Bergen International Festival, Music & Silence

Established in 1953, the Bergen International Festival takes place from 20 May to 3 June 2020. Each year, the program includes over 400 events taking place over 15 days in more than 70 venues in and around Bergen. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the events have been canceled, but there are still more than 50 events taking place in empty venues; these events are streamed online for free. They include music, theatre, dance, opera and visual art performances.

Last Sunday, I watched the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra performing Edvard Grieg’s A minor Piano Concerto in Grieghallen. Considered the Bergen International Festival signature work, the Piano Concerto in A minor is the only concerto that Grieg completed and is performed at the festival every year. This year’s conductor was Edward Gardner and the soloist was the Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. It was a unique concert, as Víkingur performed in Reykjavik, since he couldn’t physically travel to Bergen and join the Philharmonic Orchestra in person.

The Fruit of Silence

Last Sunday’s concert in Grieghallen also featured a performance of The Fruit of Silence, performed by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edvard Grieg Kor. Composed by the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, The Fruit of Silence was written over a text by Mother Teresa:

The fruit of silence is prayer.
The fruit of prayer is faith.
The fruit of faith is love.
The fruit of love is service.
The fruit of service is peace.

Grieghallen and other Bergen International Festival venues

Grieghallen is Bergen International Festival’s main stage, as well as the home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Named after the Bergen-born Norwegian composer, this large concert hall is located on Edvard Griegs’ Square in the center of Norway’s second-largest city. It was constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and first opened in 1978. In 1986, Grieghallen hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, following Norway’s first Eurovision victory the previous year.

Edvard Griegs' statue — Edvard Griegs’ statue outside Grieghallen

Other festival venues located in the city center include the Bergen Cathedral (Domkirke) and the National Stage (Den Nationale Scene). The latter is Bergen’s largest theatre as well as Norway’s oldest permanent theatre and is located in a beautiful Art Nouveau building.

Some festival events take place in Skjerjehamn, a nearby island that used to be a hub for ship traffic, and in Lysøen, another nearby island where the Norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull had his summer residence.

Other Norwegian composers’ homes serving as venues for the Bergen International Festival include Siljustøl (Harald Sæverud’s home) and the Troldsalen chamber music hall at Troldhaugen. The latter, located right next to Edvard Grieg’s villa, overlooks a small lake and is considered one of the most beautiful chamber music halls in Norway.

The Troldsalen chamber music hall at Troldhaugen, Bergen — The Troldsalen chamber music hall at Troldhaugen

Bergen International Festival past and future

As well as last Sunday’s concert, I particularly enjoyed Arctic Icemusic, a concert from Bergen International Festival 2018. Although the concert was held at room temperature, Terje Isungset played icedrums, iceofon, icehorns and icepercussion, musical instruments made of ice. The Norwegian percussionist was joined on the Grieghallen stage by other musicians (from Norway and elsewhere) providing vocals and playing traditional music instruments (trumpet and double bass).

In 2021, the Bergen International Festival will take place from 26 May to 09 June, whereas in 2020, it will be held from 25 May to 08 June. Having watched online some of this year’s, as well as some of the previous years’, performances, I really hope that I attend the festival next year.

Coincidentally, last week, not only I listened to The Fruit Of Silence, but I also read a book called ‘Silence In The Age Of Noise’. The author, Erling Kagge, is a Norwegian explorer, writer and publisher; in this book, he shares his reflections on the value of silence.

Silence In The Age Of Noise

Comprising 33 chapters, ‘Silence In The Age Of Noise’ takes us on a journey around the world, from Oslo, where Kagge currently lives, all the way to Antarctica, where the author spent 50 days in total silence, walking all by himself from the northern edge of the continent to the South Pole. We sail through the Atlantic Ocean and walk in New York City’s underground tunnels and sewage system, before climbing to the top of the Williamsburg Bridge to watch the sunrise. We fly to Sri Lanka for a yoga retreat and listen to the sounds of a whale during a sailing trip in the South Pacific Ocean, before spending four days walking around the anything-but-silent Los Angeles.

Kagge also travels us though literature and the arts. With the help of a selection of philosophers, writers, explorers and artists from Norway and the rest of the world, Kagge provides invaluable insights into silence.

Amongst Kagge’s compatriots sharing their wisdom, are the playwright Jon Fosse, the explorer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen, the poet Rolf Jacobsen and the philosopher Lars Svendsen. Other philosophers encountered in this journey include the Ancient Greeks Aristotle and Plato, the Germans Immanuel Kant and Martin Heidegger, the Danish Søren Kierkegaard, the Austrian-British Ludwig Wittgenstein and the French Denis Diderot.

We encounter famous authors and poets, such as the Japanese poet and haiku master Bashō, the American author David Foster Wallace, the English poet William Blake, and the late British author and Neurologist Oliver Sacks.

We listen to Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies, John Cage’s three-movement composition ‘4’33’, Depeche Mode’s ‘All I Ever Wanted’ and Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’.

Finally, we take a look at Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ and we sit opposite Marina Abramović in her performance ‘The Artist Is Present’.

Lithograph based on Munch's masterpiece ‘The Scream’ — Lithograph based on Munch’s masterpiece ‘The Scream’

Meanwhile, Ed Ruscha’s paintings illustrate the pages of ‘Silence In The Age Of Noise’. It is another coincidence that my first encounter with Ruscha took place in Bergen, several years ago. I happened to be visiting whilst KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes featured an exhibition with the works of the American artist.

Traveling to Norway through music

Despite the value of silence, I personally couldn’t live without music, and as such I would like to conclude this post on a musical note, rather than in silence.

