Der er en sang (2022)
(Hyldest til Per Nørgård)

From my young years as a composer, Per Nørgård was a beacon in my musical universe. I did not study with him in Aarhus, but I studied his music! Infinity series, tone-lakes, dizzying harmonies of overtones and undertones, ‘golden’ rhythms, and the music's many tempo layers were to me a source of inspiration and still joy and wonder. And admiration. It did not diminish when the enigmatic savagery of the Wölfli universe became part of his palette of expression. Dream and despair, light and darkness meet in conflict and harmony.

It is therefore a great pleasure and honour for me to be able to pay tribute to Per Nørgård with this little composition. It had to accommodate this contrasting encounter. And I found it beautifully unfolded in a small text by Per Aage Brandt from the collection Night and Day with the very appropriate title der er en sang (there is a song).

In the work there is a direct greeting to Per Nørgård in the form of a quote from the choral work Wie ein Kind, a signature work from the ‘Wölfli period’.

- Niels Rosing-Schow, june 2022