Paul Nordoff

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Paul Nordoff (born June 4, 1909 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , died January 18, 1977 in Herdecke ) was an American composer and music therapist and, together with Clive Robbins, founded Nordoff-Robbins music therapy.

Life

Born in Philadelphia, he first studied piano at the local conservatory and graduated with a 'Bachelor of Music' in 1927 and a 'Master of Music' in 1932. From 1938 to 1943 he headed the composition department there, taught at Michigan State College (1945–1949) and as a professor of music at Bard College (1948–1959). At the age of almost fifty, he studied again at the Juilliard School in New York and received his bachelor's degree in music therapy from Combs College of Music in Philadelphia in 1960. Nordoff came into contact with Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy during his first studies and became a member of the Anthroposophical Society in 1943 . His music therapy work also took him to Germany, where he died on January 18, 1977 after a serious illness in the Herdecke community hospital and was no longer able to experience the realization of the planned project of an initial first music therapy training in Germany, the Herdecke music therapy mentoring course.

Act

Between 1932 and 1959, Nordoff composed numerous works for the stage, works for orchestra, chamber orchestra and solo instruments, in which elements of romanticism , new music and jazz are combined . Since 1958 he has devoted himself to the musical work with disabled children and, in collaboration with the curative educator Clive Robbins, developed his own music therapy method, which is also known in Germany under the name "Nordoff-Robbins music therapy" and is now more commonly referred to as "creative music therapy" becomes. In view of the severely handicapped children, a special setting developed in which Paul Nordoff sat at the piano, played and sang and Clive Robbins supported the child on the various instruments, often snare drums and cymbals , so that one improvised musical communication became possible. With this way of working in individual music therapy and other approaches to musical group work, the two therapists went through numerous, mostly anthroposophical, institutions for children with disabilities in America, England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. Nordoff also composed in connection with this work and created numerous works for therapeutic work. Often they arose from the otherwise improvised music with the children and were then recorded in notes for further work. The experience that emerged in this work that every person, beyond all disabilities, has a musical potential, was summarized by Nordoff with the term "Music Child". Awakening and developing this was the focus of his music therapy work. He created special improvisational techniques for music therapy work as well as assessment scales for analyzing communication and the degree of musical relationship achieved. Due to the tape recordings made for this purpose, numerous audio recordings of the music from Nordoff's therapies have been preserved. Some were included in the German book publication in 1986 as a tape cassette (ibid.).

reception

Nordoff-Robbins music therapy, along with other music therapy methods, has spread around the world, made easier by the fact that, unlike other music therapy directions, it largely dispenses with conversation. Nordoff's compositions written for music therapy continue to be used in music therapy, while his other compositions are rarely performed. In addition to working with disabled children, the approach developed by Nordoff and Robbins is now also used in numerous other fields of work, including with adult patients. B. in neurology , psychiatry , internal medicine and oncological rehabilitation. Nordoff's encounter with the German psychiatrist Konrad Schily gave rise to the first music therapy training in Germany at the Herdecke community hospital, the Herdecke music therapy mentoring course (1978–1980), in which the Nordoff-Robbins method was taught together with psychoanalytic music therapy ( Mary Priestley ). The University of Witten / Herdecke offered special training in Nordoff-Robbins music therapy until 2010. Treatment centers and training opportunities in this method can be found around the world, in Europe in particular in London at the Nordoff Robbins Center with training in cooperation with City University London. In Germany, the method is represented by the Association for the Promotion of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and the Nordoff Robbins Center in Witten.

Compositions

Stage works:

  • Mr Fortune (opera based on ST Warner), 1936-1937;
  • Every Soul is a Circus (ballet), 1937.
  • The Masterpiece (operetta based on F. Brewer), 1940.
  • Salem Shore (ballet), 1943.
  • Tally Ho (ballet), 1943.
  • The Sea Change (opera based on ST Warner), 1951.

