1961 in Scandinavian music

The following is a list of notable events and compositions of the year 1961 in Scandinavian music.

Events

• 18 March – The 6th Eurovision Song Contest is held in France and won by Luxembourg. Finland compete for the first time, finishing in 10th place. Denmark finish 5th, Norway 7th and Sweden 14th. ^[1]
• 4 August – The first Moldejazz festival opens in Molde, Norway, running until 6 August. ^[2]
• unknown date – The Hootenanny Singers are formed in Sweden. ^[3]

New works

• Niels Viggo Bentzon – Concerto No. 2 for violin and orchestra ^[4]
• Vagn Holmboe – String Quartet No. 6, Op. 78 ^[5]
• Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson – Constellation ^[6]
• Jón Leifs – Hekla, Op. 52" and the electronic work ^[7]
• Einojuhani Rautavaara – Symphony No. 3 ^[8]

Popular music

• Olle Adolphson – "Trubbel" ^[9]
• Olaf Becker – "Når jeg står ved en bar" ^[10] , performed by Harry Felbert ^[11]
• Simon Brehm, Sven Paddock and Gösta Stevens – "En tuff brud i lyxförpackning", performed by Lill-Babs. ^[12]
• Jørgen Ingmann & His Guitar – "Apache" (cover version of Shadows' hit; #1 Canada; #2 Finland, US) ^[13]

New recordings

• John Coltrane – Live in Stockholm 1961 ^[14]
• Eric Dolphy Quartet – The Copenhagen Concerts ^[15]

Film music

• Bengt Hallberg & Simon Brehm – Svenska Floyd ^[16]
• Egil Monn-Iversen – The Passionate Demons ^[17]

Births

• 6 January – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian jazz guitarist and composer (died 2006) ^[18]
• 24 May – Jarmo Savolainen, Finnish pianist and composer (died 2009) ^[19]

Deaths

• 19 February – Einar Fagstad, Norwegian accordionist, singer, actor and composer (born 1899) ^[20]
• 8 May – Victor Cornelius (Corneliussen), Danish composer, pianist and singer (born 1897) ^[21]
• 18 May – Viljo Vesterinen, Finnish accordion player and composer (born 1907) ^[22]
• 29 May – Uuno Klami, Finnish composer (born 1900) ^[23]
• 28 August – Carsten Carlsen, pianist and composer (born 1892). ^[24]
• 23 September – Elmer Diktonius, Finnish poet, composer and musicologist (born 1896) ^[25]
• 19 October – John Fernström, Swedish violinist, conductor and composer (born 1897) ^[26]

See also

• 1961 in Denmark
• 1961 in Iceland
• 1961 in Norwegian music
• 1961 in Sweden

References

1. "Cannes 1961 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
2. "1961 – Den første festivalen" (in Norwegian). Romsdals Budstikke . Retrieved 3 May 2016.
3. Daniel Ward (2017). Agnetha Fältskog: The Girl with the Golden Hair. Fonthill Media.
4. "Violinkoncert nr. 2, Op. 136 (1961)". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
5. Rapoport, Paul (1996). The Compositions of Vagn Holmboe. Copenhagen: Edition Wilhelm Hansen. ISBN   87-598-0813-6.
6. "Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson". Akademia.is. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
7. Árni Heimir Ingólfsson (2019). Jón Leifs and the Musical Invention of Iceland. Indiana University Press. ISBN   9780253044082.
8. Anderson, Martin. "Einojuhani Rautavaara, Symphonist". Toccata Classics. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
9. Gunnar Syréhn (1991). Gycklaren och vanmakten: studier i Lars Forssells "kabarédramatik" (in Swedish). Almqvist & Wiksell International. p. 218. ISBN   9789122014638.
10. Frank Toft-Nielsen (2024). Gustav Winckler & vennerne. Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN   9788727065045.
11. "Dansk TOP 20 Vol. 9, 1961". Apple Music. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
12. "En tuff brud i lyxförpackning" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 1961. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
13. "Jorgen Ingmann And His Guitar - Apache". 45cat. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
14. Porter, Lewis; DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Wild, David; Schmaler, Wolf (2008). The John Coltrane Reference. Routledge. p. 628.
15. "The Complete 1961 Copenhagen Concerts". Jazz Messengers. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
16. "Swedish Floyd (1961)". MUBI. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
17. Tad Bentley Hammer (1991). International Film Prizes: An Encyclopedia. Garland. p. 374. ISBN   9780824070991.
18. Hansen, Espen Arnold (14 December 2006). "Kenneth Sivertsen alvorlig syk" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang . Retrieved 30 December 2014.
19. Andy Gregory, ed. (2002). The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Taylor & Francis Group. p. 447. ISBN   9781857431612.
20. "Einar Fagstad". Discogs.com . Retrieved 26 March 2017.
21. Rainer E. Lotz (1985). German Ragtime & Prehistory of Jazz: The sound documents. Storyville Publications. p. 65. ISBN   9780902391086.
22. Pälli, Erkki. "Viljo Vesterinen". Pomus. Archived from the original on 8 January 2005. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
23. Tyrväinen, Helena: Kohti Kalevala-sarjaa: Identiteetti, eklektisyys ja Ranskan jälki Uuno Klamin musiikissa. (Dissertation.) Acta Musicologica Fennica, 30. University of Helsinki, 2013. ISSN   0587-2448. ISBN   978-951-98479-9-3 page 3
24. Andersen, Rune J. "Carsten M. Carlsen". In Godal, Anne Marit (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
25. George C. Schoolfield (1985). Elmer Diktonius. Bloomsbury Academic. p. xvii. ISBN   9780313247606.
26. "John Fernström (1897−1961)". Swedish Musical Heritage. Retrieved 28 October 2025.