"Nocturne" is a song recorded by Irish-Norwegian duo Secret Garden –Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland– with music composed by Løvland and lyrics written by Petter Skavlan. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin, resulting in the country's second win at the contest.
| "Nocturne" | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Single by Secret Garden | |
| from the album Songs from a Secret Garden | |
| Language | Norwegian |
| B-side | "Nocturne (English version)" |
| Released | 1995 |
| Composer(s) | Rolf Løvland |
| Lyricist(s) | Petter Skavlan |
| Eurovision Song Contest 1995 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) | |
| As | |
| With | |
| Language | |
| Composer(s) | Rolf Løvland |
| Lyricist(s) | Petter Skavlan |
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 1st |
| Final points | 148 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Duett" (1994) | |
| "I evighet" (1996) ► | |
For their performance at the contest, they featured three guest musicians: Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim, Hans Fredrik Jacobsen on penny whistle, and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder.
Background
editConception
edit"Nocturne" was composed by Rolf Løvland with lyrics by Petter Skavlan. The song is noted for its almost complete absence of lyrics — with only 24 words being sung in the original Norwegian version and much of the rest of the song being given over to a violin intermezzo. Duo Secret Garden –Fionnuala Sherry and Løvland– recorded the song in Norwegian and English. [1]
Eurovision
editOn 1 April 1995, "Nocturne" performed by Secret Garden competed in that year's edition of the Melodi Grand Prix, the national final organised by Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) to select its song and performer for the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became the Norwegian entrant for Eurovision.[2]
On 13 May 1995, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Point Theatre in Dublin hosted by Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Secret Garden performed "Nocturne" in Norwegian fifth on the night, following Bosnia and Herzegovina's "Dvadeset prvi vijek" by Davorin Popović and preceding Russia's "Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana" by Philip Kirkorov. Secret Garden was accompanied on stage by three guest musicians: Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim, Hans Fredrik Jacobsen on penny whistle, and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder. Geir Langslet conducted the event's live orchestra in their performance.[3]
At the close of voting, it had received 148 points, placing first in a field of twenty-three, and winning the contest.[4] This victory represented the second win for Norway, after winning the 1985 contest with "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks!, and for composer Rolf Løvland, who had also composed that song. Additionally, it represented the first time in four years that Ireland had not won the contest –although Sherry herself is Irish–, thus bringing to an end the only hat-trick of victories in Eurovision history. Ireland would go on to win the following Contest, achieving the feat of four victories in five years.
The song was succeeded as winner in 1996 by "The Voice" performed by Eimear Quinn representing Ireland. It was succeeded as Norwegian representative that year by "I evighet" by Elisabeth Andreassen.
Aftermath
editAs Norway had previously won the contest in 1985, the second victory allowed the tongue-in-cheek tradition to emerge that Norway could only win in years ending with a five, a joke referred to by the members of Bobbysocks! at the Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest special on 25 October 2005, Norway having entered "In My Dreams" that year and not achieved victory.[5]
While no other winning song in the contest has featured so few words, Finland would go on to place 15th in the 1998 contest with "Aava", which contains only six words repeated throughout the song.[6] The previous holder of the record of shortest lyrics in Eurovision history was Belgium and their 1983 entry "Rendez-vous", with a total of 11 words.[7]
Releases
edit"Nocturne" was not released as a single in Norway; instead, it was released in the rest of Europe and Scandinavia. "Nocturne" is included in Secret Garden's first album, Songs from a Secret Garden. Their 2007 album Inside I'm Singing includes a new version.
Critical reception
editMusic & Media said that "Nocturne not only meant a victory of music over fast food, but also held an unprecedented first of an essentially instrumental song."[8] Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "It is a haunting, pastoral piece, owing more to the Gaelic culture of lone violinist Fionnuala Sherry than to Nordic music. With so little in the way of vocals, it barely qualifies as a song. After the initial twenty seconds, the singer lapses into silence for another two minutes, returning only for fifteen seconds at the end."[9]
Commercial performance
editThe song reached number six in Flanders, number seven in Ireland, number 20 in the Netherlands, number 24 in Wallonia and number 26 in Sweden.[10][11] In the United Kingdom, the single was released on 2 October 1995 and reached number 90 on the UK Singles Chart the same month.[12][13]
Weekly chartsedit
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Year-end chartsedit
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Legacy
editDusty Cowshit version
editThe song was covered comedic and first released as a single by the country-inspired novelty band Dusty Cowshit, reaching number 16 on the Norwegian Singles Chart in 1996.[21]
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norway (VG-lista)[21] | 13 |
In other media
edit"Nocturne" was used in several episodes of TVN soap opera Oro Verde.[22]
References
edit- ^ "Nocturne - lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
- ^ "National finals: Norway 1995". ESC National Finals database.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1995". Eurovision Song Contest. 13 May 1995. RTÉ / EBU.
- ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1995 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
- ^ "Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. 22 October 2005. DR / EBU.
- ^ "Aava - lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
- ^ "Rendez-vous - lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
- ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 10 June 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Talking Music" (PDF). Music Week. 27 May 1995. p. 38. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Secret Garden". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 30 September 1995. p. 61.
- ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in French). Ultratop 50.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 29. 22 July 1995. p. 12. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Secret Garden" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
- ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne". Singles Top 100.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1995" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "Jaarlijsten 1995" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Døsty Cåwshit – Nocturne". VG-lista.
- ^ "Canciones que siempre quisiste saber cómo se llamaban, parte 3 - LaRata.cl". Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.