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- Per Nørgård
Arresø-billeder (1996)
(Images of Arresø)- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
Arresøbilleder (Images of Arresø) is the original duo version (for Obo/Piano).
A later version for sax (or obo) and piano/strings,has the title "Billeder fra Arresø" ("Pictures from Arresø"(Lake Arre).
- ob, pf
- sax, pf - or cl,pf
- 16 min
Programme Note
ARRESØBILLEDER (Images of Arresø) - for oboe and piano (1996)
1.Månespejl - Fuglemorgen (Mirror of the Moon - Birds Morning)
2.Frostkrystal (Frost Crystal),
3.Svanesang (Swan Song),
4.Dråbespil (Droplets Music),
Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996) was Per Nørgård´s teacher from 1949 and was a important inspiration for the young composer and his ideas of ´the universe of the Nordic mind´ in the 1950s. Nørgårds tutorials often took plavs in Holmboes house in Ramløse near the lake of Arresø and its beautiful natural surroundings. Nørgård's many stays with Vagn and Meta Holmboe meant strong encounters with nature at and around the lake. This was the point of departure for “Arresøbilleder” (Images of Arresø), composed 1995-96 – the last year that Holmboe lived.
Images of Arresø consists of four images or pictures, each dedicated to a person who has had a connection with the work. The first picture is in two sections – Månespejl (Mirror of the Moon), interrupted by Fuglemorgen (Birds Morning) – and is dedicated to Vagn Holmboe. For Nørgård, the almost Zen-like calm of Arresø, broken by the sudden sound of birds, is inextricably associated with the nature of his teacher.
The second picture, Frostkrystal (Frost Crystal), is a contrast in every respect: crystalline, restless, yet whole, without the deality of the first picture. The piece is dedicated to Vagn Holmboe´s wife Meta Holmboe, a versatile visual artist also known for her photographs of the ice and frost crystals of the lake. which meet the light, water and plants in a wealth of surprising colour and light effects. The solo cadence of the oboe attemps to approach the characteristic clarity of Meta Holmboe´s photographs.
The third picture, Svanesang (Swan Song), is dedicated to the oboist, who premiered the work, Max Artved. The movement has a certain melancholy (with a recurring, falling motif which incidentally appeared for the first time in Nørgård´s work “Seadrift” (1978) , where it was associated with the plangent tones of an abandoned bird); but the picture is most highly coloured by the timbre of the oboe. For Nørgård this recalls the sounds of nature: the scream of swans or the turbulent “beating” of their wings, which can be concentrated in a whole flock into rhythmic pulses sounding like a dark tone oboe.
The last picture, Dråbespil (Droplets Music), is dedicated to the pianist Per Salo, who at the time of preparing Arresøbilleder also premiered Nørgård´s piano concerto “Concerto – in due tempi”. In this final movement we also recognize the two tempi of the piano concerto (in the ratio 5:7, but interpreted quasi rubato), whose constant presence leads to a dual motion as well as the last Arresø association of the work: the play of the drops in foaming wave crests during a brisk autumns breeze.
Jens Cornelius (from cd booklet, Dacapo 1996)
1.Månespejl - Fuglemorgen (Mirror of the Moon - Birds Morning)
2.Frostkrystal (Frost Crystal),
3.Svanesang (Swan Song),
4.Dråbespil (Droplets Music),
Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996) was Per Nørgård´s teacher from 1949 and was a important inspiration for the young composer and his ideas of ´the universe of the Nordic mind´ in the 1950s. Nørgårds tutorials often took plavs in Holmboes house in Ramløse near the lake of Arresø and its beautiful natural surroundings. Nørgård's many stays with Vagn and Meta Holmboe meant strong encounters with nature at and around the lake. This was the point of departure for “Arresøbilleder” (Images of Arresø), composed 1995-96 – the last year that Holmboe lived.
Images of Arresø consists of four images or pictures, each dedicated to a person who has had a connection with the work. The first picture is in two sections – Månespejl (Mirror of the Moon), interrupted by Fuglemorgen (Birds Morning) – and is dedicated to Vagn Holmboe. For Nørgård, the almost Zen-like calm of Arresø, broken by the sudden sound of birds, is inextricably associated with the nature of his teacher.
The second picture, Frostkrystal (Frost Crystal), is a contrast in every respect: crystalline, restless, yet whole, without the deality of the first picture. The piece is dedicated to Vagn Holmboe´s wife Meta Holmboe, a versatile visual artist also known for her photographs of the ice and frost crystals of the lake. which meet the light, water and plants in a wealth of surprising colour and light effects. The solo cadence of the oboe attemps to approach the characteristic clarity of Meta Holmboe´s photographs.
The third picture, Svanesang (Swan Song), is dedicated to the oboist, who premiered the work, Max Artved. The movement has a certain melancholy (with a recurring, falling motif which incidentally appeared for the first time in Nørgård´s work “Seadrift” (1978) , where it was associated with the plangent tones of an abandoned bird); but the picture is most highly coloured by the timbre of the oboe. For Nørgård this recalls the sounds of nature: the scream of swans or the turbulent “beating” of their wings, which can be concentrated in a whole flock into rhythmic pulses sounding like a dark tone oboe.
The last picture, Dråbespil (Droplets Music), is dedicated to the pianist Per Salo, who at the time of preparing Arresøbilleder also premiered Nørgård´s piano concerto “Concerto – in due tempi”. In this final movement we also recognize the two tempi of the piano concerto (in the ratio 5:7, but interpreted quasi rubato), whose constant presence leads to a dual motion as well as the last Arresø association of the work: the play of the drops in foaming wave crests during a brisk autumns breeze.
Jens Cornelius (from cd booklet, Dacapo 1996)
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