Photo © Jim Newman

Per Nørgård (b. 1932) is Denmark’s leading contemporary composer. In his youth a traditionalist from the mold of Carl Neilsen and Jean Sibelius, he has explored many compositional techniques throughout his career. His early teacher, Vagn Holmboe, piqued Nørgård’s interest in organic music development and the concept of metamorphosis—using small motifs that are developed polyphonically. In the 1960s, Nørgård experimented with collage and interference techniques and electronic music. Simultaneously, Nørgård developed his own serial procedure, the infinity series, that generates melodies fractally and endlessly in
multi-layered polyphony reminiscent of the Renaissance prolation canon. In the 1980s, Nørgård adopted a more dramatic, spontaneous style, prompted by his viewing of an exhibition entitled “Outsiders” that presented works by mentally ill artists including those of the schizophrenic Swiss artist Adolph Wölfli (1864-1930). This encounter prompted the composition of many of Nørgård’s most popular works, including Wie ein Kind, the first of many Wölfli-inspired works. Even in his Wölfli period, Nørgård did not completely abandon his earlier compositional techniques. In subsequent work and today, Nørgård melds his techniques into new forms. “I find myself on a succession of different slippery slopes, but always on slippery slopes. Yet this isn’t a matter of escaping, for usually earlier strategies and ideas emerge again later—in new contexts.”
www.pernoergaard.dk/eng/indhold.html