Per Nørgård (; 13 July 1932 – 28 May 2025) was a Danish composer and
music theorist
Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the " rudiments", that ...
. Though his style varied considerably throughout his career, his music often included repeatedly evolving
melodies
A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...
, in the vein of
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
, and a perspicuous focus on lyricism. He based music on "infinity series" and other mathematical models. He composed large-scale works, eight symphonies including the choral
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system
Places
* 3rd Street (di ...
, concertos and operas such as ''
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...
''. His
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
includes ten
string quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
s and music for guitar. Some later works were inspired by the art of
Adolf Wölfli.
The composer
Julian Anderson called Nørgård's style "one of the most personal in
contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to:
Genres or audiences
* Adult contemporary music
* British contemporary R&B
* Christian adult contemporary
* Christian contemporary hit radio
* Con ...
". Nørgård received
several awards, including the 2016
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
Life and career
Per Nørgård was born in
Gentofte
Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...
, a suburb of Copenhagen on 13 July 1932.
His father was a tailor, and he grew up with an elder brother. He learned to play the piano as a boy.
He studied composition with
Vagn Holmboe privately at age 17.
Fascinated by the sound world of
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
, he visited the composer in person, receiving encouragement.
He then studied formally at
Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen,
with Holmboe,
Finn Høffding,
and
Herman David Koppel.
From 1956 to 1957, he studied in Paris with
Nadia Boulanger
Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...
.
Nørgård soon gained teaching positions, first at the in 1958, and then at the
Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in 1960. His students at the latter included the composer
Carl Davis. Between 1958 and 1962, Nørgård had a stint as a music critic for the newspaper ''
Politiken
''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...
''. He left these positions in 1965 to teach composition at the
Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg. There, he taught many composers who went on to have major careers, including
Hans Abrahamsen
Hans Abrahamsen (born 23 December 1952) is a Danish composer born in Kongens Lyngby near Copenhagen. His ''Let me tell you (Abrahamsen), Let me tell you'' (2013), a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, was ranked by music critics at ''The Guard ...
,
Hans Gefors
Hans Gefors (born 8 December 1952) is a Swedish composer. He was born in Stockholm and has lived in Lund since the mid-1990s.
Selected works
* ''La boîte chinoise'', for guitar (1975)
* ''Poeten och glasmästaren'', chamber opera (1979, libretto ...
,
Karl Aage Rasmussen, and
Bent Sørensen.
Thomas Adès
Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: ''The Tempest (opera), The T ...
,
Britta Byström,
Wolfgang Rihm,
Poul Ruders,
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
, and
Sven-David Sandström count him as an influence.
In his early compositions, Nørgård was strongly influenced by the Nordic styles of Sibelius,
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer.
Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...
, and
Vagn Holmboe. In the 1960s, he began exploring the modernist techniques of central Europe, eventually developing a
serial compositional system based on the "infinity series", which he used in his ''Voyage into the Golden Screen'', the Second and
Third Symphonies, ''I Ching'', and other works of the late 1960s and '70s. His Third Symphony, with a vocal soloist and choir, became popular, performed at the 2018
BBC Proms
The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...
and included in the
Danish Culture Canon
The Danish Culture Canon () consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian Mikkelsen i ...
.
Later, Nørgård became interested in the Swiss artist
Adolf Wölfli, who inspired many of Nørgård's works, including the Fourth Symphony, the opera ''Det Guddommelige Tivoli'', ''Papalagi'' for solo guitar, and ''Wie ein Kind'' for choir.
Nørgård composed works in all major genres, including six operas, two ballets, eight symphonies and other pieces for orchestra, several concertos, choral and vocal works, many chamber works (among them ten string quartets), and several solo instrumental works. These include a number of works for guitar, mostly written for the Danish guitarist
Erling Møldrup: ''In Memory Of...'' (1978), ''Papalagi'' (1981), a series of suites called ''Tales from a Hand'' (1985–2001), ''Early Morn'' (1997–98), and ''Rondino Amorino'' (1999). One of his most important works for percussion solo is ''I Ching'' (1982), written for the Danish percussionist Gert Mortensen. His piano work ''Many Returns to Bali'' was written for the Indonesian pianist
Ananda Sukarlan to commemorate the
2002 Bali bombings
The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...
.
[Per Nørgårds Kompositioner](_blank)
img.kb.dk 2013 He also composed several film scores, including ''The Red Cloak'' (1966), ''
Babette's Feast
''Babette's Feast'' () is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with f ...
'' (1987),
and ''Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'' (1993).
His Eighth Symphony was premiered on 19 September 2012 at the
Helsinki Music Centre, Finland, by the
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
John Storgårds
John Gunnar Rafael Storgårds (born 20 October 1963) is a Finnish conductor and violinist.
Biography
John Storgårds was born in Helsinki, the son of economist Gunnar Storgårds and his wife Marjatta (Ikonen) Storgårds. He studied violin with E ...
.
