Music about the North by Non-Scandinavian Composers

[sdtom]

Hanson was Swedish.
Tom

[LateRomantic75]

His parents were Swedish immigrants, but Hanson was born on US soil. Therefore, I think he is worthy of inclusion here.

Thanks for the interesting responses everyone!

[Alan Howe]

Something doesn't have to be about ice floes, polar bears and (now) extinct great auks (Penguin Island) to be about the North, after all

True, but the thrust of the thread is surely the fascination with northern lands and their music on the part of composers from elsewhere. Otherwise any old connection would do - e.g. are we to discuss every musical setting of Hamlet just because he's Prince of Denmark?

[eschiss1]

Point taken breezily

[sdtom]

I always think of Sinfonia Antarctica as the finest example of this kind of music. I have both the film soundtrack and the symphony.
Tom

[eschiss1]

Still, I think the penguins are now properly and well squawkily annoyed ("_we_ know the difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic!"...)

[chill319]

As someone who grew up among hushed hillsides of redwoods, please forgive my asking: Do the Hebrides qualify as emblems of North? I've always wondered if perhaps the flavor of that  Mendelssohn overture was the beginning of northern diction in music. That opening motive speaks of things ancient, viewed in mild northern light. Ossian and all that.

[thalbergmad]

Do the Hebrides qualify as emblems of North?

Rather depends on where you live really. To me, the Hebrides is the North, but so is the Newport Pagnell Service Station, which seems to have been ignored by composers, Scandinavian or not.

When I visited Fingal's Cave in what was little more than a bath tub with a lawn mower engine, drowning was more on my mind than Mendelssohn ,and if I recall, his experience was not a great deal better. I am not convinced that music can paint pictures of locations even if it is the composers intention to do so.

Thal

[Gauk]

For someone living in South Africa, virtually everywhere is north.

Otherwise ...

If Scotland counts, there are numerous Rhapsodies Ecossaise, etc. Scandinavia is less well-served apart from Scandinavian composers and the aforementioned Lalo. For the Arctic proper you have to look to 20th composers.

[Alan Howe]

We still need some sort of exploration of what it is that constitutes "northernness" (for want of a better word) in music written by composers from elsewhere. The use or imitation of certain folk material? The copying of the idiom of certain composers from northern climes?

Anyone got any ideas?

[LateRomantic75]

I think works that use or imitate the folk material of Scandinavian countries or try to emulate that distinct "Nordic sound" (you know what I mean) are worthy of inclusion here. There are works like Moeran's Symphony in G minor, while not having explicit Nordic connections, are influenced by Nordic composers (in Moeran's case, Sibelius) and, therefore, "sound" Nordic to some degree. Or perhaps I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here?

[Alan Howe]

I think the influence of Sibelius is seminal here - although Gade's 1st Symphony has always been said to have a certain "Nordic cut" to its themes (no doubt an expert musicologist could explain this in concrete terms). So, I'd say "northernness" (i.e. something distinctly Scandinavian) in music starts in earnest with Sibelius. Discuss...

[sdtom]

I would say above the 60th parallel which would include Iceland, Scandinavia, and also St. Petersburg so some of the Russian works could be included. Does that make any sense?
Tom

[LateRomantic75]

Berwald's remarkably original music set the stage for developing the "Nordic" sound with its harmonic novelties and unique "breeziness" in the orchestration. We mustn't forget Grieg either, who developed his style largely independent of his European models.

[Alan Howe]

I would say above the 60th parallel which would include Iceland, Scandinavia, and also St. Petersburg so some of the Russian works could be included. Does that make any sense?
Tom

Not entirely - at least not in relation to this particular thread. The clue's surely in the title - which implies a discussion of Scandinavian-style music written by non-Scandinavians. So let's leave out everything beyond the bounds of Scandinavia, which Wikipedia defines as follows:

<<Scandinavia is a historical and cultural-linguistic region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethno-cultural Germanic heritage and related languages that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Modern Norway and Sweden proper and also northern parts of Finland are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula, whereas modern Denmark is situated on the Danish islands and Jutland. The term Scandinavia is usually used as a cultural term, but in English usage, it is occasionally confused with the purely geographical term Scandinavian Peninsula, which took its name from the cultural-linguistic concept. The name Scandinavia historically referred vaguely to Scania.

The terms Scandinavia and Scandinavian entered usage in the 18th century as terms for the three Scandinavian countries, their peoples and associated language and culture, being introduced by the early linguistic and cultural Scandinavist movement. Sometimes the term Scandinavia is also taken to include Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Finland, on account of their historical association with the Scandinavian countries. Such usage, however, may be considered inaccurate in the area itself, where the term Nordic countries instead refers to this broader group.>>

So, Russia's definitely out - as is Scotland. But I assume Iceland would be in...

Incidentally here's an interesting paper on Grieg and Sibelius: http://www.rmjs.co.uk/bham/31cc01.pdf