String Quartet No.3 'Three Miniatures' was composed by Per Nørgård in 1959. Manuscript copy. Programme Note: The spectrum of sound the gesticulation in short the very nature of the strings has always had a central place in my output demonstrated by the numbers of string quartets concertos with string soloist chamber and solo works. The interest dates back to my school years when I was fortunate to be able to compose for a cello-playing schoolmate and to accompany him on the piano. I discovered then the innumerable nuances of sound and playing varieties offered by just one bow four strings and fivefingers... The Three Miniatures for string quartet has a consequent experimental structure that dictates every note in the three extremely short movements. Each member of the quartet thus plays his own little melody a certain (but different) number of times so that the brand new soundscopes constantly appear in spite of the unchanging parts due to their different length. Per Nørgård

Work dating from 1952-58. Programme note: The spectrum of sound the gesticulation in short the very nature of the strings has always had a central place in my output demonstrated by the numbers of string quartets concertos with string soloist chamber and solo works. The interest dates back to my school years when I was fortunate to be able to compose for a cello-playing schoolmate and to accompany him on the piano. I discovered then the innumerable nuances of sound and playing varieties offered by just one bow four strings and five fingers.. My second string quartet Quartetto Brioso has a firm root in the Nordic traditionand is strongly inspired by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and my teacher Vagn Holmboe (1909-96). Per Nørgård

Programme note The spectrum of sound the gesticulation – in short the very nature of the strings – has always had a central place in my output demonstrated by the numbers of string quartets concertos with string soloist chamber and solo works. The interest dates back to my school years when I was fortunate to be able to compose for a cello-playing schoolmate and to accompany him on the piano. I discovered then the innumerable nuances of sound and playing varieties offered by just one bow four strings and five fingers..  The bell-like association if the title reflects the special texture of the work. Like thecontinously changing overtones of a struck resonating bell the four parts are unified through one single basic line broken up in a multitude of changing dynamics of a multifacetted rhythm and resulting in an ever transforming harmony.  The duration of the work is ca 12 minutes.  Per Nørgård (1998)     

PrefaceThe three movements of the quartet may be perceived as three different expressions of an unstable core: an inherent unrest leads to frequent changes of direction. The first movement is full of dramatic contrasts; it is followed by a second movement whose basic mood of meditative rest is challenged by occasional centrifugal utbursts while the third movement takes the inherent conflicts to a higher level contrasting material of introspective lyricism with excessively pathetic moods.The final ?way out? is a retrograde one (back) ?into the source?: through a constant accelerando-diminuendo the piece disappears into a vanishing point. The ?into thesource? of the title may be visualized as a reversed fountain-action: the broad fan-like spread of the first movement a more coherent-solid second movement and finally - in the third movement - a return-run ever more vehemently like a suction into the spring itself ?The musical motifs are varied; there are traffic-situations (which I heard!) with stomping and machine-like rhythms in different but simultaneous tempi and there are more abstract upwards and downwards half-tone-scales with changing accents creating glimpses of melodies.INTO THE SOURCE String Quartet No. 9 was composed on a double-commission from the Orion Quartet and the Vertavo Quartet. The premiere performances took places in Santa Fé in 2002 and in Oslo in 2003.Per Nørgård