Heikki Valska of Finnish radio called the symphony "very bright and lyrical" and "approachable". It was well received by the audience at the premiere. It was later recorded by the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world.
The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...
conducted by
Sakari Oramo.
Nørgård was also a prolific writer who authored many articles about music from not only a technical but also a philosophical viewpoint.
Personal life
Nørgård married Anelise Brix Thomson in 1956.
They had 2 children together.
He married his second wife Helle Rahbek in 1966, who died in 2022.
Nørgård died after a long illness
at a senior citizens' home
in Copenhagen on 28 May 2025, at the age of 92.
He was regarded as Denmark's most prominent composer since Nielsen.
Infinity series

Nørgård's music often uses the infinity series (
Danish ''Uendelighedsrækken'') to
serialize melody, harmony, and rhythm. The method takes its name from the endlessly
self-similar nature of the resulting musical material, comparable to
fractal geometry. Mathematically, the infinity series is an
integer sequence
In mathematics, an integer sequence is a sequence (i.e., an ordered list) of integers.
An integer sequence may be specified ''explicitly'' by giving a formula for its ''n''th term, or ''implicitly'' by giving a relationship between its terms. For ...
. "Invented in an attempt to unify in a perfect way repetition and variation," the first few terms of its simplest form are 0, 1, −1, 2, 1, 0, −2, 3, −1, 2, 0, 1, 2, −1, −3, 4.
\relative c''
''Uendelighedsrækken'': diatonic infinity series (the first 16 terms), 0=G
\relative c''
''Uendelighedsrækken'': diatonic G major (the first 32 terms) with numbers=scale steps and 0=A
\relative c''
''Uendelighedsrækken'': chromatic pitches (the first 16 terms) centered around G

Nørgård discovered the melodic infinity series in 1959 and it inspired many of his works in the 1960s. But only with ''Voyage into the Golden Screen'' for small ensemble (1968)—which has been called the first "properly instrumental piece of
spectral composition"—and Symphony No. 2 (1970) did he begin structuring entire works with the series. The
harmonic
In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...
and
rhythmic infinity series were developed in the early 1970s and the three series were first integrated in Nørgård's Symphony No. 3.
Compositions
Nørgård's works include:
Operas
* ''Labyrinten'' (''The Labyrinth'') (1963)
* ''
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...
'' (1972)
* ''
Siddharta'' (1974–79)
* ''
Der göttliche Tivoli'' (''The Divine Circus'') (1983)
* ''Orfeus: Den uendelige sang'' (''Orpheus: The Endless Song'') (1988)
* ''
Nuit des Hommes'' (1996)
Orchestral
*Symphonies
** Symphony No. 1 ''Sinfonia austera'' (1953–55)
** Symphony No. 2 (1970)
**
Symphony No. 3 (1972–75), a choral symphony
** Symphony No. 4 ''Indian Rose Garden and Chinese Witch's Lake'' (1981)
** Symphony No. 5 (1987–90)
** Symphony No. 6 ''At the End of the Day'' (1999)
** Symphony No. 7 (2004–06)
** Symphony No. 8 (2010–11)
* ''Metamorfosi'' (1954), for strings
* ''Constellations'' (1958), for strings
* ''Iris'' (1966)
* ''Luna'' (1967)
* ''Voyage into the Golden Screen'' (1968)
* ''Dream Play'' (1975)
* ''Twilight'' (1977)
* ''Burn'' (1984)
* ''Spaces of Time'' (1991), for orchestra with piano
* ''Night-Symphonies, Day Breaks'' (1992), for chamber orchestra
* ''Aspects of Leaving'' (1997)
* ''Terrains Vagues'' (2000–2001)
* ''Lysning'' (2006)
Concertante
* Piano
** Rhapsody in D for Piano and Orchestra (1952)
** Piano Concerto ''Concerto in due tempi'' (1994–95)
* Violin
** Violin Concerto No. 1 ''Helle Nacht'' (1986–87)
** Violin Concerto No. 2 ''Borderlines'' (2002)
* Cello
** Cello Concerto No. 1 ''Between'' (1985)
** Cello Concerto No. 2 ''Momentum'' (2009)
** ''Cantica Concertante'' (2012), for cello and ensemble
* Harp
** Harp Concerto No. 1 ''King, Queen and Ace'' (1988), for harp and 13 instruments
** Harp Concerto No. 2 ''Gennem torne'' (''Through Thorns'') (2003), for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet
* Percussion
** Percussion Concerto No. 1 ''For a Change'' (1983)
** Percussion Concerto No. 2 ''Bach to the Future'' (1997), for two percussionists and orchestra
* Accordion Concerto ''Recall'' (1968)
* Viola Concerto ''Remembering Child'' (1986)
* ''Three Nocturnal Movements'' (2019), for violin, cello and ensemble
Wind and brass ensemble
* ''Musaic'' (1969), for brass ensemble and electronic tape
