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Background/education

Previous assignment

Teaching and tutoring

Ph.D.-project 

"... the pleasurable passage of time": A presentation in text and music of selected melodies from 18th century Norwegian music books

The contents of handwritten music books shed light on aspects of 18th century musical life not often seen in traditional perspectives on music history. This music gives us fascinating insights into changing fashions and styles of informal music making in cities and rural areas. Most of the tunes are of foreign origin, but some of them were adapted and welcomed by the native musical culture of Norway and are still generally regarded as traditional "folk" music. It is also striking that the most popular melodies often appear in different forms in different sources.

The objective of this project is to describe a selection of these music books and to take a closer look at the repertoire. How and why are these melodies changed in the process of transmission, as is evident from the various sources? Can "hits" from the 1700's still appeal to today's audiences? Do we need to develop a special style of performance in order to re-create this music?

The music is presented through recordings of a collection of tunes performed on historically appropriate instruments. Performance practice is a necessary tool when revitalizing ancient and unknown music. Thoughts about the nature of this discipline and its ideology create a connection between the theoretical and practical aspects of this project, just as they lead to specific, personal and artistic choices in the performance of this repertoire. Different solutions to problems related to performance are discussed and documented in the enclosed recordings.

Selected publications 

Artistic practice