Doctoral theses at NTNU, 2018:131 al thesis Ola Nor Ola Nordal dal "Between Poetry and Catastrophe" A Study on the Electroacoustic Music Doctor of Arne Nordheim ISBN 978-82-326-3052-3 (printed ver.) ISBN 978-82-326-3053-0 (electronic ver.) ISSN 1503-8181 Doctoral theses at NTNU, 2018:131 NTNU Philosophiae Doctor Philosophiae Department of Music Faculty of Humanities Faculty Thesis for the Degree of the Degree Thesis for ersity of Science and Technology of Science ersity Norwegian Univ Norwegian Ola Nordal "Between Poetry and Catastrophe" A Study on the Electroacoustic Music of Arne Nordheim Thesis for the Degree of Philosophiae Doctor Trondheim, June 2018 Norwegian University of Science and Technology Faculty of Humanities Department of Music NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology Thesis for the Degree of Philosophiae Doctor Faculty of Humanities Department of Music © Ola Nordal ISBN 978-82-326-3052-3 (printed ver.) ISBN 978-82-326-3053-0 (electronic ver.) ISSN 1503-8181 Doctoral theses at NTNU, 2018:131 Printed by NTNU Grafisk senter Abstract Arne Nordheim (1931–2010) was Norway’s most prolific composer of electroacoustic music in the second half of the 20th century. His catalogue, which is gathered for the first time in this PhD dissertation, includes 197 compositions in a wide range of styles and instrumental combinations. More than half of these have some sort of electronic component. While Nordheim’s orchestral music has received some musicological commentary, little has been written about his electroacoustic works. This study is the first comprehensive examination of this vital part of his output. I ask contextual questions about when and why a piece of music was composed, as well as aesthetic questions about how it was constructed, and how it can be perceived and interpreted. I have divided Nordheim’s electroacoustic output into four periods, roughly coinciding with where he was working: 1) early: Oslo 1960–1967, 2) Warsaw 1967–1974, 3) intermediate: Oslo, Warsaw and Stockholm 1975–1983 and 4) late: Oslo 1984–2006. I have given particular emphasis to the second period, since I regard the Warsaw years as especially important, both in terms of the repertoire that Nordheim produced and in terms of his aesthetic development. This PhD dissertation is the first large-scale work on Arne Nordheim’s life and music published in English. It is also a contribution to the general history of 20th century music, and to the growing academic field of electroacoustic music studies. The study includes the first complete catalogue of compositions and recordings of Nordheim’s music. Acknowledgements This PhD project was performed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Music. My work was funded by a four-year grant from the Faculty of Humanities, NTNU. I would like to thank professor Magnar Breivik and professor Andreas Bergsland for excellent guidance and supervision. I also wish to thank professor Carl-Haakon Wadeland and professor emeritus Harald Herresthal who contributed with supervision early in the process. I have been very privileged to enjoy the collegial support and good working environment at the Department of Music. In particular Trine Knutsen, Jørgen Langdalen, Erik Hagtun, Vegard Stolpnessæter, Lill Hege Pedersen and Ove Sæternes has provided me with valuable help and institutional support during these six long years. I will also direct a special thank to Sigurd Saue, who has provided unique support, both as a colleague and as informant for the project. I will give a very special thanks to the family of Arne Nordheim, Rannveig Getz Nordheim, Mads Nordheim and Gro Nordheim, who all have given me crucial support and material, and have provided me with valuable insights into Nordheim’s life and career. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to include examples of Nordheim’s music in this PhD thesis. I will also like to thank Nordheim’s friends and colleagues that I have had the pleasure of discussing with during the research phase of my project. In particular Mats Claesson and Harold ‘Hal’ Clark has given me valuable insights into Nordheim’s working methods. Hakon Blandehoel has given me valuable insights into the composition of Colorazione. A complete list of informants and discussion partners are listed in the appendix. My gratitude goes out to them all. I have enjoyed great support from the following institutions and persons: Frida Kristine Røsland at the NTNU Music Library, Christos Farmakis at Edition Wilhelm Hansen, Keez Tazelaar at the Institute of Sonology, University of Utrecht, May Irene Solum at NRK Dokumentarkivet, Guri Finsveen at NRK Archive and Research, Jorid Nordal Baumann, Ivar Håkon Eikje and Inger Johanne Christiansen at the Norwegian National Library, and Silje Vestvik at the Bergen International Festival. I also wish to direct a special thanks to Jøran Rudi and Asbjørn