Nordisk Musikkultur

Published by G. E. C. Gads Forlag in Copenhagen, the quarterly journal Nordisk Musikkultur [RIPM code NMK] first appeared in 1952 and continued through 1958 as a complimentary journal included with Dansk Musiktidsskrift and Musikrevy. The journal was published quarterly, with one issue for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Bengt Pleijel, the initial editor-in-chief, stepped down after only three issues, with Sigurd Berg taking up the role in his place for the remainder of the publication’s life. The editorial staff remains consistent through the last issue, with Kristian Lange, Vagn Jensen, Conrad Baden, Hampus-Huldt Nystrøm, and Nicolai Dirdal.

Nordisk Musikkultur was born from a collaborative idea during the Second Nordic Congress of Music Education, held in Oslo in the summer of 1949. On this occasion, Norway and Sweden, joined shortly afterwards by Denmark, established the formation of national editorial committees for the publication of a periodical dedicated to current music events in the Nordic countries with a special interest in music education.

Structurally, the journal keeps a rather consistent pattern. Each issue is roughly 30-40 pages, beginning with an essay article meant to provoke further reflection or discussion on broader trends and issues in Scandinavian music life. From there, the issues continue into other long-form articles on current events (festivals, conferences, etc.), musicological essays, or spotlights on key figures in Nordic music life. The issues segue into smaller-form content through local announcements under the Skandinavian headline before dedicating the final half to reviews of recordings, publications, and books under the Grammofon, Musikalier, and Litteratur/Böcker headings, respectively.

Bengt Pleijel was an active music journalist from Sweden most known for his founding of the magazine Musikrevy in 1946. He remained editor in chief of this magazine until its closure in 1994, while also serving as editor in chief for the magazine Jorden Runt which ran from 1960 to 1982. Relatively speaking, Pleijel’s position in Nordisk Musikkultur was short lived, only serving as the editor-in-chief for the first three issues before handing it off to Sigurd Berg. In this brief position, he contributed mostly to the review segments of the journal. Pleijel was awarded the Medal for the Promotion of the Art of Music from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Sigurd Berg held a steady position as an archivist at the Danish Museum of Music History until his death in 1984, while also working on the editorial board for Nordisk Musikkultur’s regional sibling publication Dansk Musiktidsskrift. Outside of his editorial and archival work, Berg also authored several books and articles about music life in Denmark, notably a biography of composer Knudåge Riisager. While editor-in-chief of Nordisk Musikkultur, Berg did not stray from editorial work, authoring only a single review of a ballet throughout the journal’s run time.

Kristian Lange was a solo pianist while also working for the Norwegian National Radio (NRK), eventually being promoted to the position of music director. Throughout his career, he held various high-ranking positions in both Norwegian and international music councils. As a writer, his foremost works include Komponistforening gjennom 50 år (a history on the Norwegian composers’ association) and Norwegian Music – a Survey (a pivotal anglophone survey of Norwegian music). Lange’s contribution to Nordisk Musikkultur was as varied as it was prolific, regularly contributing rich columns, essays, and articles on opera performances, book reviews, composer biographies, or open discussion critiques of trends in Nordic music life.

With a productive career as both a composer and organist, Conrad Baden went on to become a teacher at the Oslo Conservatory in 1947 and associate professor at the Norwegian Academy of music during a short tenure in the 70s. As a journalist and editor, he worked on the staff of Drammens Tidende, Vårt Land, Morgenbladet, and of course, Norsk Musikkultur. Occasionally contributing articles on theory, pedagogy, and composition, Baden’s most consistent contribution to Nordisk Musikkultur were his reviews of music and books.

Hampus Huldt-Nystrøm lived a charismatic career as a prominent musicologist in Norway, succeeding in groundbreaking research on older Norwegian music history. He held a teaching position at the Oslo Conservatory of Music from 1943-1949, then partnered with NRK as program then editorial secretary from 1950-1963. In the 1960s, Huldt-Nystrøm earned a senior lecturer position in the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo before moving to teach musicology as the department head at the Norwegian College of Education at the University of Trondheim for the remainder of his career into the 1980s. His most known and influential work as a musicologist was his 1969 From the Monk’s Choir to the Symphony Orchestra. Music Life in Old Christiania and Oslo. In terms of contributions to Nordisk Musikkultur, his output was rather slim, only contributing one musicological essay on Fartein Valen, an interview with composer Klaus Egge, and one small announcement throughout the whole publication.

Nicolai Dirdal led a productive career as an organist alongside an accomplished teaching career in Norway. By 1946, he was elected chairman of the Oslo Music Teachers’ Association, and from 1954 to 1962 he was the president of the Nordic Music Pedagogical Union. During his time as an editor for Nordisk Musikkultur, he also founded Norsk Musikktidsskrift and served as editor from 1964 to 1980. During his career, he received several honors, including knighting by St. Olav’s Order in 1961, and receiving the Lindeman Prize in 1978. Like Sigurd Berg, Dirdal did not stray from editorial duties, and went the whole life of Nordisk Musikkultur without contributing an article or a review.

