But always as It Should Be (2023)
(Men altid som det skal være)

”Men altid som det skal være” – the line in Danish is part of a hymn whose melody rings throughout the piece:

Som havet møder en kyst
i frådelarm eller vuggen, tyst,
røres jeg af din godhed, Gud.
Vildt eller blidt, men altid som det skal være.
Så jeg forstår, og så jeg véd, jeg kan bære
din kærlighed ud.
Så bliver det ved;
nu, i morgen, i evighed.

The piece is composed in five movements played in one stretch without pause, and fragments of the melody ring through all the movements.
I. ‘Som havet møder en kyst’ (As the sea meets a coast) - is the piece's longest movement: a rocking and pulsating dialogue between the cello and the ensemble, which is played as a long upward crescendo in several sections.

II. ‘Som landet rammes af vand’ (As the land is hit by water) – the movement develops a motif that starting in natural overtones on the cello's deep C string: Tones that arise by touching the string lightly at certain intervals, and that have different sound colour and slightly different pitch than usual.

III. 'Vildt eller blidt' (wild or gentle) - a small phrase from the melody is repeated and devloped into a climax.

IV. ‘Men altid som det skal være’ (But always as it should be) - here the hymn melody gradually unfolds to its full length.

V. ‘Som hånd der stryger min kind’ (Like a hand caressing my cheek) – the movement is short. With a bubbling and bouncing ricochet bow stroke, the cello plays a quiet fleeting motif based on the first notes of the melody.