Blokkum Flø at NoTAM for providing me with a valuable video interview of Nordheim, and to Kjell Oversand for providing me with a valuable recording of one of Nordheim’s lectures. Harald Herresthal has given invaluable help by opening up for me the Arne Nordheim centre at the Norwegian Academy of Music during the time the material from Nordheim’s home Grotten was stored there. The many good friends I have discussed this project with, have shaped my work in important ways. Lars Mørch Finborud at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter has been one of my most valuable conversation partners in the early part of the research process. The interviews we conducted together and the other work we did together on the exhibition –Ingen -ismer for meg, takk! at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in 2013 was a truly joyful experience. Ina Pillat deserves special thanks for arranging a research trip to Warsaw, and for including me in her work on her documentary film on the Subharchord. Asbjørn Tiller has read and commented on Chapter 6, and deserves special thanks for his valuable input. Pawel and Justyna Pilarczyk provided translation from Polish and helped me identify the folk song Trudno, U-cha-cha used in Warszawa (Chapter 7). Lasse Thoresen gave me crucial support by providing me with an early version of the manuscript for his book Emergent Musical Forms. This manuscript was very important for me when developing the analytical methods for my project. The dissertation has been skilfully proofread by André Marques Smith. Any remaining spelling mistakes are solely my own responsibility. *** During my time as PhD candidate and later as university lecturer, I have had the pleasure of teaching two courses on Arne Nordheim’s music, and to give a long range of classes on music history. I’d like to give a warm thanks to the wonderful students at NTNU’s Department of Music for giving me so many stimulating moments in the lecture halls. I wish to thank my family and my mother Kari who ignited my interest in history. Finally, I am eternally grateful for the wonderful and patient support I have had from Charlotte and Nicolas. Thank you for enduring so much waiting during these six long years. This PhD thesis is dedicated to you two! Notation conventions Notes, pitch and register For note names, I use the Scientific Pitch Notation (SPN): C0-C8, where A4 = 440 Hz. Where applicable I notate pitch in exact frequencies, and include deviation from the closest tempered tone in cents. 1 Profound 2 Deep For register designation, I use Lasse Thoresen’s adaptation of 3 Lower mid range 4 Higher mid range Pierre Schaeffer’s convention, using a scale from 1 to 7 (see 5 Treble table to the right 6 High treble 7 Extreme treble References to archives Documents from official archives are referenced in the footnotes using the following convention: [Institution]/[Archive creator]/[Key]/[Box]/[Folder]. This is the same convention used on the Norwegian archive web portal http://arkivportalen.no. List of institutions and archives are given in the Sources-section at the end of the thesis. References to Nordheim’s compositions and recordings I refer to entries in the catalogue of works and recordings before the title at first mention in each chapter of a work or recording. The numbering in the lists uses the following convention: • AN = Work number, in chronological order from first performance • AN.B = Ballet set to Nordheim’s music • AN.R = Commercially available recording of Nordheim’s work • AN.RC = Compilation including recording of Nordheim’s work For example: AN.52 Solitaire refers to the 52nd entry in the list of compositions. Similarly, AN.R6 Popofoni is entry number six in the list of recordings. References to scores The consulted scores are listed in the appendix. The appendix also contains information on publication. This is therefore not listed in the footnotes. Time Time as measured, for instance with reference to sound files, is notated in brackets: [mm.ss]. Time as estimate, for instance with reference to scores, is notated without brackets: m’s or s”. Most analyses have tables listing a segment’s duration (marked Duration or Dur.) and its position in the continuous track (marked Cumulative time or Cumul. time). Translations If nothing else is indicated, all Norwegian quotes are translated to English by the author. All interviews have been conducted in Norwegian and have been translated to English by the author. Software All sonograms and spectromorphological transcriptions are made with INA GRM’s open source program Acousmographe, version 3.71, using the Aural Sonology Plugin. http://www.inagrm.com/accueil/outils/acousmographe All note-by-note transcriptions are done with MuseScore, version 2.0. https://musescore.org/en/2.0 Frequency detection and detailed spectral information is obtained using the Spectrum Analyzer plugin in iZotope RX2.