Tracing ‘Neoclassicism’ in Norway: A Tentative Conceptual Survey

Abstract

This article examines the emergence and reception of ‘new-/neoclassicism’ in Norwegian musical discourse from the interwar period to the early post-war years. Drawing on the National Library of Norway’s “Digital Bookshelf,” a vast archive of digitized publications, the study adopts a conceptual-historical approach to trace how critical terms migrated from European cultural centres to Norway. It investigates when, where, and how terms like ‘new classical’ entered the national vocabulary, often via foreign correspondents and critics, whose usage reflected distinct aesthetic and political positions. During the 1920s and 1930s, Norwegian critics as well as composers grappled with national identity and cultural ambivalence toward German traditions. The article also explores how critics and lexicographers gradually adopted neoclassical terminology, shaped by evolving debates in newspapers and music journals. Ultimately, it argues that Norwegian neoclassicism evolved from the import of European stylistic trends into a localized synthesis of universal musical principles and national identity.