* ''Modlys'' (''Backlight'') (1970), for wind ensemble
* ''Fanfara Nervosa'' (1999), for brass ensemble
* ''Massifs – Crystals – Cascades'' (2004), for 12 trombones
Chamber and instrumental
* String Quartets
** String Quartet No. 1 ''Quartetto Breve'' (1952)
** String Quartet No. 2 ''Quartetto Brioso'' (1958)
** String Quartet No. 3 ''Three Miniatures'' (1959)
** String Quartet No. 4 ''Quartet in 3 Spheres'' (1969), for string quartet with tape
** String Quartet No. 5 ''Inscape'' (1969)
** String Quartet No. 6 ''Tintinnabulary'' (1986)
** String Quartet No. 7 (1994)
** String Quartet No. 8 ''Night Descending like Smoke'' (1997)
** String Quartet No. 9 ''Into the Source'' (2001)
** String Quartet No. 10 ''Harvest Timeless'' (2005)
* Clarinet Trios (clarinet, cello, piano)
** Clarinet Trio No. 1 (1955)
** Clarinet Trio No. 2 ''Spell'' (1973)
** Clarinet Trio No. 3 ''Lin'' (1986)
* Flute Quintet (1953), for flute, violin, viola, cello and piano
* ''Solo Intimo'' (1953), for cello
* ''Arcana'' (1970), for percussion, electric guitar and accordion
* ''Whirl's World'' (1970), for wind quintet
* ''Cantica'' (1977), for cello and piano
* ''Proteus'' (1980), for flute and percussion
* ''Sonora'' (1981), for flute and harp
* ''I Ching'' (1982), for solo percussion
* ''Syn'' (''Vision'') (1988), for brass quintet
* ''Strings'' (1992), for string trio
* ''Scintillation'' (1993), for septet of flute, clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano
* ''Roads to Ixtlan'' (1993), for 4 saxophones
* ''Wild Swans'' (1994), for 4 saxophones
* ''Dancers Around Jupiter'' (1995), for 4 saxophones
* ''Winter Music'' (1998), for flute, clarinet, percussion, organ, guitar and cello
* ''It's All His Fancy That'' (2003), for trumpet, trombone and piano
* ''Delta'' (2005), for saxophone, cello and piano
* ''Trio Breve'' (2012), for piano trio
Piano and keyboard
* Piano Sonata No. 1 (1953)
* Piano Sonata No. 2 (1957)
* ''Partita Concertante'' (1958), for organ
* ''Grooving'' (1968), for piano
* ''Canon'' (1971), for organ
* ''Turn'' (1973), for piano
* ''Trepartita'' (1988), for organ
* ''Remembering'' (1989), for piano
* ''Gemini Rising'' (1990), for harpsichord
* ''Many Returns to Bali'' (2003), for piano
* ''Waterways'' (2008), for piano
Vocal and choral
* ''The Dommen'' (''Judgement''), for vocalists, choir, children's choir and orchestra
* ''Libra'' (1973), for tenor, choir, guitar and two vibraphones
* ''Singe die Gärten'' (1974), for choir and 8 instruments
* ''Nova genitura'' (1975), for soprano and ensemble
* ''Fons Laetitiae'' (1975), for soprano and harp
* ''Winter Cantata'' (1976), for soprano, choir, organ and optional ensemble
* ''Now all the Earth is White with Snow'' (1976), for choir and brass
* ''Frostsalme'' (1976), for 16-part choir
* ''Cycle'' (1977), for 12-part choir
* ''Seadrift'' (1978), for soprano and ensemble
* ''Wie ein Kind'' (''Like a Child''), for choir (1979–80)
* ''And Time Shall Be No More'', for choir (1994)
* ''Ut rosa'' (2000), for choir
* ''Mytisk Morgen'' (2000), for choir and bass clarinet
* ''Morgen-Meditation'' (2002), for choir and bass clarinet
* ''Lygtemændene tager til byen'' (''The Will-o'-the-wisps go to Town'') (2004), cantata for voices, choir and orchestra
Writings
*
* Translated by L. K. Christensen. ''Numus-West'' 2, no. 2: 4–16
*
*
*
Awards
* Lili Boulanger Prize (1957)
*
Nordic Council Music Prize (1974) for his opera ''Gilgamesh''
*
Léonie Sonning Music Prize (1996; Denmark)
*
Wihuri Sibelius Prize (2006)
*
Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music (2014)
*
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2016)
References
Cited sources
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
The infinity series– composer's website archive
*
*
Per Nørgård in memoriam Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg 2 June 2025
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norgard, Per
1932 births
2025 deaths
20th-century Danish classical composers
21st-century Danish classical composers
Twelve-tone and serial composers
Composers for the classical guitar
Composers for saxophone
Danish opera composers
Danish male opera composers
Royal Danish Academy of Music alumni
Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners
Pupils of Vagn Holmboe
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize winners
People from Gentofte Municipality
Musicians from the Capital Region of Denmark
20th-century Danish male musicians
21st-century Danish male musicians
Danish film score composers
Danish male film score composers