The songwriters of the Bergen band Evigheten created the most well-composed popular musical work of 2021, according to the expert jury of TONO's EDVARD Prize. The winners were surprised with the award during a concert at Blå in Oslo last night.
/ 04/09/2021 / Willy Martinsen"This is effective and powerful pop music. At the same time, there is something more, something different and unique that makes itself felt outside the spirit of our times," writes the EDVARD jury in its justification for why the EP "Heten" receives the EDVARD award in the "Popular" category for 2021.
The three composers and lyricists Iselin Børve Toft, Mathilde Saunes-Skarsgaard and Njål Paulsberg can thus take a trophy and a diploma designed by Magne Furuholmen, as well as prize money of 50,000 kroner back to Bergen.
– Thank you very much! We make music for ourselves, so it's a lot to expect someone else to "catch" what you're really doing. It's incredibly cool when someone understands, said the winners from the stage after jury member Sten Ove Toft read the jury's reasoning.
The EDVARD Prize has been awarded annually by TONO since 1998, and is awarded in five categories to composers and lyricists who have created musical works of particularly high quality in the previous year. A highly qualified professional jury selects the winners.
– We award the EDVARD Prize to honor composers and lyricists for the work they do, and to make Norwegians aware of outstanding, newly written Norwegian music. That is more important than ever because a lot of older and foreign music is played on both the radio and in streaming services. We hope the EDVARD Prize can be a positive contribution in this context, says Head of Communications at TONO, Willy Martinsen.
To Iselin Børve Toft, Mathilde Saunes-Skarsgaard and Njål Paulsberg for the EP "Heten"
"With clear moods, the songwriters in the band Evigheten paint an alternative picture of what pop music can be. With the EP Heten, Toft, Saunes-Skarsgaard and Paulsberg present four melodic works, filled with unexpected harmonic twists. The sparse and tidy instrumentation creates space for a strong listening experience. Thoughts go to the synth escapades of the 70s and mystical folk pop, and the music often has a baroque feel. Warm analog arpeggios and punchy drums build up under crystal clear vocals. This is effective and powerful pop music. At the same time, there is something more, something different and unique that makes itself felt outside of our zeitgeist."
The jury for the EDVARD Prize 2021 has consisted of Torgny Amdam (NOPA, jury chairman), Peter Edwards (Norwegian Composers' Association), Kristin Norderval (Norwegian Composers' Association), Samsaya Sharma (NOPA), Sten Ove Toft (Independent), Ole Børud (independent), Thomas Wettergren (Music Publishers) and Oda Svendsby (Music Publishers).
TONO was founded in 1928 and is a non-profit cooperative owned and managed by authors (composers and lyricists) and music publishers, and on their behalf manages the economic copyrights in the music they have created. TONO grants permission for the use of protected music, for example on radio, TV, the internet, concerts and cinemas for a fee, and transfers its financial results each year to the rights holders in music that has been played publicly. TONO has more than 37,000 members, but also works with millions of authors and music publishers from around the world. TONO gives music creators an economic basis to create new music, and simplifies the licensing of protected music to music users. TONO had a turnover of NOK 712,4 million in 2020.
For more information:
Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO, willy.martinsen@tono.no, mobile 909 65 254.