Henrik Marstal

The first English-language and internationally available book-length study of the pioneering Danish composer Else Marie Pade, her major works and life story. Credited as the first Danish composer to use electronics to make music, Else Marie Pade (1924-2016) is acknowledged as a pioneer in her field, one of the first generation of electronic music composers. However, her cutting-edge and influential work was under-recognized during her career. Pade is now considered one of the many "forgotten" 20th-century women artists who are in the 21st century finally receiving due recognition. Starting at the beginning, this study covers the composer's childhood, which was sickly and often spent in convalescence. As a young woman, Pade joined the resistance during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. She was eventually arrested and imprisoned at Frøslevlejren. It was after the war that Pade trained as pianist before turning to composition. Structured in the composer's preferred practice of dodecaphony (i.e. twelve-tone technique) and traditional tonal music (based on the melodic scales consisting of seven tones each), this work focuses on a number of central compositions, including Symphonie magnétophonique (1957-1958) which describes a day in the life of an ordinary Dane, as well as the predominantly instrumental electronic pieces Syv cirkler (1958), Et glasperlespil I-II (1960) and Faust (1962), interspersed by interludes and thematic readings of Pade’s life and work.

Isam B, tidligere sanger i Outlandish, blev for alvor landskendt, da hans Ramadan i København i 2020 kom med i Højskolesangbogen. Sammen med bl.a. sangeren Natasja er han hovedperson i Henrik Marstals dybtgående og konsekvente undersøgelse af fænomenet ’musikalsk danskhed’.Ved siden af sine undersøgelser af minoritetsdanskeres omgang med den danske sangskat endevender Marstal krænkelsesskandalen på CBS i 2018 relateret til Den danske sang er en ung blond pige. Og ikke mindst undersøger han en række forskellige versioner fra 00'erne af I Danmark er jeg født.Marstal skriver bl.a.: Jeg måtte sande, at her i det tidlige 21. århundrede er ’I Danmark er jeg født’ ikke længere den samme sang, som den engang var. For mig bidrog de forskellige udgaver af den til, at den for altid skulle stå i et andet lys.

Det hviner og hyler og lyder af guitar. Trommerne tromler, og bassen bumler. Stemmen klager over kærlighed og kapitalisme. Og så rokker vi alle med. Eller i hvert fald de utilpassede og de søgende, de oprørske og de sentimentale. De har gjort rocken til et hjem og en vidt forgrenet genre med postpunk og heavy, poprock og indie. I dag klimprer krisen dog kunstnerisk og kommercielt, fremfører Henrik Marstal, udøvende musikforsker ved Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium. Men selv om rocken har mistet lidt af pusten, slår han et taktslag for dens relevans som samtidskunst. Er I klaaaaaar derude?

I august 1965 marcherer en broget skare ned ad Strøget i København med folk- og gadesangeren Cæsar i spidsen. De 3.500 forsamlede demonstrerer for ytringsfrihed på den kun få år gamle gågade: Gadesangere og gademalere skal have lov til at være i fred for politiet. Det samme skal de unge ”præhippier” på Amagertorv, som provokerer borgerskabet alene ved deres nærvær. Dem giver folk-musikken stemme i sangen ’Storkespringvandet’. Men folkemusikscenen i 1960’erne bød på mere end protestsange. Den gik sin helt egen vej mellem popkulturelle indflydelser fra udlandet og det mere officielle Danmarks besindelse på dansk kulturarv som modtræk til tidens amerikanisering. Det er Povl Dissings versioner af sentimentale viser og Cy, Maia & Roberts fænomenale plader sammen med refrænet ”Ali-bali, ali-bali-bi …” vidnesbyrd om.

Upon its release, Don't Break the Oath charted fifth on the official British heavy metal album list and was supported by a two month long sold-out American tour in early 1985. The band's controversial stage appearance with burning crosses, a microphone stand formed as a cross made of two human leg bones, as well as other blasphemous rituals attracted the attention of the then newly formed PRMC (Parental Resource Music Center) committee, ironically reassuring the band its position on the charts. But though the album was hugely popular in the anglophone metal scene, it was conceived in peripheral Denmark.This book discusses the relationship between center and periphery. It juxtaposes the Anglophone reticent of heavy metal with the rather marginalized location of Copenhagen, and examines Mercyful Fate's relation to the Nordic region more generally. It also takes a close look at the methods involved in the production of King Diamond's vocals, and emphasizes the role of the vocalist as just as an important part of the over-all soundscape as the instrumental contributions.

Upon its release, Don't Break the Oath charted fifth on the official British heavy metal album list and was supported by a two month long sold-out American tour in early 1985. The band's controversial stage appearance with burning crosses, a microphone stand formed as a cross made of two human leg bones, as well as other blasphemous rituals attracted the attention of the then newly formed PRMC (Parental Resource Music Center) committee, ironically reassuring the band its position on the charts. But though the album was hugely popular in the anglophone metal scene, it was conceived in peripheral Denmark.This book discusses the relationship between center and periphery. It juxtaposes the Anglophone reticent of heavy metal with the rather marginalized location of Copenhagen, and examines Mercyful Fate's relation to the Nordic region more generally. It also takes a close look at the methods involved in the production of King Diamond's vocals, and emphasizes the role of the vocalist as just as an important part of the over-all soundscape as the instrumental contributions.

Benny Andersen (1929-2018) var musiker og digter, og den omstændighed prægede alt, hvad han lavede. I denne bog tager Henrik Marstal læseren med på en biografisk rejse fra Benny Andersens opvækst i et arbejderhjem i 1930'ernes forstadskøbenhavn over de hektiske år som barpianist i 1950'erne og frem til de første digtsamlinger i 1960'erne. Det store gennembrud kom i 1964 med digtsamlingen Den indre bowlerhat, og med LP’en 'Svantes viser' sammen med Povl Dissing blev han hvermandseje i 1973. Et årti, som ikke desto mindre var præget af eksistentielle kriser for Benny Andersen. I 1980'erne og 90’erne anslog han en mere politisk tone, og som en udpræget ’dansk’ digter løb han undertiden sur i danskhedens drilske dilemmaer, hvilket flere gange bragte ham på kant med sit publikum. Bogen er en revideret og opdateret udgave af bestselleren Et liv ved klaveret fra 2004. Den er baseret på en lang række unikke samtaler med hovedpersonen såvel som med centrale personer i Benny Andersens liv, heriblandt Johannes Møllehave og Suzanne Brøgger.