2004 in Scandinavian music

The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Scandinavian music in 2004.

Events

• 1 January – Norwegian singer Kurt Nilsen wins the international competition World Idol , against opposition from Arab, Australian, Belgian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Polish, South African, UK and US competitors. ^[1]
• 9 January – Hanna Pakarinen wins the first series of the Finnish singing competition Idols . ^[2]
• 2 April – Magne Thormodsæter is awarded the Vossajazzprisen 2004 on the first day of the Vossajazz festival. ^[3]
• 10 May – Peter Tägtgren replaces Mikael Åkerfeldt on lead vocals in the Swedish band Bloodbath.
• 15 May – At the final of the 39th Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, the highest-placed of the Scandinavian countries is Sweden, represented by Lena Philipsson, who finishes fifth. Iceland and Norway finish 19th and 24th respectively. Denmark and Finland are both eliminated at the semi-final stage. ^[4]
• 10 June – A gala concert is given by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen's Tivoli Concert Hall, to celebrate the 70th birthday of Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark. It includes the première performance of Frederik Magle's symphonic poem Souffle le vent from the Cantabile suite. ^[5]
• 26 November – Daniel Lindström from Umeå wins the first series of the Swedish version of Pop Idol on TV4. ^[6]
• 11 December – The Nobel Peace Prize Concert is held at the Oslo Spektrum in Norway. Stars include Cyndi Lauper, Sondre Lerche, Baaba Maal and Andrea Bocelli. ^[7]

Classical works

• Einojuhani Rautavaara
  • Book of Visions for orchestra ^[8]
  • Manhattan Trilogy for strings ^[9]
• Esa-Pekka Salonen
  • Stockholm Diary ^[10]
  • Wing on Wing ^[11]

Musical films

• Alt for Egil , starring Kristoffer Joner ^[12]

Popular music

• Björk – "Who Is It" (#5 Spain, #26 UK) ^[13]
• Shirley Clamp – "Eviga längtan" (#3 Swedish radio chart) ^[14]
• Trine Dyrholm – "Avenuen" (from "Mr. Nice Guy" (EP; #1 Denmark) ^[15]
• Fame – "Vindarna vänder oss" (#10 Swedish radio chart) ^[16]
• Gyllene Tider – "Jag borde förstås vetat bättre" (#7 Swedish radio chart) ^[17]
• Daniel Lindström – "Coming True" (#1 Sweden) ^[18]
• Markoolio – "In med bollen" (Sweden #1) ^[19]
• Nightwish – "Nemo" (#1 Finland, #1 Hungary) ^[20]
• Lena Philipsson – "It Hurts" (#1 Sweden, #6 Turkey) ^[21]
• Sonata Arctica – "Don't Say a Word" (#1 Finland) ^[22]
• Tarja Turunen – "Yhden enkelin unelma" (#1 Finland) ^[23]

Eurovision Song Contest

• Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
• Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Deaths

• 14 January – Terje Bakken, Norwegian heavy metal vocalist (born 1978; hypothermia) ^[24]
• 6 February – Jørgen Jersild, Danish composer and music educator (born 1913) ^[25]
• 20 February – Ørnulf Gulbransen, Norwegian flautist (born 1916) ^[26]
• 20 March – Bernhard Christensen, Danish organist and composer (born 1916) ^[27]
• 13 May – Kjell Bækkelund, Norwegian classical pianist (born 1930) ^[28]
• 9 June – Bent Jædig, Danish jazz saxophonist and flautist (born 1935)^{[ citation needed ]}
• 12 November – Usko Meriläinen, Finnish composer (born 1930) ^[29]
• 26 December (killed in Thailand by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami)
  • Sigurd Køhn, Norwegian jazz saxophonist and composer (born 1959) ^[30]
  • Markus Sandlund, Swedish cellist (born 1975) ^[31]

References

1. Dana Stevens (2 January 2004). "Idol Pleasures". Slate. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
2. "Hanna Pakarinen biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
3. "Vossa Jazz-prisen" . Retrieved 28 February 2017.
4. "Istanbul 2004 – Grand Final – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
5. "Komponist for prins Henrik". Berlingske Tidende (in Danish). 10 June 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
6. Sara Åkesson; David Stark (29 November 2004). "Daniel blev Sveriges första Idol" (in Swedish). Folkbladet. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
7. "Nobelkonsert til 450 millioner hjem" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 12 July 2004. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
8. "Book of Visions 2004". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
9. "Manhattan Trilogy (2004)". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
10. Swed, Mark (23 October 2008). "Salonen gets old college try". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 24 July 2015.
11. Swed, Mark (12 February 2005). "'Wing' truly catches the wind this time, and sails". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2 March 2025.
12. Maaland, Borghild (13 August 2004). "Film - Alt for Egil - VG Nett". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
13. "Björk songs and albums". Official Charts. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
14. "Svensktoppslistan" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 21 November 2004. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
15. "Mr. Nice Guy". DanishCharts. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
16. "Vindarna vänder oss". Svensktoppen. 2 May 2004.
17. "Svensktoppen chart archive. Wk 2005-02-27". Sveriges Radio . Retrieved 1 March 2025.
18. "Årslista Singlar – År 2005" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
19. "Singles Top 100". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
20. "Hits of the World: Eurocharts". Music & Media . Vol. 116, no. 24. 12 June 2004. p. 53.
21. "Svensktoppen 2004-04-25". Svensktoppen (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 August 2017.
22. "DON'T SAY A WORD – SINGLE". sonataarctica.info. Sonata Arctica – Official website. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
23. "Tarja Turunen - Yhden Enkelin Unelma". αCharts.us. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
24. "Metal Underground Web Article: Windir Frontman, Valfar (a.k.a. Terje Bakken), Found Dead at 25" . Retrieved 28 February 2025.
25. "Jørgen Jersild". Da Capo Records. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
26. Øien, Per (13 February 2009). "Ørnulf Gulbransen Extended Biography". Norsk Biografisk Leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget . Retrieved 1 March 2025.
27. "Bernhard Christensen". Komponistbasen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 1 March 2025.
28. "Kjell Bækkelund". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
29. Guy Rickards (28 December 2004). "Usko Meriläinen". Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
30. "Heidi Køhn: - Vi mistet alt det ugjorte". Ballade.no. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
31. "Beach Boy seeks cellist lost in tsunami". Today . NBCUniversal. 6 January 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2022.