Andersen, Bjarne Brustad , and Conrad Baden ; in 1955 he studied with Vagn Holmboe in Copenhagen , and studied '' Musique Concrète '' in Paris . Later he studied electronic music in Bilthoven ( 1959 ), and paid many visits to the Studio Eksperymentalne of Polish Radio ( 1967 - 1972 ), where many of his early electronic works were realised (including ''Pace'', ''Solitaire'', and ''Lux et tenebrae (Poly-Poly)''). Nordheim's musical output is focused around themes of 'solitude, death, love, and landscape' (Aksnes); these themes are already evident in his song cycle ''Aftonland'' (''Evening Land'', 1959 ), a setting of poems by the Swedish poet Pär Lagerkvist , which brought him national recognition. The 1961 ''Canzona'' ''per orchestra'' was his international breakthrough. Inspired by Giovanni Gabrieli 's ''canzone'', the work showcases Nordheim's historical leanings, as well as his occupation with space as a parameter of music. Nordheim's spatial concerns, coupled with his focus on death and human suffering, are brought together in what is arguably his most famous work, '''''Epitaffio''''' ''per orchestra e nastro magnetico'' ( 1963 ). Written in memory of the Norwegian flautist Alf Andersen , who died that year at a very young age, the work incorporated Salvatore Quasimodo 's poem ''Ed è sùbito sera''. Originally conceived for orchestra and chorus, Nordheim realised that his wish to have the whole performance space 'singing' was better achieved with the use of electronic means. The result is a remarkable, almost imperceptible, blending of the orchestral sounds with the choral sounds of the tape, where the final line 'ed è sùbito sera' ('and suddenly it is evening') is the only part of the text that can be heard. Later works include ''The Tempest'' ( 1979 , ''Magma'' ( 1988 ), and the Violin Concerto ( 1996 ). In ''The Tempest'', a ballet based on Shakespeare 's play, electronics and orchestral sounds are again mixed, while the focus is more strongly on vocal music (e.g. the 'double voice' of Caliban), while Nordheim's continued use of historical elements is shown by the incorpoation of Leonardo Da Vinci 's musical rebus, which solved reads ''Amore sol la mi fa remirare, la sol mi fa sollecita''. Norwegian music label Rune Grammofon released a collection of his Electronic Music work. REFERENCES
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