MUSIC THE SAME WORLD OVER, SAYS NORWEGIAN COMPOSER

"Shake, Rattle and Roll," the song that made Bill Haley and the Comets famous, sounds like "haba haba haba haba" in Norwegian.

But the melody and the "Oh yeah" part are very familiar.

Accompanying himself on guitar, Norwegian band-music composer Geir Knutson played "Shake, Rattle and Roll" along with a Land of the Midnight Sun version of "Home on the Range" Wednesday afternoon at Jefferson Elementary School.

The performance was one of a series of appearances Knutson is making this week at Cape Girardeau elementary schools.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Southeast Honors Wind Ensemble will present Knutson's music in a free concert at Academic Auditorium.

Knutson, one of his country's leading composers of music for bands, attempted to give his audience a taste of the Norwegian language and culture in his 30-minute program.

"Hvordan har du det?" he asked.

"Bra," his audience of 300 students answered after only one prompting.

People ask "How are you?" and answer "Good" in Norway just as they do in the U.S.

Knutson also played mouth harp, an instrument that drew laughter from the students. Known locally as the composer of the "Cape Girardeau March," Knutson played two marches on the mouth harp.

Southeast's Dr. Ann Gifford, who helped bring Knutson to Cape Girardeau through the Goals 2000 grant, also read a Norwegian fairy tale about trolls.

The performance was signed for hearing-impaired students.

Knutson and Gifford's husband, Dr. Robert Gifford, just returned from Boulder, Colo., where they worked with the high school band. Norway has many bands but they are private and not sponsored by the schools.

"I like your system of bands, the way each high school has a band," Knutson said. "... It's very inspiring to come here."

But the music you hear is the same in Norway as here, he says.

"We like the same people. We like Mariah Carey like you."