Last year, I embarked on a musical journey to Norway; the soundtrack included songs by some of my favorite contemporary Norwegian artists. I traveled together with the renowned soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø, the rock bands Madrugada and Motorpsycho, the indie bands Highasakite and Broen, singer-songwriters Thomas Dybdahl, Ane Brun and Emilie Nicolas, indie pop sensations Aurora and Sigrid, the electronic music duo Röyksopp, the DJs Alan Walker, Kygo and Matoma, and the jazz musicians Rohey, Bugge Wesseltoft and Beady Belle. Since then, I have discovered and fallen in love with many more Norwegian artists.

Terje Isungset

Terje Isungset is a Norwegian percussionist and composer with a background in jazz and traditional Scandinavian music. He is famous for playing musical instruments made of ice, such as icedrums, iceofon, icehorns and icepercussion. As mentioned, in 2018, he performed at Bergen International Festival.

Silje Nergaard

Jazz vocalist Silje Nergaard is one of the best-selling jazz artists in Norway. Released in 2001, her 7th album, ‘At First Light’, is the best-selling Norwegian jazz album of all times (and a former number one). It features the songs ‘Be Still My Heart’ and ‘Japanese Blue’.

Espen Berg and Espen Berg Trio

Born in Hamar, jazz musician Espen Berg currently lives in Trondheim, where he is an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). In 2017, he wrote ‘Maetrix’, a commissioned work for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, which premiered at the Molde International Jazz Festival (or Moldejazz). Later that year, along with his band, the Espen Berg Trio, he performed some of their songs in Lofoten; the spectacular videos are really worth watching. The following year, they performed around the world; their tour included a concert in Athens. Last year, Espen Berg and Silje Nergaard performed together in London for the EFG London Jazz Festival. They mostly played acoustic versions of Silje’s songs, which are now available to listen on Spotify. This year, most jazz festivals have sadly been canceled. Fortunately, Berg was invited to play a live-streamed concert in Molde on the International Jazz Day.

I LIKE TO SLEEP

This is another Norwegian jazz trio, based in Trondheim. I had the pleasure to see them perform live last year, on a solo trip to Norway’s’ third-largest city, where I attended the Trondheim Jazz Festival (also known as JazzFest). Their sophomore album, ‘Daymare’, was released earlier this year.

Jan Bang and Eivind Aarset

Jan Bang is an American-born Norway-based musician and producer, who has collaborated with many artists over the years, including the guitarist Eivind Aarset. ‘Snow Catches on Her Eyelashes’ is their most recent collaboration, released earlier this year on Jazzland Recordings.

Ingrid Olava

Ingrid Olava was a backup singer for Madrugada before her debut single ‘Only Just Begun’ was released in 2008. Her most recent album, ‘Innlandet’, was released in 2018, in collaboration with the jazz musician Andreas Ulvo. ‘Innlandet’ (which is also the name of the Olava-Ulvo duo) features a very interesting cover version of Amy Winehouse’s classic ‘Back to Black’.

Frida Ånnevik

Hamar-born Frida Ånnevik is a recording artist singing exclusively in the Norwegian language. Her latest album ‘Andre sager, however, features cover versions of English-language hits; ‘Elv’ is a cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’, ‘Det jeg vil ha (fra deg)’ is a cover of ‘Say You’ll Be There’ by the Spice Girls, whereas ‘Henger sammen’ is a cover of ‘In Common’ by Alicia Keys. Ånnevik’s most recent release, ‘Hvis verden’, is a duet with Chris Holsten and a cover of ‘If the World Was Ending’ by Julia Michaels and JP Saxe.

Resa

Resa is the stage name of Theresa Frostad Eggesbø, a singer and actor known for her role in ‘Ragnarok’, a Norwegian-language TV series produced by Netflix. The soundtrack features Resa’s song ‘God Is Drunk’, first released in 2018.

Silje Vige

Although I am a huge Norwegian music fan, as well as a Eurovision fan, the Norwegian Eurovision entries are not usually among my favorite Eurovision songs. Two notable exceptions are the 2014 and 2015 entries, which both finished 8th. ’Silent Storm’ was performed by Carl Espen, whereas ‘A Monster Like Me’ was performed by Kjetil Mørland and Debrah Scarlett. My ultimate favorite, however, is ‘Alle Mine Tankar’, performed in 1993, by Silje Vige, who was only 16 years old at the time. This beautiful ballad finished in 5th place. Sang in Norwegian, but featuring a bouzouki, it’s no wonder that Greece awarded 12 points to Norway that year (and not to the usual culprit). To the best of my knowledge, Silje has only released one album to date, also called ‘Alle Mine Tankar’.

Kygo and Golden Hour Festival

Born in Singapore, Kygo is another Norwegian DJ whose tropical house beats have recently taken the world by storm. So far, he has collaborated with a large number of artists from different countries (including many from the UK, as well as the late Whitney Houston) and has released three studio albums: ‘Cloud Nine’ (in 2016), ‘Kids In Love’ (in 2017), and ‘Golden Hour‘, released yesterday.

To celebrate the release of his new album, but also to fundraise for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Baby2Baby and Crew Nation, Kygo created the Golden Hour Festival, a musical event streamed online last night.

During the three-hour event, we traveled from his home in Bergen all the way to California for guided meditation by Jesse Israel of the Big Quiet, followed by a performance by the American band OneRepublic. We then returned to Bergen for a 30-minute set by the fellow Norwegian DJ Alan Walker, before going to the UK for acoustic performances of Kygo’s new songs by lesser-known British musicians. We then went back to the US, where country rock legend Jimmy Buffett and Zac Brown also performed acoustic versions of Kygo’s song. Finally, we returned to Kygo’s house, for another DJ-set against a backdrop of a magnificent Norwegian landscape.