Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim, who died in 2010 and received a state funeral in Norway, was widely considered the greatest living Norwegian composer. An incredible presentation of the complete body of electronic music, worth listening to, is issued by the record company Rune Grammofon.
Originally released by Rune Grammofon in 1998 on CD, the label continued its dedication to highlighting Norway’s often-neglected contributions to avant-garde and experiential music with a long-awaited 2017 vinyl reissue of its compilation Electric, featuring works by Nordheim from 1968 and 1970. For those who missed it the first time, it’s bound to be nothing short of a revelation.
It was a real eye-opener when our great contemporary composer’s early electronic-music works were released on CD in 1998. The 90s were a period when looking back was not as widespread as it is today. “Electric” showed that what Nordheim did in the 60s aligned with what many Norwegian electronic producers and art musicians were doing decades later.
Frank Zappa was close friends with the composer Arne Nordheim. Frank Zappa and his Mothers of Invention performed more than 70 times in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway.
Arne Nordheim was born in Larvik. On the opening night of the town’s 350th anniversary, the composer’s fanfare ‘Recalls and Signals’ was performed by the Nanset Wind Ensemble, conducted by Odd Terje Lysebo.
Nordheim was a member of Oslo’s International Society for Contemporary Music. He studied Musique concrète in Paris during the 1950s and furthered his practice in electronics and synthesis in Holland toward the end of that decade, but he remains best known in Norway for his chamber music and orchestral works. ‘Electric’ presents a startling body of mind-throttling work that is essential listening if you’re into anything from Bernard Parmegiani to Xenakis to Oram.
While not widely known outside his own country or beyond the circles of fans devoted to this music, he has, for nearly three-quarters of a century, been laboring to sculpt a singular body of work. The composer’s works in his fields are a marvel – standing with the best of their era and finding much common ground with contemporary gestures emerging from Groupe de Recherches Musicales and elsewhere. His work is a largely overlooked link, shedding light on Scandinavia’s place in the network of conversations, united by creative utopian idealism, among artists engaged with electronic processes during this period.
“Electric” is available in a beautiful double-vinyl edition, delicately mastered for the occasion by Helge “Deathprod” Sten. The flashing loneliness of the work “Solitaire” is particularly poignant and still fascinating.
This release brings together the collected electronic works of Arne Nordheim, pieces that were furiously dismissed in academic circles in Norway when they first appeared almost 40 years ago and that, in a way, have put an effective stop to weaker souls. Compared to some of the more ‘famous’ electronic composers, Nordheim distinguished himself by his sheer musicality and sense of structure… Electronic boxes, electric instruments, and recorded tape glide in and out as a natural part of the orchestra, in constant pursuit of magical and spellbinding timbres. The orchestral parts reveal how working with mixers and tape splicing has influenced the development of musical ideas in more traditional arrangements.
You can listen to his music here:
https://soundcloud.com/arnenordheim
Electronic Music by Norwegian Composer Worth Listening To, Tor Kjolberg reporting.