LITERATURE
According to globalsciencellc, the origins of Norwegian literature are intimately connected with Norse literature born in Iceland by Norwegian exiles, who cared for and kept alive the literary legacy of the fathers, which is found almost intact in the Edda and in the scaldic poetry. Intimately linked to Norwegian literature are the Icelandic sagas on Norwegian kings from the Heimskringla collection by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), the greatest representative of Norwegian-Icelandic literature. With the decline of Norway as a political power also literature declined and the century. XIII was characterized by political works and free prose translations of the chivalrous poems. From about 1200 it is the work of political controversy Speech against the bishops with which Norway made an interesting contribution to the conflict between Church and State; and in 1276, through the work of the sovereign Magnus Lagabøter, the previous legal codes were merged into a single law valid for the whole country. The union with Denmark (1387) soon led to the submission of Norway also in the linguistic field. 1st century XIV and XV were quite poor from an economic, political and national point of view and this was also reflected in the literature, mostly represented by ballads of a feudal and continental style, of chivalrous life and unhappy love stories; in addition to these chivalrous songs, of which the most famous is Bendik and Aarolilja which refers to the story of Tristan and Isolde, we remember the kaempeviser or warlike ballads, which for their warlike content refer to the Icelandic sagas. Completely independent of this trend is the anonymous Song of the Dream (ca. 1300), very close to the European apocalyptic literature of the Middle Ages. With the century XVI began the economic and political recovery of Norway. Various were the adherents to the humanistic movement and all contributed to spread the ancient works written in Iceland at home and to make known the history and traditions of Norway beyond the borders of Scandinavia. Among these Peder Claussøn Friis (1545-1614), translator of Snorri ‘s Heimskringla, Hallvard Gunnarssøn (1545-1608) and Peter Dass (1647-1707), a Lutheran pastor who in Nordland’s Trumpet described the nature and life of northern Norway. A stimulating appearance was that of Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), born in Bergen but lived in Copenhagen, who is usually assigned to Danish literature, but who testified his attachment to the homeland in a Description of Norway. Authors of a certain importance in the second half of the eighteenth century were the bohemian student Johan H. Wessel (1742-1785), who in the Alexandrian comedy Love without socks(1772) parodied the French-flavored comedy, and the poet Christian Braumann Thullin (1728-1765), who set his pastoral idylls against the backdrop of Norwegian landscapes. In this end of the century, nationalistic interests predominated on aesthetic interests, connected with the historical events of the nation.
MUSIC
The substratum of Norwegian music is represented by a rich heritage of folk dances and songs that have profoundly influenced, giving them a marked national imprint, the expressions of cultured music. Among the most common instruments of Norwegian folklore are the hardingfele, a kind of viola with four strings set in vibration by a bow and four vibrating for sympathy; the langleik, eight-stringed zither; the lur, a wind, consisting of a conical section tube, bent in the shape of an S. Among the numerous dances, halling, in binary rhythm, of cheerful movement, the gangar, intended for couples of dancers, in binary rhythm composed and in moderate time; the springleik or springar, with a very complex rhythm, perhaps derived from the polonaise. The Gregorian chant, introduced by King Olaf I was grown up to 1536, the year in which the country passed to Protestantism. It seems that in the late Middle Ages the Norwegian musical culture had considerable influences on English polyphony, in particular on the discant for parallel thirds. In the sec. XV, after the conquest of Norway by Denmark, began a period of decline that was to end only in the first decades of the nineteenth century, after the recovered political freedom. W. Thrane (1790-1828), together with the violinist Ole Bornemann Bull (1810-1880), was among the first architects of the national musical revival. Hafdan Kjerulf (1815-1868) elaborated in his piano pieces with a Schumannian imprint that particular meaning of German musical romanticism, with a strong national flavor, to which Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) gave enormous popularity. Norway owes a great debt to its most popular musician: Grieg’s music gave it a place of prestige in the international arena, one that several centuries of marginalization from the most important European cultural currents had stolen from it. His contemporaries Johan Svendsen (1840-1911) and Christian Sinding(1856-1941) continued the tradition, while attenuating the folkloric component in favor of a language with a more marked European imprint. A substantially similar path, while adapting to the contemporary international cultural situation (with particular reference to France and Germany) followed GR Schjelderup (1859-1933), J. Halvorsen (1864-1935), H. Borgström (1864-1925), A. Hurum (1882-1972), OF Valen (1887-1952), DM Johansen (1888-1974), LI Jensen (1894-1969), A. Kleven (1899-1929), K. Egge (1906-1979). Among the composers of the new generations, attested to avant-garde positions, the figure of Bo Nilsson (b. 1937) stands out. In the seventies Norway began a policy of large investment in the music sector with the creation of many public schools, with the organization of festivals and with the construction of concert halls and theaters, such as the Oslo Opera House, a monumental project in progress, which is scheduled to open in 2008. The world of classical music enjoys the prestige given to it by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Oslo and Bergen, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, the cellist Truls Mørk. And even outside of classical music, Norwegian artists have been able to cross the borders of their country. Among the authors of contemporary music, whose father at home is Fartein Valen (1887-1952), we especially remember Arne Nordheim (b.1931) a leading figure of electronic music who lives in Grotten, located near the Royal Palace, which the government Norwegian reserve for life, as a sign of honor, to a local artist. As for folk music, with an uninterrupted vocal and instrumental tradition, every year two competitions also celebrate it with new talents: the National Festival of Folkloric Dances and the Norwegian Traditional Music and Dances Competition, where perfect mastery of the instruments is required. older.
