I am currently preparing a sound installation for the magnificent Håkon’s Hall.
This year Håkon’s Hall is 750 years old. It was built by King Håkon Håkonsson as a royal residence and banqueting hall. The first recorded use of Håkon´s Hall was in 1261, when Håkon Håkonsson held a banquet for the wedding and coronation of his son Magnus Lagabøte. He married the Danish princess Ingeborg. Twenty years later, in 1281, the Hall hosted another wedding as Lagabøte’s son, the 13 year old king Eirik Magnusson, was married to the Scottish princess Margareta – a woman twenty years his senior. The earliest secular song transmitted in a Norwegian manuscript was composed for this occasion: the Latin homophonic song “Ex te lux oritur o dulcis Scocia”, or “Carmen Gratulatorium”.
The installation will use multi-channel sound, with loudspeakers discretely mounted to ensure a minimal visual impact. The installation will open Thursday next week (July 7) at 15:00, and run until the middle of September.
