Ola Kvernberg, Marthe Wang, Ivan Ave, Jonas Skaarud – and Sigrid Raabe and Martin Sjølie are this year's winners of the composer award EDVARD, which is awarded annually by TONO. This year marks 20 years since the award was first presented, and the winners are thus the first to receive a new trophy and diploma designed by Magne Furuholmen.
/ 28/11/2018 / Willy MartinsenPhoto above: Here are the EDVARD winners (from left) Ola Kvernberg, Marthe Wang, Ivan Ave and Jonas Skaarud. (Sigrid Solbakk Raabe and Martin Sjølie who won the Popular category were not present at the award ceremony). Photo: Kristian Qvam Karlsvik Dugstad/TONO.
The EDVARD awards were presented on Tuesday evening at an anniversary party for TONO's employees and partners at Røverstaden in Oslo on the occasion of TONO's 90th anniversary. Each of the winners received kr 50,000,- as well as a diploma and trophy designed by Magne Furuholmen. The trophy and diploma are new this year, and were commissioned from the artist on the occasion of the EDVARD Prize's 20th anniversary.
– The EDVARD Prize is awarded to authors who have created musical works and lyrics for music of high artistic quality that have been premiered in the previous year. It is a highly competent professional jury consisting of composers and lyricists, who have listened to a lot of music and discussed their way to what they believe is perhaps the most well-written music from last year, says communications manager at TONO, Willy Martinsen.
The jury in 2018 consisted of the authors Arvid Wam Solvang (jury chair), Hilde Wahl, Klaus Sandvik, Therese Birkelund Ulvo, Rita Engedalen, Ole Børud and music publishers Stine Lieng and Jan Stefan Bengtsson.
– The reason why TONO established the EDVARD Prize twenty years ago was to increase attention to Norwegian composers and lyricists, and the value of the work this professional group does. The prize also helps increase Norwegians' understanding of, and knowledge of, newly written Norwegian music, says Willy Martinsen.
With the five awards now being presented, a total of 99 EDVARD awards have been presented over the past 20 years.
As mentioned above, the EDVARD Prize is awarded to authors who have distinguished themselves in creating musical works and lyrics for music of high artistic quality, and which have been premiered in the previous year. A lot of new music is being written in Norway, and in 2018 TONO will pay out money for the premiere of 11,939 unique works. Of these, 2,289 were premiered on radio, 319 on TV, 9270 in concert and 61 in cinema.
Ola Kvernberg is much more than a fiddler, although the general public may primarily associate him with that. But Kvernberg is just as much an outstanding composer. He has written music for both his own solo releases and film productions, and he can also point to both Spellemann Prizes and Amanda Prizes for his compositions.
The solo album Steamdome, which was released at the very end of 2017, is an impressive work. It oozes energy and compositional knowledge. It pulsates, breathes, rages and rejoices. It is rhythmic, violent, dynamic, open and ecstatic. There are great forces in motion, as if all of life, the whole world, were squeezed into nine compositions. The musical landscape is boundless! We encounter jazz, classical music, funk and folk music – all fused into one large and natural whole. It is an achievement. And what about the lyrics? There are no lyrics here, and they are not needed. Not at one point in the composition does one miss it. The composer speaks clearly enough through the musical.
Ola Kvernberg is a brave composer. We find no easy solutions. Only beautiful, great, life-affirming and well-composed music.
Eivind Øygarden, better known as Ivan Ave, has become a recognized name among Norwegian hip hop connoisseurs, even though he debuted under his own name as recently as 2016. With his 2017 album Every Eye, he proves once again that he is stylish and steady. Here he combines American West Coast harmonica and smooth jazz on the one hand with a clear hip hop attitude on the other, and with great elegance. The production borrows heavily from the sound aesthetics of the 1970s and 80s, with "vintage" electric pianos, synths and drum machines. In that, we hear a statement, which the jury wholeheartedly supports: Eivind makes timeless hip hop - with a long shelf life. The instrumentation is sparse and open, without elements that argue with each other. Overall, it sounds solid and holistic. This is not just a collection of individual songs, they are a collective work.
Lyrically, we hear a poet who has created a text universe that is his own. He has chosen English. It is bold for a Norwegian, as even good English skills are often not good enough to create credible lyrics based on American street slang. We think he does it brilliantly. His vocal performance has great authority, it is self-confident and beautifully laid-back. Ivan Ave is making his mark in a hip hop market with great competition. Every Eye is rock solid. We feel confident that the audience can expect further greatness from Eivind Øygarden in the future.