Orchestral works:

  • Prelude and 3 fugues for chamber orchestra, 1932–36;
  • Piano concerto , 1935; Suite, 1938.
  • Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra , 1948.
  • Violin Concerto , 1949.
  • The Frog Prince (for narrator and orchestra, text: H. Pusch / P. Nordoff based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm), 1954.
  • Winter Symphony , 1954.
  • Spring Symphony , 1956.
  • Gothic Concert , piano and orchestra 1959.

Vocal works:

  • Secular Mass (W. Prude) for choir and orchestra, 1934.
  • Lost Summer (Warner) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, 1949.
  • Anthony's Song Book , 1950.

Other:

  • Piano quintet , 1936.
  • In Search of Folly for wind quintet, piano and percussion, 1948.
  • Sonata for violin and piano , 1950.
  • Sonata for flute and piano , 1953; Piano works as well as numerous songs and pieces from music therapy work such as the setting of the fairy tale Pif Paf Poltrie by the Brothers Grimm, The Three Bears and The Old King .

s. Catalog raisonné

Publications primarily through Theodore Presser Company

Books in German

  • with Clive Robbins: Creative Music Therapy. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0689-1 .
  • with Clive Robbins: Music as therapy for disabled children . Klett-Cotta-Verlag, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-12-926280-6 .
  • Children's play songs (vocals and piano). Eres Edition, Lilienthal near Bremen 1978

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kulturimpuls Research Center. Biographies documentation: Paul Nordoff - Biographical archive note . Retrieved December 10, 2014
  2. ^ Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy in Scotland: Music Therapy Pioneers: Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins ( Memento of December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved May 6, 2019
  3. ↑ Johannes Th. Eschen: On the beginnings of music therapy in Germany: Herdecke music therapy mentoring course. Retrospect and Prospect. Reichert, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-89500-778-1 , p. 13.
  4. ↑ Dagmar Gustorff: Nordoff / Robbins music therapy (creative music therapy). In: Hans-Helmut Decker-Voigt , Eckhard Weymann (Ed.): Lexicon Music Therapy. Hogrefe, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8017-0636-4 , pp. 353-356.
  5. ↑ Paul Nordoff, Clive Robbins: Creative Music Therapy. Gustav-Fischer, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-437-10814-X , pp. 1-18.
  6. ↑ Hans-Helmut Decker-Voigt (Ed.): Schools of Music Therapy. Ernst Reinhardt, Munich / Basel 2001, ISBN 3-497-01574-1 .
  7. ↑ vimeo.com: Colin Lee: Compositions by Paul Nordoff . Colin Lee plays and explains piano compositions by Paul Nordoff. Retrieved December 11, 2014
  8. ↑ cf. Dagmar Gustorff: Nordoff / Robbins music therapy (creative music therapy). In: Hans-Helmut Decker-Voigt, Eckhard Weymann (Ed.): Lexicon Music Therapy. Hogrefe, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8017-0636-4 , pp. 353-356.
  9. ↑ cf. Johannes Th. Eschen: Musiktherapeutische Umschau - a new magazine. Programmatic notes on the situation of music therapy in Germany and the function of this journal. In: Musiktherapeutische Umschau. Volume 1/1980 issue 1, p. 2.
  10. ↑ cf. Rosemarie Tüpker : Mary Priestley - Music therapy in action / Paul Nordoff - Creative Music Therapy. In: Musiktherapeutische Umschau. Volume 31/2010, Issue 4, pp. 391-394.
  11. ^ Website of the Nordoff Robbins Center, London
  12. ↑ Website with information about the Masters course at the Nordoff Robbins Center, London
  13. ^ Website of the association for the promotion of Nordoff / Robbins music therapy
  14. ^ Nordoff-Robbins-Zentrum Witten
  15. ↑ Catalog raisonné on Romeo Cascarino's website
  16. ^ Paul Nordoff on the Theodore Presser Company website
personal data
SURNAME Nordoff, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer and music therapist
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1977
Place of death Herdecke