Nordic Art Music: From the Middle Ages to the Third Millennium.(Book Review)

By Frederick Key Smith. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2002. [xviii, 193 p. ISBN 0-275-97399-9. $64.95.] Bibliography, discography, index.

The term "Nordic" comes from the political and historic ties between the countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. In comparison, "Scandinavian" applies only to the related languages of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Smith uses the terms "Northern European" and "Nordic" interchangeably for all five countries and "Scandinavian" when referring only to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

The goal of this book is "to make the history of Northern European musical development accessible for any interested reader, whether musician, historian, student, concertgoer, or layperson" (p. xvii). Smith has left out detailed musical analyses and music examples since they are easily available elsewhere and would have tended to clutter this concise history. The book is arranged chronologically, with seven chapters ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. Within each chapter Smith describes the various composers of that era, in order of their birth, naming and describing their works in all genres.

As the title promises, Smith adheres strictly to the development of art music in the Nordic region; any references to folk or popular music appear in the context of how they relate to art music. On several occasions Smith tells how Nordic composers did not use actual folk tunes in their compositions, but were so familiar with the folk music around them that they were able to imitate the style. Smith does show how works inspired by folklore, such as the Kalevala, played a significant role in the music of Jean Sibelius for example. He also offers concise explanations of the general history of the Nordic region for each of the time periods covered, and how that history influenced music.

Smith has avoided writing a separate section for each country and has thus shown the integrated growth of art music in the region as a whole. He has struck a balance, as much as possible, by covering composers from all five countries, and even from the Aland and Faroe Islands. In tact, he covers so many personalities that readers sometimes may lose track of the home country of a particular composer. He highlights each person's name in boldface type in the text so that it may be easily found after finding the page number in the general index.

Nordic Art Music reads like a reference book. It is packed with facts and figures and would serve as a fine source for dates, titles, and descriptions of works by Nordic composers. Smith has culled this information from a large number of sources, many of them only available in one of the Nordic languages. He includes three valuable appendices with a glossary of Nordic musical terms, a discography arranged by composer, and contact ...