Sleppet - The Sound of Norwegian Spring - is part of the program to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of Edvard Grieg’s death. This part of the programme will
focus on Grieg's method. Children and young people, composers, musicians and sound
artists are being invited to create sound art inspired by Grieg's method and spirit.
The theme of the Sampler (more info on
this page) has been chosen due to Edvard Grieg’s interest in the sounds he heard in
nature and folk music. Like many composers of his time, his interest in this area
was an expression of a process of national awakening and identity-building. In
his work, Grieg made extensive use of Norwegian folk music elements and tone pictures
that recreate and rework impressions of Norway’s natural landscape. Birdsong,
waterfalls, rain and mountains all found a place in his compositions, and listeners
are given a genuine experience of nature through his music. Grieg was a collector
of the sounds of Norwegian nature, a sound collector..
SLEPPET - The Sound of Norwegian Spring
Although we might ask what use Grieg would have made of modern technology had
he been alive today, an even more interesting question may be how composers and
sound artists express an interest in the sounds of nature today. “Field recording”,
where artists compose pieces based on sound recordings from nature and cultural
events, is a broad genre within electronic music and sound art. Some artists simply
play the recordings unaltered, as a recorded moment in time, while others rework
recordings into new pieces. The Sampler programme is issuing a challenge to today’s
artists within electronic music and sound art to produce pieces based on the sounds
from Norwegian nature and folk culture that inspired Grieg.
As part of the Sleppet programme, artists are being invited to tour western Norway
in April and May 2007, to experience and record its nature and rural culture.
The itinerary will include Nordfjord during the horse-mating season, Jostedalbreen
(the Jostedal glacier), Utvær (Norway’s westernmost point) and Bergen in all its
drizzly spring glory. Spring offers a wealth of tonal and conceptual inspiration,
in nature, towns and cities. The works resulting from the tour will be put together
into an exhibition that will open in Bergen in September and later go on tour
in Norway and abroad
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