A Simple Blue Chair

On the 28th of July this year, it will be exactly 100 years since an extraordinary event took place in the tiny mountain village of Lesjaskog. In the cultural history of modern Norway – well, there’s nothing quite like it. On a simple, blue kitchen chair, one of Europe’s greatest artists was carried to the top of a nearby mountain. A round trip of nearly 8 hours. After 20 summers in Norway, it would be his last view of the mountains for the ailing composer. It was a huge feat of endurance – and of love – by those closest to him to get him to the top and down again. Today, I tell the story of how the Englishman came to love the Norwegian mountain landscape, and how he let if fill his music. For his friends, it was important to let him see the mountains one last time, before his eyesight failed.

EPISODE PHOTO
This simple blue chair made possible an extraordinary event.

CONTACT
Twitter: @northbynorway
Email: northbynorway@gmail.com

THANKS
to Sonja Nyegaard for her vocal contribution

LINKS & SOURCES
Boyle, Andrew J.
Delius and Norway
Boydell & Brewer, 2017

MUSIC
00:00 North by Norway
written on GarageBand by Andrew J. Boyle, using the Norwegian folksong ‘I Ola-dalom, i Ola-tjønn’

04:22 Over the Hills and Far Away
Frederick Delius

09:02 Sleigh Ride
Frederick Delius

Music performed on GarageBand by Andrew J. Boyle