Fartein Valen: atonal nybrottsmann og modernistisk tradisjonsbærer - en kritisk-analytisk, historisk og edisjonsfilologisk studie.

Fartein Valen is considered among the foremost Norwegian composers in the first half of the 20th century. He was a pioneer for the atonal music in Norway and also managed to create a very distinctive style within the mainstream of European modernism. The Valen project aims at a new understanding of Fartein Valen's style and compositional development, in conjunction with a reassessment of Fartein Valen's position and role in Norwegian cultural and music life. New critical interpretations of Valen's music will be achieved by linking analytical, aesthetic and historiographic perspectives and methods together with competencies in music edition. The project consists of a combination of sub-studies that deal with theoretical and methodological issues in areas which have been underexplored in Norwegian music research so far: scientific source studies, together with context-oriented research, bring new knowledge about Valen's peculiar way of composing, from the first sketch to the final scores and performance. Thus, a new foundation for informed interpretations and analyses of Valen's floating, atonal style and a new empirically based understanding of his myth-based sound concept, especially in the orchestral works, was created. Furthermore, through historical and comparative research, the project has shed new light on Valen's peculiar style development and reception history in context with the contemporary international currents in Europe after 1900. A main concern for the project has therefore always been to bring Valen research to the international research front, by arranging own research seminars and by presenting results at conferences abroad. The results of the project were met with great interest in England, where Valen got a today quite unknown breakthrough as a protagonist of 'Nordic modernism' after World War II. From the German side, special attention was paid to the reassessments of Valen's relationship with the Schönberg school and the reception of German lyricism, especially Goethe's, in his extensive production of songs. Another objective of the project has been to create a critical and constructive dialogue with musical practice: practitioners, soloists and conductors who have first-hand knowledge of Valen's scores in the various genres were systematically involved in the project work. In close dialogue with the practitioners, the project's researchers could contribute critical, commented new editions of Valen's works, published in collaboration with project partner Norsk musikkvarv. Thus, the scientific understanding of Valen's works also contributed to artistic research and development work on Valen's performance practice, while the artists' knowledge was able to deepen and expand the theoretical-analytical understanding of Valen's musical texts. This collaboration has resulted in a series of public events, concert lectures, close collaboration with the annual Valen Festival and publications in the form of programs and CD-liner notes for new Valen recordings. A fundamental element throughout the project period was to create a solid and quality-assured basis for further source studies and interpretations. This was achieved through close collaboration between the Valen project and its partners Norwegian Musical Heritage and the Norwegian National Library. The work has resulted in the first scientific, comprehensive catalogue of Valen, which contains all his production, published online at musikkarven.no. This directory will be updated, expanded and revised regularly in line with new findings. Besides that, there has been close collaboration with the edition of Valen's letters, published online by the University Library in Oslo. Together with a dedicated website at musikkarven.no, this will constitute a unique knowledge base about Valen, made available to future music researchers, professional musicians and the interested audience.

Prosjektet har en ambisjon om å forstå Fartein Valens kompositoriske egenart og hans plassering i nyere norsk musikk- og kulturhistorie. Siktemålet er, gjennom dette, å samle og løfte norsk musikkvitenskapelig kompetanse innenfor nyere norsk musikkhistori e. Et annet viktig aspekt er at det også vil bli lagt vekt på ny opparbeidelse av edisjonsfaglig kompetanse som nesten har forvitret innen faget de siste tiårene. Dette skjer i en situasjon der digitalisering av partiturer byr på nye utfordringer og store muligheter for videreutvikling av slik kompetanse. Prosjektet sikter mot en ny forståelse av Fartein Valens stil, i sammenheng med en ny forståelse av Fartein Valens posisjon og rolle i norsk kultur- og musikkliv, og er myntet ut i tre delprosjekter: 1) Fra atonalt oppbrudd til stilmessig avklaring, skal undersøke utviklingen av Valens kompositoriske stil og egenart analyseres ut fra et nærstudium av verkene; dette er en kritisk-hermeneutisk oppgave tett knyttet til partiturene. 2) Isolert enegjenger o g modernistisk tradisjonsbærer, skal undersøke Valens karriere og hans rolle i kultur- og musikklivet i Norge og internasjonalt, en musikk- og kulturhistorisk oppgave basert på et rikt kildemateriale fra musikklivet. 3) Kritisk edisjon og vitenskapelig v erkfortegnelse. I dette skal fremstilles nye kritisk-vitenskapelige utgaver av utvalgte komposisjoner samt en vitenskapelig verkfortegnelse over Valens verk. Denne kombinasjonen av delstudier, oppgaver som henger tett sammen, reiser teoretiske og metodol ogiske problemstillinger i grenseområder som har vært lite berørt i norsk musikkforskning. Prosjektet sikter også mot å etablere en nær forbindelse mellom forskningsdelen, som omfatter hele spennet fra kildegranskning via edisjon og til historisk-kritisk forskning, og kunnskapsbaserte tolkninger av Valens verk i nye framføringer.