Composers / Arne Nordheim / Places catalog

University Aula

The university campus of Christiania (today’s Oslo), commissioned in 1851, consisted of three buildings. The Aula (assembly hall) was erected from private funds in 1911, on the centenary of the University's founding, at the rear of Domus Media.

The university buildings were designed by the architect and municipal geometrician Christian H. Grosch, supported by the famous German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

The Aula is adorned by eleven monumental oil-on-canvas paintings by Edvard Munch. From the moment it was built, the Aula was the city's most important concert hall. Until 1977, when the Oslo Konserthus was erected, the Philharmonic Society Orchestra gave concerts in the Aula.

During his studies at the Conservatory (1948–1952), Arne Nordheim eagerly visited the Aula to listen to concerts and also to the morning rehearsals of the Philharmonic Society Orchestra.

In the first half of 1953, the New Music Association had the honour of organising the ISCM World Music Days festival, attended by composers from nineteen countries. From the stylistic point of view, the Festival represented a wide spectrum. For Nordheim and his fellow composers, it opened up new paths for musical development. When Karl-Birger Blomdahl's monumental cantata Speglarnas sal [The mirror room] for choir and orchestra was being prepared, Nordheim attended every rehearsal, looking at notes over the conductor’s shoulder. This process of studying the composer and his work was of crucial importance for his further development.

In the autumn of 1958, Nordheim got a job as a music critic with the Morgenposten, and he went on to report on 30 to 50 concerts, which took place mainly in the Aula. From 1963, he continued his work as a music critic with the Dagbladet.

A considerable number of his own works were presented in the Aula, including Aftonland and Canzona. In 1962 he conducted the orchestra in a recording of the music to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s play Sigurd Slembe in the Aula, and on 9 February 1982 the Partita for six double basses, commissioned by the musicians, was performed there for the first time. A year later, in 1983, on the tenth anniversary of the Norwegian Music Academy, Nordheim’s Wirklicher Wald for soprano, cello, mixed choir and orchestra (to words by Rainer Maria Rilke) was performed.

For Arne Nordheim's seventieth birthday, in June 2001, the Ministry of Culture set up a composition prize in his name. On 13 October the same year, the prize was awarded for the first time in the Aula, accompanied by a performance of his Nedstigningen [Descent], to words by Stein Mehren.

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