Global Conservatoire

by Associate Professor, Dr. Søren Schauser 

“Nordic noir. Structure and Melancholy in Nordic Music” is a crash course in the Nordic area of music history. Participants will get an introduction to the music of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland from the early Romantic period until today. Some well-known works of Nordic composers such as the Fifth Symphony by Carl Nielsen, the Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg and the Second and Fifth Symphonies by Jean Sibelius will be studied. We’ll also look at later developments like Karl-Birger Blomdahl’s space opera “Aniara” as well as Per Nørgård’s rather complex music and Hans Abrahamsen’s extreme simplicity.

During the course, we’ll discuss if the “clumsy” orchestration in Nielsen’s symphonies or the dark timbre in Sibelius’ symphonies can be considered “Nordic” - and if or when the common impression of a "national trait” in any kind of music in the standard repertoire can be considered valid. 

by Associate Professor Jesper Andersen 

Modern musicians need the skills to create own recordings in a good quality and can also benefit from having great understanding of the recording process, when working with professional audio engineers and producers.
This area will be addressed in a very broad course, that teaches sound engineering to musicians. It involves topics like acoustics, microphones, recording, editing, mixing, mastering and video - while also looking at the history, aesthetics, management and evaluation of music recordings.

Furthermore, we will dive into audio/video for live-streaming and videoconferencing to be used for performances and distance learning.
The course is based on three live-online lectures mixed with a larger number of asynchronous video-lectures and group work. Along the way, students will build up their knowledge within music production while making own recordings to be evaluated and discussed with the lecturer, in groups and on the whole class.
Students do not need to have any previous experience with recording. And while it is recommended that students have some sort of basic recording equipment, it is not mandatory.