"To you who don't hope anymore/You who need a glimmer of hope and need it now," sings Marthe Wang on the album Ut og se noe andt, released in 2017. These lines seem to sum up the driving force behind Marthe Wang's creative musical work. She is a brilliant exponent of modern Norwegian folk pop art. The album oozes quality, but it is not primarily "flick". It is primarily warm and personal. Here we meet a poet who is able to describe feelings and experiences that we all recognize in. The lyrics seem to be written straight from Marthe's heart. Whether they are self-experienced or not is not so important. The lyrics describe universal feelings so down-to-earth, precise, good and beautiful that no matter what, they touch the heart in such a way that it makes both good and a little bit painful. We feel seen, understood, comforted and encouraged.
The arrangements and music are warm, genuine, playful and sophisticated. The lyrics are extended, amplified and bring out interpretive depths that weaker arrangements would not have been able to convey. And the way you sing, Marthe! You are a technically skilled singer, but first and foremost you are a communicator who is able to bring out the depth in what you have written with great compositional weight of music and lyrics.
This year's winning work in the EDVARD Prize's contemporary category clearly guides the ear towards which sound and musical ideas are to play out. The composer has an exceptionally good grasp of the framework within which these ideas should operate. The work both establishes itself and develops carefully in its beginning with an effortless ease. When this music takes its time, it does so with eloquent sonic patience. The selected means of action build up a natural authority over time. The work's uniqueness is formed with great certainty. Many good works are content with creating such integrity, but in this work this is a musical situation that must be developed further. The outer edges of the framework are explored and the music takes some astonishing turns. Some connections or insights are almost impossible to imagine or discover for oneself, but they will still excite when they are presented or explained. Without threatening the identity of this work, the composer brings out these types of connections and allows some almost inadvertently redeeming moments to arise. When these moments also shape the work's further musical life, the listening experience is lifted to a new level. Jonas Skaarud has, to put it with Hamsun, "... a little ability to look inward, to look far." This work undoubtedly looks inward into its well-chosen universe of sound compositions, but it also reaches out to something far beyond.
“I throw myself from heights that used to scare me”, sings Sigrid Solbakk Raabe in “Don't Kill My Vibe”, which she co-wrote with Martin Sjølie. This fundamental, newfound self-confidence and an experience of one's own maturation and vital identity form the core of the work. The narrator's voice no longer allows itself to be limited by its surroundings. It is a strong and personal cry in the form of “I” that draws the listener in, and which we believe finds deep resonance perhaps especially with young listeners. Here they encounter a voice that reflects their own need to make their own experiences and to be allowed to search for, find, and defend being themselves.
Both the melody, the arrangement and the production take the core of the text into their structure. The frugal and waiting in the verses are combined with exploding and almost ruthless choruses. Here the boundaries are to be broken, the independent is to be broken free! And there is no doubt that Raabe has mastered the modern pop format to the fullest when the song's theme is to be given full force. The pitch is raised, the harmonic activity increases, rhythmic elements are put into serious play and the two-part structure of the chorus is sewn together exceptionally elegantly into an insistent and unstoppable whole. Moreover, a large part of these elements are not inextricably linked to a magnificent studio production. This song effortlessly retains its integrity and relevance in a subdued acoustic setting. "Don't Kill My Vibe" is simply an example of how fantastic a pop song can be.
Sigrid Solbakk Raabe and Martin Sjølie did not have the opportunity to receive the award in person, but Sigrid has sent a video greeting.
About TONO:
TONO is a non-profit cooperative, founded in 1928, owned and managed by its members: composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers. TONO manages performance rights for musical works in Norway and collects remuneration for their public performance. TONO currently represents approximately 32,000 Norwegian composers, lyricists and music publishers. Through reciprocal representation agreements with similar companies in other countries, TONO manages the rights of more than 2,5 million authors in Norwegian territory. As a non-profit enterprise, TONO's results are transferred to the copyright holders of performed works. TONO thus facilitates the use of music in society, while at the same time providing authors with a basis for constantly creating new musical works. For more information, visit www.tono.no.
For more information:
Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO, willy.martinsen@tono.no, mobile 909 65 254