Danish composer With his constant search for new forms of musical expression, Per Nørgård has left his mark on Danish compositional music in the latter half of the 20th century. At the age of seventeen Nørgård became a protégé of Vagn Holmboe, just as Holmboe had been a protégé of Carl Nielsen, and was encouraged to make use of his talents. Upon graduating from musical academy, he sought new inspiration with Nadia Boulanger. Nørgård's musical expression has been subject to constant change in the course of his composing career. He has continually sought new pathways to music, via a process in which he so to speak reinvents his own expression. He was initially anchored in the Nordic universe of Sibelius and Holmboe, as evidenced by his first symphony and 'Constellations'. Later he became attracted to modernist experimentation, and at the end of the 1960s psychedelic  elements made their appearance. The composition methods for which Nørgård is most usually known first found expression in the second movement of 'Voyage into the Golden Screen'. The 'infinity series', as it is termed, is a kind of fractal-like hierarchical structure in which the work unfolds from a small motif which is then 'reborn' in deeper layers. This approach was most consistently applied in his third symphony. At the beginning of the 1980s, Nørgård became interested in the work of the schizophrenic painter and poet Adolf Wölfli. Wölfli's alternation between idyll and catastrophe became the motor behind the fourth symphony. In recent years, Nørgård has been occupied with what he terms 'tone lakes', in which the infinity series reappears in a renewed form. His music may have an entirely tonal character, but never becomes Neoromantic – it is not an expression of nostalgia. Through his teaching activities in the period from 1958 to 1994, Nørgård has influenced new generations of composers to find their own paths through the musical landscape. By Mikkel Kofoed December 2004 This article is provided in cooperation with DR - www.dr.dk/musik/

Per Nørgård was born in 1932 in Gentofte (Copenhagen) The composer is represented by Edition Wilhelm Hansen. Read more and listen to interviews and music samples at pernoergaard.dk and 4Composers.dk