Composers / Arne Nordheim / Places catalog

Old Lodge (Gamle Logen)

The Lodge is a venue for concerts and celebrations. It was opened in 1839 as a building combining the functions of freemasons' lodge and public event hall. The cellars housed the most exquisite restaurant in the Norwegian capital and its first theatrical café. The first artist to use the Great Lodge Hall was the violin virtuoso Ole Bull. In those times, the hall could accommodate up to one thousand spectators. Throughout the nineteenth century, many Norwegian and foreign musicians performed in the Great and Small Lodge Halls. Here, Edvard Grieg and Johan Svendsen conducted Music Society concerts, in 1930 King Håkon celebrated his silver jubilee, and in 1945 the Nazi leader Vidkun Quisling was put on trial. The former Lodge gradually fell into decline, and for a long time it was used as a social space, where lunches were eaten and tasks were distributed among the dockers of the Oslo Laste- og Losseforening, an association of docking companies. In 1988, the building was restored and reopened as a concert hall and club space.

Arne Nordheim's father did not have the means to support his son financially. While at university, Nordheim earned his living as a telegram delivery boy at a post office and as a transport worker. He often stood in the concert hall of the Old Lodge waiting to be called out and get his share of the dock work. He would also eat his lunch here, if he happened to have one, as he was often desperately short of money. In some cases, help came in the form of “Jensen the Watchman’s private distribution of slices of bread in the cellars of the Conservatory”. No wonder that the composer's favourite book at that time was Hamsun’s Hunger, the first-person account of a poor, unknown young man who tries to make a career as a writer, balancing constantly on the verge of death from starvation, his mental instability tossing him from one extreme to another. In this portrait, Nordheim seemed to find his own reflection.

Nordheim celebrated his sixtieth birthday at the Lodge, with a concert in the Great Hall and a reception in the clubs.

Place Category
13 Øvre Jegerborggate, Larvik Other
3 Olavsgate, Larvik Other
Artists' House Other
Arts Council Norway Other
Bayreuth Appearances
Bekkelaget Sewage Treatment Plant Other
Bergen Festival Appearances
Brekstad in Ørland commune Other
British Broadcasting Corporation Radio / TV
Calmeyergaten Mission House Appearances
City Hall Other
Concertgebouw Appearances
Concert Palace Appearances
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Den Nationale Scene Appearances
Edition Wilhelm Hansen
Publishers / Bookshops
Feliks Nowowiejski Warmia and Masuria Philharmonic Appearances
Festiviteten Other
Grieghallen Appearances
“Grotto” Flats
Håkonshallen Appearances
Henie-Onstad Art Centre in Baerum Education
Hergisheim Flats
International Bach Academy Appearances
Israeli Radio Radio / TV
Israel Music Institute Other
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Other
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra Appearances
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Appearances
Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music Education
Larvik church Churches / Places of worship
Lillehammer – Winter Olympic Games Other
Lodge Theatre Performance spaces
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Appearances
National Library Education
National Theatre Performance spaces
Netherlands Dance Theatre
New Music Association
Nidaros Cathedral Churches / Places of worship
Norwegian Academy of Music Education
Norwegian Opera Other
Norwegian Opera at the Folk Theatre Appearances
Norwegian Society of Composers Other
Norwegian Theatre I Other
Norwegian Theatre II Other
Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU Education
NOTAM Education
NRK radio and television Radio / TV
Observatory Other
Old Lodge (Gamle Logen) Appearances
Orchester der Württembergischen Staatsoper Appearances
Osaka Congress Hall (EXPO 70)
Oslo Cathedral Churches / Places of worship
Oslo Conservatory of Music Education
Oslo Philharmonic Appearances
Polish Radio Experimental Studio Radio / TV
Quality Hotel Grand Farris Hotels / Inns
“Rendezvous” for strings Appearances
Rombergata School Education, Other
Royal Norwegian Consulate General, New York Other
Royal Swedish Academy of Music Education
Santori Horu (Suntory Hall) Appearances
Storedal Cultural Centre Other
Swedish Radio Radio / TV
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg Appearances
Teatro La Fenice Performance spaces
Theatre Café Coffeehouses
Town Hall in Gdańsk Other
Trento Other
University Aula Other
Wailing Wall Churches / Places of worship
Warsaw Autumn Performance spaces
Witold Lutosławski Society Other