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Nocturne (Secret Garden)
Encyclopedia
"Nocturne" was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995
, performed in Norwegian
by Secret Garden
representing Norway
. It was the second time Norway won the contest, after it had won in 1985 with Bobbysocks! song "La det swinge
". For their performance at the Contest the Secret Garden duo of Fionnuala Sherry
and Rolf Løvland
featured two guest musicians; Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim and Swedish nyckelharpist
Åsa Jinder
.
's Davor Popović with "Dvadeset prvi vijek
" and preceding Russia
's Philip Kirkorov with "Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana
". At the close of voting, it had received 148 points, placing 1st in a field of 23.
The victory represented the second for composer Rolf Løvland
, who had previously written "La det swinge
". Additionally, it represented the first time in four years that Ireland had not won the Contest, thus bringing to an end the only hat-trick of victories in Eurovision history. Ireland would go on to win the next Contest, achieving the feat of four victories in five years.
As Norway had previously won the Contest in 1985
with "La det swinge
", the second victory allowed the tongue-in-cheek tradition to emerge that Norway could only win in years ending with a 5, a joke referred to by the members of Bobbysocks
at the Congratulations
special in late 2005, Norway having entered "In My Dreams" that year and not achieved victory.
The song was succeeded as winner in 1996 by Eimear Quinn
representing Ireland
with "The Voice".
It was succeeded as Norwegian representative
at the 1996 Contest
by Elisabeth Andreassen
with "I evighet
".
- 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
performed by guest Irish musician Fionnuala Sherry
.
While no other victorious song 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. 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.
by country-inspired novelty band Dusty Cowshit, reaching #16 on the Norwegian singles chart in 1996. The song was however released as a single by Secret Garden in the rest of Europe and Scandinavia, then in its English language version, and reached #26 in Sweden, #6 in Belgium (Flanders), #24 in Belgium (Wallonia) and #20 in the Netherlands.
"Nocturne" is included in Secret Garden's first album, Songs from a Secret Garden
. The album "Inside I'm Singing
" (2007) includes a new version.
Eurovision Song Contest 1995
The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 1995 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The presenter was Mary Kennedy. This contest broke the chain of victories that Ireland enjoyed in 1992, 1993, and 1994...
, performed in Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
by Secret Garden
Secret Garden (duo)
Secret Garden is an award-winning Irish-Norwegian duo playing New Instrumental Music, also sometimes erroneously known as Neo-classical music.Secret Garden features the Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and the Norwegian composer/pianist Rolf Løvland...
representing Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It was the second time Norway won the contest, after it had won in 1985 with Bobbysocks! song "La det swinge
La det swinge
"La det swinge" is a song in Norwegian, sung by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 - Norway's first victory in the contest.- Background :...
". For their performance at the Contest the Secret Garden duo of Fionnuala Sherry
Fionnuala Sherry
Fionnuala Sherry is an Irish violinist and vocalist. She makes up the female part of the New Instrumental duo Secret Garden, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the predominantly instrumental piece "Nocturne".-Background:...
and Rolf Løvland
Rolf Løvland
Rolf Løvland is a Norwegian composer. Together with Fionnuala Sherry, he formed the celtic group Secret Garden, where he played as the composer/producer/keyboardist...
featured two guest musicians; Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim and Swedish nyckelharpist
Nyckelharpa
A nyckelharpa , sometimes called a keyed fiddle, is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.The nyckelharpa is similar in appearance to a...
Åsa Jinder
Åsa Jinder
Åsa Jinder is a player of the nyckelharpa , and composer, producer, journalist, author and lecturer...
.
Eurovision victory
The song was performed fifth on the night, following Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
's Davor Popović with "Dvadeset prvi vijek
Dvadeset Prvi Vijek
"Dvadaset prvi vijek" was the Bosnian and Herzegovinian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in Bosnian by Davorin Popović....
" and preceding Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's Philip Kirkorov with "Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana
Kolibelnaya Dlya Vulkana
"Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana" was the Russian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in Russian by Philipp Kirkorov....
". At the close of voting, it had received 148 points, placing 1st in a field of 23.
The victory represented the second for composer Rolf Løvland
Rolf Løvland
Rolf Løvland is a Norwegian composer. Together with Fionnuala Sherry, he formed the celtic group Secret Garden, where he played as the composer/producer/keyboardist...
