Pauline Margrete Hall (2 August 1890 – 24 January 1969) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

composer and music critic. She was the founding chairwoman of Ny Musikk (1938–1961) and served as president of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following th ...

(1952–1953).

Background

Pauline Hall was born at

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged int ...

, Norway. She was the daughter of Isak Muus Hall (1849–1914) and Magdalena Catharina Agersborg (1854–1934). Her father was a pharmacist who operated several pharmacies in

, at

Kabelvåg Kabelvåg is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. Kabelvåg lies about to the southwest of the town of Svolvær, the adminis ...

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolv� ...

and in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

. From 1908 she studied piano with composer and pianist Johan Backer Lunde (1874–1958) in Kristiania (now Oslo). From 1910 to 1912 she studied the theory and composition of classical composers with music educator Catharinus Elling. She also had a study stay in Paris from 1912 to 1914.

Career

Hall's debut as a composer came in 1917 with a full-length concert evening in Oslo featuring solely her works. Hall was initially known as a composer of romances, but today her orchestral works, and in particular 1929's ''Verlaine Suite'', stand out as centerpieces of her compositional output. French impressionism and literature would prove to be key sources of inspiration for Hall, an influx that would not necessarily resonate well with the prevailing national romanticism sentiment of 1930s Norway. Throughout her compositional career, Hall would find it challenging to introduce new stylistic impulses to the Norwegian music scene. In addition to her orchestral output, Hall also composed a number of choral works and music for stage productions. Theatre remained close to her heart, and Hall translated a number of major works into Norwegian including Igor Stravinsky’s ''Soldier’s Tale'' and

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...

’s ''Le Roi David''. In 1930, she translated, staged and directed ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...

'' (''Die Dreigroschenoper'') by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Hall also served as instructor and conductor for its Oslo premiere. She wrote music for radio and started Pauline Hall's vocal quintet in 1932. From 1934 to 1964, she worked as music critic for the Oslo daily newspaper ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

''. Hall was known for criticism of dilettantism and superficial national composers and her promotion of modern music. In 1938 she was the founding chairwoman of Ny Musikk, the Norwegian section of the

(ISCM). She also served as president of ISCM International from 1952–53, and took over management of the ISCM International Music Festival in Oslo in 1953. She served as chair of Ny Musikk until 1961 when she was succeeded by composer

Finn Mortensen Finn Mortensen (January 6, 1922 – May 23, 1983) was a Norwegian composer, critic and educator. Finn Einar Mortensen was born in Oslo. His parents were publisher Ernst Gustav Mortensen (1887–1966) and Anna Marie Damnæs (1886– ...

Personal life

Pauline Hall received the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

(''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') in gold in 1938. She died in Oslo and was buried at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a crematorium (''Vestre kr ...

Selected works

Hall composed orchestral works, theater and film music, chamber music and vocal works. Selected compositions include: *1929 ''Verlaine Suite'', for orchestra *1933 ''Cirkusbilleder'', for orchestra *1949 ''Suite av scenemusikken til «Julius Caesar» på Nationaltheateret'', for orchestra *''Foxtrott'', for orchestra *1950 ''Markisen'', ballet, première: 1964, Oslo, Den Norske Opera *1947 ''Ro ro te rara'', for male choir *''En gutt gikk ut på elskovssti'', for male choir, text: Gunnar Larsen *''Nachtwandler'', for 6 part mixed choir and orchestra, text: Falke *''Til kongen'', for mixed choir *''To Wessel-tekster'', for male choir, op. 7, text: Johan Herman Wessel *1945 ''Fangens aftensang'', for voice and piano *1961 ''Fire Tosserier'', for voice, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet and French horn *''Du blomst i dug'', for voice and piano, text: Iens Petter Jacobsen *''Rondeau'', for voice and piano, text: E. Solstad *''Tagelied'', for voice and orchestra *''Tango'', for voice and orchestra *''To sanger'', for voice and piano, op. 4, text: Knut Hamsun Auerdahl *1945 ''Suite'', for wind quintet *''Liten dansesuite'', for oboe, clarinet and bassoon Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including: *''Pauline Hall: Verlaine Suite/Julius Caesar Suite/Suite for Winds/4 Tosserier'' (June 26, 2007) Simax Records/Premiere, ASIN: B000027ALU

References

Other sources

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External links

List of works supplied by the National Library of NorwayNy Musikk website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Pauline 1890 births 1969 deaths Musicians from Hamar Norwegian classical composers Norwegian music critics Norwegian women critics Norwegian women non-fiction writers 20th-century classical composers Norwegian women composers Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Burials at Vestre gravlund 20th-century women composers 20th-century Norwegian women