About the contents
Nørgård enjoys a leading position as a composer in both Danish and international music circles. His music is often composed on the basis of particular structures or ideas, such as his infinity series, tone lakes, or the idea of an open hierarchy. His compositions reflect a very personal universe, and yet one that is general in application.
Our intention is to present this universe in a multi-media version, comprising text (written and spoken), sound files with music samples, examples of scores, graphics and photographs. The topic is also exceedingly well-suited to making full use of hypertext cross-references and links.
A computer monitor is not suited to the reading of large slices of text, and for this reason we have restricted the amount of written material. This website is not meant to compete with the literature about Nørgård; it is intended to offer a thorough introduction to his music, and to refer to the available literature.
The written text comprises some 220 standard pages, so that if we add the illustrations we have what corresponds to a book of at least 300 pages. But the Internet is a dynamic medium: we can regularly update the list of works and the bibliography, we can present analyses of new works, set up conference groups, and correct any errors that may arise.
Of the 17 headings in the main menu, three especially
describe Nørgård's universe: Style and characteristics, Ideas behind the music, and
Structures in the music. Under the heading Selected works, may be found
introductions to 17 major works in various genres and from different stylistic periods.
Presenting this material in a multi-media format has presented a great challenge.
Per Nørgård speaks about his work in person in the section entitled Per Nørgård
himself speaking about... where you can hear an interview covering 23 points, ranging
from The meeting with Sibelius to The bizarre and The cosmic. The
List of works (including information about recordings) and the Bibliography are
stored in databases set up and maintained by the Danish Music Information Centre (MIC).
In the section headed Nørgård events, you can read about concerts and
other events. The Web-conference group will be set up when the English version is
ready in spring 2000.
Certain sections are mostly meant for professional readers, but most of the website can be read even if one does not know all the technical terms used.
At the time of writing there are still some details to be
adjusted and we still keep encountering minor errors, but this does not detract from the
main purpose of the website, which is to pass on to the reader an experience of
Nørgård's music.
Enjoy yourself!
Jørgen Mortensen