, who had previously written "La det swinge
La det swinge
"La det swinge" is a song in Norwegian, sung by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 - Norway's first victory in the contest.- Background :...
". Additionally, it represented the first time in four years that Ireland had not won the Contest, thus bringing to an end the only hat-trick of victories in Eurovision history. Ireland would go on to win the next Contest, achieving the feat of four victories in five years.
As Norway had previously won the Contest in 1985
Eurovision Song Contest 1985
The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 May 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The presenter was Lill Lindfors, and Norwegian duo Bobbysocks! was the winner of this Eurovision with the song "La det swinge"....
with "La det swinge
La det swinge
"La det swinge" is a song in Norwegian, sung by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 - Norway's first victory in the contest.- Background :...
", the second victory allowed the tongue-in-cheek tradition to emerge that Norway could only win in years ending with a 5, a joke referred to by the members of Bobbysocks
Bobbysocks
For the 1950s teen rage see Bobby soxerBobbysocks! were a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "La det swinge" ....
at the Congratulations
Congratulations (Eurovision)
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the Contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. It took place at Forum,...
special in late 2005, Norway having entered "In My Dreams" that year and not achieved victory.
The song was succeeded as winner in 1996 by Eimear Quinn
Eimear Quinn
Eimear Quinn is an Irish singer. Dublin born Eimear joined her first choir at four years of age and at fifteen she started formal vocal training at the College of Music under the tutelage of Jody Beggan. Eimear later graduated with a degree in Music from National University of Ireland Maynooth...
representing Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
with "The Voice".
It was succeeded as Norwegian representative
Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
Norway has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1960 and only been absent twice: in 1970, when they boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, and in 2002, when they did not qualify....
at the 1996 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1996
The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 18 May 1996 in Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. The presenters were Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket. Harket, lead singer of a-ha, opened the show with a performance of his single "Heaven's Not For Saints". Eimear...
by Elisabeth Andreassen
Elisabeth Andreassen
Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen - also known as just "Bettan" - is a Swedish-Norwegian singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest....
with "I evighet
I Evighet
"I evighet" is a song by Elisabeth Andreassen, The original lyrics were written by Wendell Miller of U.S.A. melody written by Torhild Nigar copyright 1986 was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996.The song is a ballad, with Andreassen singing about the eternal nature...
".
Lyrics
The song is noted for its relative absence of lyricsLyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
- 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
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
intermezzo
Intermezzo
In music, an intermezzo , in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work...
performed by guest Irish musician Fionnuala Sherry
Fionnuala Sherry
Fionnuala Sherry is an Irish violinist and vocalist. She makes up the female part of the New Instrumental duo Secret Garden, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the predominantly instrumental piece "Nocturne".-Background:...
.
While no other victorious song has featured so few words, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
would go on to place 15th in the 1998 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The presenters were Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson...
with "Aava
Aava
"Aava" is a song by Edea, which was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998.The song was performed twenty-first on the night, following Belgium's Mélanie Cohl with "Dis oui" and preceding Norway's Lars Fredriksen with "Alltid sommer"...
", which contains only six words repeated throughout the song. The previous holder of the record of shortest lyrics in Eurovision history was Belgium and their 1983 entry "Rendez-vous
Rendez-Vous (song)
"Rendez-vous" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in Dutch by Pas de Deux.The song was performed nineteenth on the night...
", with a total of 11 words.
Releases
"Nocturne" was not released as a single in Norway itself. The first release of the song as a single would come in a comedic cover versionCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by country-inspired novelty band Dusty Cowshit, reaching #16 on the Norwegian singles chart in 1996. The song was however released as a single by Secret Garden in the rest of Europe and Scandinavia, then in its English language version, and reached #26 in Sweden, #6 in Belgium (Flanders), #24 in Belgium (Wallonia) and #20 in the Netherlands.
"Nocturne" is included in Secret Garden's first album, Songs from a Secret Garden
Songs from a Secret Garden
Songs from a Secret Garden is the first international album by Secret Garden. It includes the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, "Nocturne"....
. The album "Inside I'm Singing
Inside I'm Singing
Inside I'm Singing, released in 2007, is the ninth album by Secret Garden. Unlike previous albums, Inside I'm Singing is mostly composed of vocal music....
" (2007) includes a new version.