1978 in Scandinavian music

The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Scandinavian music in 1978.

Events

• 12 April – György Ligeti's opera, Le Grand Macabre , receives its world première in Stockholm, in Swedish translation. ^[1]
• 15 April – Ulf Grahn's The Wind of Dawn for orchestra and tape is premièred by the Northern Virginia Symphony in the United States, five years after its composition. ^[2]
• 22 April – At the 23rd Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden, in 14th place, is the best performing of the Scandinavian countries. Denmark finish 16th and Finland 18th. ^[3] Norway finish 20th (bottom) with no points, after an eccentric performance by Jahn Teigen, whose song went on to be a huge success in the charts. ^{[4] [5]}
• unknown date – Sweden's Göran Söllscher wins the Concours International de Guitare in Paris. ^[6]

New works

• Vagn Holmboe ^[7]
  • Brass Quintet No. 2
  • String Quartet No. 15
• Aulis Sallinen – The Red Line (opera) ^[8]

Hit singles

• ABBA
  • "Summer Night City" (#1 Ireland, Sweden) ^[9]
  • "Take a Chance on Me" (#1 Austria, Belgium, Ireland, UK) ^[10]
• Eppu Normaali – "Jee jee" (#18 Finland) ^[11]
• Leevi and the Leavings – "Mitä kuuluu, Marja-Leena?" ^[12]
• Prima Vera – "Så lykkelig i Sverige" ^[13]
• Shu-bi-dua – "Danmark" ^[14]
• Björn Skifs – "Det blir alltid värre framåt natten" (#8 Sweden) ^[15]
• Jahn Teigen – "Mil etter mil" (#1 Norway) ^[16]

Hit albums

• Tomas Ledin – Fasten Seatbelts (#8 Sweden) ^[17]
• Sebastian – Sebastian i Montmartre ^[18]
• Samuelsons – Vilken dag! ^[19]
• Jahn Teigen – This Year's Loser ^[20]

Film music

• Fuzzy – Honning Måne ^[21]
• Sebastian – Du er ikke alene ^[22]

Births

• 19 January – Laura Närhi, Finnish pop singer ^[23]
• 28 February – Mikko Innanen, Finnish saxophonist and composer ^[24]
• 28 March – Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, Icelandic singer (born 1945) ^[25]
• 11 May – Perttu Kivilaakso, Finnish cello player ^[26]
• 6 December – Benjamin Staern, Swedish composer ^[27]

Deaths

• 13 February – Aslak Brekke, Norwegian folk singer (born 1901) ^[28]
• 23 March – Greta Dahlström, Finnish composer and teacher (born 1887)
• 20 May – Bjarne Brustad, Norwegian violinist, violist and composer (born 1895) ^[29]
• 8 June – Jenny Hasselquist, Swedish ballerina (born 1894) ^[30]

See also

• 1978 in Denmark
• 1978 in Finland
• 1978 in Iceland
• 1978 in Norwegian music
• 1978 in Sweden

References

1. Griffiths, Paul (2002). "Grand Macabre, Le ('The Grand Macabre')". Grove Music Online . revised by Michael Searby (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O002356. ISBN   978-1-56159-263-0.
2. "The Wind of Dawn for orchestra and tape". Swedish Musical Heritage. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
3. "Paris 1978 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
4. "Final of Paris 1978". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
5. Emily Mackay (6 May 2017). "What happened to the Eurovision contestants who scored nul points?". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
6. "Göran Söllscher, guitar". Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
7. Rapoport, Paul (1996). The Compositions of Vagn Holmobe. Edition Wilhelm Hansen.
8. Matthew Boyden; Nick Kimberley (2002). The Rough Guide to Opera. Rough Guides. p. 579.
9. "Sverigetopplistan ABBA". IFPI Sweden. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
10. Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 122. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995
11. Luoto, Santtu (1999). Tiimalasin santaa – Eppu Normaalin tarina (in Finnish). WSOY. p. 86. ISBN   951-0-24344-2.
12. Ilmaisun murroksia vuosituhannen vaihteen suomalaisessa kulttuurissa (in Finnish). Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. 2005. p. 111. ISBN   9789517466837.
13. "Prima Vera – «Så lykkelig i Sverige»". NRK. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
14. "Bundesen og Hardinger fortæller om 78'eren". youtube.com. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
15. Kyriakos Tsinivits (20 April 2021). "All the Swedish Eurovision entries that have charted on Sweden's national singles chart". Aussievision. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
16. "VG-lista for 'Mil etter mil'" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 July 2016.
17. International Who's who in Popular Music. Europa Publications Limited. 2009. p. 309.
18. Torben Bille (1984). Sebastian – Gøgleren, Knud og de andre (in Danish). Forlaget Fremad. p. 133.
19. "Samuelsons: Vilken Dag!". Colnect. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
20. A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest. Taylor & Francis. 2017. p. 1. ISBN   9781351577984.
21. Henrik Wivel (2008). Spejlet: Bille Augusts film. Gyldendal. p. 188. ISBN   9788702062830.
22. Torben Bille (2009). Sebastian - Når lyset bryder frem. Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN   788711422960.{{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
23. Maksimainen, Heini (18 May 2011). "Ihanaa, olen kuin äitini!". Me Naiset (in Finnish). Sanoma. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
24. Paavilainen, Ulla, ed. (2014). Kuka kukin on: Henkilötietoja nykypolven suomalaisista 2015[Who’s Who in Finland, 2015] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. p. 255. ISBN   978-951-1-28228-0.
25. Jón Ólafsson (2009). Söknuður Ævisaga Vilhjálms Vilhjálmssonar (in Icelandic). Sena.
26. Ankeny, Jason. "Biography: Apocalyptica". Allmusic . Retrieved 12 June 2010.
27. "Benjamin Staern (1978-)". Swedish Musical Heritage. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
28. "Aslak Brekke". Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
29. Nesheim, Elef (13 February 2009). "Bjarne Brustad". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk Biografisk Leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget . Retrieved 19 March 2017.
30. "Jenny Hasselquist" (in Swedish). Teater Sargasso. Retrieved 3 March 2014.