The Norwegian musical history starts from the late 1800s. It started with “Bygdedans”. This world comes from the village dancing and it is the oldest-known folk-dance. The main accompaniment of this dance was the Hardanger fiddle, which was played like a violin but it has 9 strings and sounded way different.
There are two main ethnicities in Norway. One is North germanic and the other Sámi. The Sámi people are in Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Songs from Sámi people are called Joiks. These songs have no structure or rhythm scheme at all. They have almost no lyrics too. They have lost their popularity long ago because modern music in Norway is the opposite of what it was in the Ancient times.
Scandinavias has sometimes been called Europe’s stepchild and backwater of culture. Only a few native composers have been generally known for their work and Nordic shored. These musicians are – Edvard Grieg from Norway, Franz Berwald from Sweden, Jean Sibelius from Finland, Dietrich Buxtehude, and Carl Nielsen from Denmark.
The knowledge of music among Norwegians was always on a high level. Scandinavian music and culture had a huge impact on modern music. Scandinavian countries were always active in the music industry. Norway, for example, had produced composers as different as Geirr Tveitt, who wrote for the Hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) and Arne Nordheim, who experimented with electronic effects. And all of this was happening in only the twentieth century alone.
Norwegian folk music
A lot of Ancient Nordic songs were dedicated to either Legendary Vikings or Norse gods like Thor or Odin. This particular thing was what many modern Nordic companies focused on as a unique selling point. In particular, we can say that video game studios were the ones that took these songs and re-integrated it into modern society.
Even more particularly, it was the gambling sector of the gaming industry.
Based on numerous games seen on www.Nyecasino.casino, a Norwegian gaming outlet, we can see how this ancient music is integrated into modern sound effects to create a really entertaining product. This is usually a slot game. Other parts in gaming where Nordic music can be seen are usually RPGs based on the Nordic culture. The greatest example of this is games like Skyrim.
There are two types of Norwegian music – Instrumental and vocal. Most of the time, their music is without any vocals because they love epic themed music. Norwegian music is not that famous in the field. But there are some famous names like A-ha and some of the black metal artists.
Modern Norwegian music
The first documents on musical activities are 6000year-old-rock paintings. These pictures are showing Norwegians having fun together. Some people think that they were probably cult-connected but no one knows that exactly.
As for now, Norway is getting most of its attention for its black metal scene.
AURORA – is one of the rising stars in Norwegian music right now. Her music is calming, relaxing, and full of emotions. She has already won numerous during her career that started in 2015.
Alan Walker – was born in England but is risen in Bergen. He is a producer and a DJ. At age 20 he was also very successful on the international stage, he’s got billions of views on youtube.
Kygo – is another Bergen Boy whose music took off in 2014. He received 50 million views on one of his music videos, since that time, he was nominated for a vast amount of awards.
Röyksopp – This famous duo is coming from The cold north of Tromso. Since their 1998 appearance, these two have gained huge recognition and popular success around the world.
Mayhem – Established in 1984 in Oslo, Mayhem summarizes the black metal scene more than any other band in Norway. They were a dominant part of the scene’s creation, and their music powerfully inspired many other kinds of music genres in the world.
Edvard Grieg – national romanticism and radical music
Edward Grieg is the most popular international artist from Norway. He was an independent thinker. He was always against the trends, that is why his music is so unique. Born in Bergen, he was a son of a merchant of Schottish and Danish Descent. Grieg was sent to the conservatory of Leipzig at the age of 15. At his young age, he would spend most of his time in Copenhagen. There he met the Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak (1842–66), who frequently was stressed about the fact that Norwegians needed their own, national Norwegian platform where they could accomplish their ideas and dreams together for a cultural and environmental change. In 1866 Grieg moved to Oslo.
He stayed in that city for almost ten years and shared a position with Johan Svendsen. Grieg thought that Oslo was too provincial and old-fashioned. After years of living there, he married Nina. His most well-known work, which is called Piano Concerto in A minor was composed during the period of summer 1868. It was the time when Grieg convinced Franz Liszt to sight-read the concerto in Rome in 1870.
Grieg is called a master of miniature forms. His music is popular anywhere in the world. It is awaited that his cyclical works and interpreting will be always new for the next generations.
