«min klode, mi sjel». Mitt møte med Magnar og musikken

I met Magnar Åm during my schooldays in Bergen, where he taught me jazz piano. In 1972 I enjoyed participating in the première of his breakthrough work. Later, during composition studies, I based my diploma dissertation on an analysis of Åm’s work punkt null (1978). In the present article I revisit this work and attempt to establish and name some of the compositional principles used, and discuss the composer’s relation to programmatic content. In the second part of the article, I present a brief overview of Åm’s later production, aiming in particular to find points at which he departs from his original manifest. My plan from the start was not to present the works in chronological order, but rather to group them according to various characteristics and similarities. However, it became apparent during the process that the portfolio had a natural progression in itself, revealing a sequential thematic and dramaturgical development, thus making it unnecessary, with few exceptions, to depart from the chronological order. After this overview, I attempt to ‘place’ the composer and to draw some – highly subjective – conclusions.