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- Per Nørgård
Three Nocturnal Movements (2015)
- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
- 1(pic.afl).2(ca).1(Ebcl.bcl).2(cbn)/2100/1perc/pf/str (6.6.4.4.2)
- vn,vc
- 23 min
Programme Note
Three Nocturnal Movements for violin, cello and orchestra came about on the initiative of two of my long-term collaborators, the violinist Peter Herresthal and the cellist Jakob Kullberg.
The frame for the three-movement work is my viola concerto 'Remembering Child', which Jakob Kullberg creatively developed for two soloists in the same fashion he had previously crafted 'Secret Voices' (a work for violin and cello, based on my piece for solo viola 'The Secret Melody', on which we collaborated).
The middle movement, Nocturnal Cadenza, is based on my performance of audio-sketches which Jakob recorded at my home in Copenhagen in March 2013.
He decided on the form of the movement after making a selection of musical fragments best described as 'nocturnal'.
This is perhaps the best example of the unusual creative dialogue he and I have developed over the years; in this case the work consists of his composition on my material as well as arrangement, orchestration and characterisation.
The news of the tragic death of Samantha Smith reached me in the early stages of preparation for Remembering Child.
Already an admirer of this child worker for peace and nuclear disarmament, I completed my work strongly inspired by this unique and uniquely symbolic fate of our time.
I was guided by the original meaning of the word remembering (making whole, healing) as opposed to dismembering (tearing apart): The healing power of the child.
Three Nocturnal Movements was first performed at the Bergen International Festival in June 2015 by Peter Herresthal, Jakob Kullberg and Andrew Manze with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
Per Nørgård, Copenhagen November 18th 2016.
Media
Scores
Reviews
The concert begins with a powerful cannon, as if the orchestra is playing the same material repeatedly. The soloists emerge from the orchestra and play the same material, but much more slowly. Soon, the music calms down – as the title suggests, there is a nocturnal, almost hypnotic atmosphere throughout.
The second movement retains much of this tranquillity but features a wealth of different tonal colours and textures. [...] there is a freedom in the soloists' musicality, even though the rest of the orchestra can also be heard in the background. There is more unrest in the third and final movement. After a few singing, quiet episodes, the sounds become denser and more claustrophobic, and the orchestra becomes more restless, although the nocturnal atmosphere is still maintained. One might think that everything is building up to an exclamatory ending, and although it tightens, it is more like a calm exhalation from the two soloists.
Discography
Per Nørgård - Orchestral Works
- LabelBIS
- Catalogue NumberBIS-2502 SACD
- ConductorJohn Storgårds
- EnsembleBergen Philharmonic Orchestra
- SoloistPeter Herresthal, violin; Jakob Kullberg, cello
- Released1st September 2023