Danish Composer Per Nørgård has Died, Aged 92

With a career spanning over 70 years, Nørgård was known as the father of Danish contemporary music 

Born in 1932 in Gentofte, Denmark, Per Nørgård composed eight symphonies, 10 string quartets, six operas, chamber and concertante works, and multiple scores for film and television throughout his career. 

His death at age 92, at a retirement home, was announced by his publisher, Edition Wilhelm Hansen. 

Nørgård began composing piano sonatas by the age of 10. When he was 17, he started studying with the leading Danish composer Vagn Holmboe, and in 1952, he became a student at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. 

While in Paris from 1956 to 1957, he studied with Nadia Boulanger, the mentor of many of the 20th century’s leading composers. 

Nørgård later taught at Danish conservatories in Odense, Copenhagen, and Aarhus, alongside a job as a music critic for the daily Politiken newspaper. 

Viewing himself as a distinctively Nordic composer, he was chiefly influenced by the Finnish symphonist Jean Sibelius, who had offered Nørgård encouragement in response to his letters. Though they never met, Sibelius remained a lifelong inspiration and mentor. 

“When I discovered there was a kind of unity in [Sibelius’] music, I was obsessed with the idea of meeting him,” Nørgård recalled. “And to let him know that I didn’t consider him out of date.”

“From the moment I discovered the music of Sibelius, I felt much more of a relationship with his music [than with that of fellow Danish composers like Nielsen],” he added. “There are the long horizons. And a feeling, maybe, of a kind of nostalgia.”

In the 1960s, Nørgård began exploring serial music and the concept of music that would never end. This led to his developing a compositional technique he called the “infinity series” — a slightly repeated, but constantly shifting, sequence of notes.

During this time, he composed works such as Voyage into the Golden Screen (1968) and his Symphony No. 2  (1970). Later in 2005, his Third Symphony (1972-75) was incorporated into Denmark’s official Culture Canon.

Among Nørgård’s many awards are the Nordic Council music prize, Léonie Sonning music prize, Wihuri Sibelius prize, Marie-Josée Kravis prize for new music, and the Ernst von Siemens Music prize for lifelong service to music.

“Per Nørgård’s musical significance cannot be overstated,” said Edition Wilhelm Hansen Managing Director Loui Törnqvist. “It has been a great honour to publish his music. Per will be remembered as one of the greatest Danish composers of all time and someone who endlessly developed his musical expression throughout his career. He often joked that he prided himself on being the company’s oldest employee. As a human being, he was kind, and we will all miss him deeply.”

Predeceased by his wife Helle Rahbek (who died in 2022), Mr. Nørgård is survived by a daughter, and a son from an earlier marriage to Anelise Brix Thomsen. Our condolences to his family, friends, students, and colleagues.