The journal targets music discourse relevant to every facet of society, from the frequent collaboration with voices in the Musikpædagogiska Kongressen (Music Teachers’ Association) in discussing the significance in childhood music education and exposure, through to the most elite circles of the ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) in discussing the cutting edge of contemporary, experimental, and avant-garde music. Outside of associations and societies, and true to Scandinavian egalitarianism, voices from every corner of music life are featured throughout the journal’s publications, alongside columns and articles from even the most internationally known Scandinavian composers, including Nils Viggo Bentzon and Knudåge Riisager. In sum, the journal reflects the diversity of its editorial staff, comprising of equal parts music educators, composers, journalists, and musicologists.

Ongoing tensions around elitism well known to the classical world are further stressed by the noted social emphasis on egalitarianism in Scandinavia, highlighted in the exchanges between Frede Schandorf Petersen and Jan Maegaard throughout the 1958 publications. Beginning with “Apropos. Kritik af museumkoncerterne” opening the June issue, in which Maegaard criticized the publication of a supposedly unqualified music critic’s review of the contemporary music concert in question, Schandorf Petersen then responded in Oktober with accusing Maegaard of cultural fascism in “Kulturfascisme”. The exchange shows the complicated place of so-called intellectual music in Scandinavian society which was foreshadowed two years earlier in Ruth Sommerfeldt Jacobsen’s “Musikksnobberi?”. This same friction is highlighted in an exchange throughout 1954 between educators Riemer Riefling and Amalie Christie in discussion of Bartók’s newly-published pedagogy, and between Hans Gustaf Hansen, Kåre Siem, and Ingmar Bengtsson regarding Bengtsson’s “Chimären on Musikalisk Massfrälsning” and “Kris i Konsertlivet”. The conversations remain unanswered by Nordisk Musikkultur, but a central question to art music in Scandinavia: is there any reconciliation to be found between egalitarianism and intellectualism?

The pedagogical imperatives of Nordisk Musikkultur are highlighted in the intermittent reports from music education conferences and UNESCO’s music educator’s congress meetings throughout the journal’s publications. More detailed and targeted articles such as “Hur upplever barn musik?” from Bengt Franzén and Synøve Løchen’s “Nyere pedagogiske synspynkter i musikkundervisning”. Ivar Benum’s “Musikken som personlighetsdannende fag i skolen” reflects on the role of music in childhood personality formation and social skill development needed to succeed outside of music, reflecting long-held belief in Scandinavia that music is essential to the cultivation of a democratic public. 

Music history is discussed in several articles, giving a wide perspective on where particular traditions and styles emerge in Scandinavia. Karl Klausen’s review of Arthur Arnholtz’s Lille dansk sangleksikon which traces the history of song in Denmark to the middle ages, giving a comprehensive outline to key points in the book. Liv Greni writes about the living folk music tradition in Norway in “Litt om folkemusiktradisjonen i Norge idag”, Arne Björndahl covers the history of the Hardanger fiddle in “Hardingfele 300 år”, and Ingeborg Lagercrantz writes of recent scholarship on the ancient Rune Singing tradition in Finland in “Fornfisk runesång in ny belysning”. Traditional music in Iceland is also covered in Bjarni Gudmundsson’s article “Musik i Island” as it relates to Jón Leif’s music.

Extensive biographical sketches of significant Scandinavian composers are given as well such as an insightful essay on Grieg’s personal life around his home and community is given by Signmund Torsteinson in “Levende Grieg-Minner”, and a close look at Eivind Groven’s innovative just-intonation organ in the unsigned article “Eivind Grovens renstemte orgel”. Close theoretical analyses of key works from theorists are featured in articles such as Hampus Huldt-Nyström’s “Fartein Valen og hans Tredje Symfoni” or Nils. L. Wallin’s analysis of Hilding Rosenberg’s Johannes Uppenbarelse.

The journal takes place during a decade of significant cultural, social, and political development in the Scandinavian postwar period. The political projects of this time would set the foundation for what is now known as the "Nordic Model", defined by high standards of democracy, equality, and welfare, while also maintaining strong cultural identities through heritage and tradition.

In this new Nordic model, music remained central the ideal that cultivation of the self and community through the arts is fundamental to a healthy and just society, and thus all should have access to music of the highest quality. This journal, with an ear to the ground, documents the place of classical music and broader issues of music education within this remarkable period in Scandinavian history. Indeed, the journal’s first column titled “Over grænserne” (“Beyond borders”) written by politician Franz Wendt, exemplifies the role this journal plays in the pan-Scandinavian ambitions which defined the postwar era.

The journal exemplifies this project of pan-Scandinavian unity through the inclusion of perspectives from Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, but also the unapologetic featuring of the native language of each author without translation. Despite being a Danish publication, Norwegian writers in their own language are featured just as often, with Swedish writers in their own language making an occasional appearance (as Sweden already had more than their fair share of established music journals). Articles on both Finnish and Icelandic music, while not Scandinavian, are also included on occasion out of shared Nordic identity and history.