At the end of April a new Grieg07 project for the young started up. A number of children in the sixth grade at junior schools in Stord will take part in the two-week “Sound-Collector” project inspired by the way in which Grieg made use of nature and natural sounds as a source of inspiration. We have spoken to one of the leaders of the project, Tim Steiner, who for more than 20 years has worked with ensembles consisting of professionals, amateurs, beginners and children. Children all over the world have a tendency to be more open to exploratory ideas than adults,” he says.

By Ida Habbestad

At the end of April a new Grieg 07 project for the young started up. A number of children in the sixth grade at junior schools in Stord will take part in the two-week “Sound-Collector” project inspired by the way in which Grieg made use of nature and natural sounds as a source of inspiration. The children will get together with members of Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the BIT20 Ensemble who will help them create their own compositions – before the project ends up with a grand concert in which the musicians and children perform the compositions.

We have spoken to one of the leaders of the project, Tim Steiner, who for more than 20 years has worked with ensembles consisting of professionals, amateurs, beginners and children.

“Sounds from Stord will provide the starting point for the children’s compositions,” explains Steiner.

“In the course of the project the children will go out walking in their neighbourhood,” he says. “Here they will listen carefully to sounds, and record ones they find interesting. These sounds will then be transferred to computer, and then, with the help of a simple sound editing programme, they will be able to use the sounds to make short musique concrète pieces.”

One of a variety of themes the children will work on is “morning”.

“I hope some of the children will volunteer to record dawn sounds,” smiles Steiner.

After the process of collecting the sounds has been completed, 75 musicians from Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the BIT20 Ensemble will perform the end result of the project.

What role will the children have in the concert?

“Most of the children will play together with the orchestra, either on their own instruments or on instruments belonging to the school,” says Steiner. “The musique concrète pieces will even be performed by some of the children as sound projectors. And all the music by the children will be closely linked to the rest of the orchestra’s programme.”

Making others’ ideas your own

It is one thing to take sounds from nature, but quite another to use someone else’s material. A group of young musicians recently wrote an article in the newspaper Bergens Tidende in which they claimed that Grieg was a thief who stole musical material from folk musicians and used it in his own compositions.

When children compose, what sort of limits do they have, how far can they take musical material before being accused of the same thing?

“Everybody steals. Mozart and Beethoven openly admitted to borrowing ideas and thematic material. It’s what you do with the stolen material that’s important. In Grieg’s case he transformed elements of folk music into something new and unique to him. This is exactly what children do when they use other people’s ideas. When they succeed, they’ve created their own ideas, which are personal and unique,” says Steiner, who thinks it very likely that the children will use recordings of Grieg’s music in their works.

Steiner has a strong affinity to Grieg, which began when he himself was a child:

“Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite was the first record I had when I was young,” he explains. “It was a recording by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra which I bought for 89 pence. I remember listening to it over and over again; that memory of repeated listening has stayed with me ever since. Each time I return to these pieces I’m reminded of that youthful experience of hearing great music for the first time.” Children are open to exploratory ideas

This is not the first time Tim Steiner has been in Norway. A few years ago he was part of the project “Løp, Lokk og Linjar” with the BIT20 Ensemble – a similarly expansive event involving a great number of musicians and children.

Do you experience any difference in the way we work in Norway compared with England?

“Orchestras in England have been exploring educational and community-based work for about 25 years, and in the course of this time it’s become a normal and accepted part of their activities. It seems as if this way of working is newer to Norway. This means that perhaps the project is approached with more energy and enthusiasm – and many of the musicians have been through a steep learning curve,” says Steiner.

To finish off with – why are you so interested in working with children?

“No professional choir in the whole world can create a sound as uniquely beautiful as that of a group of passionate, enthusiastic children with their untrained voices,” says Steiner. “There are so many sounds which only children can make!”

“Children all over the world have a tendency to be more open to exploratory ideas than adults. A few years ago I put on a performance of Cage’s 4’33” with children. They approached the performance with overwhelming enthusiasm and excitement, working hard to keep their focus and intensity. The performance was exceptional. That same evening the piece was also performed by one of London’s leading professional orchestras. They didn’t succeed in maintaining order in the same way.”

The final concert of the project takes place on 10 May at Nyehallen at the Vikahaugane Stord Sportssenter. The programme includes two Norwegian dances by Grieg, and two movements from Knut Vaage’s “Odyssé” (a 2002 re-composition of Grieg’s opus 54) in addition to the children’s own compositions and electronic music. The concert starts at 6pm preceded by an open dress rehearsal for the schools at 1.30pm.

280 pupils from Huglo, Hystad, Langeland, Leirvik, Litlabø, Rommetveit, Sagvåg and Tjødnalio schools are participating in the project, which is a collaboration between Grieg07, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stord Haugesund University College, and BIT20.