Full Score-Full orchestra score for Per Nørgård's Symphony No. 5 (1987-90 rev.1991). Manuscript copy. Programme note: My 5th Symphony was commissioned by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and premiered on December 6th 1990 by and dedicated to the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.  After the premiere in 1990 I decided to revise the beginning (and only the beginning) of the work. The first pages of the score were discarded and about 20 seconds of new music was written in the summer of 1991. The new and final versionwas premiered on 1st of May 1992.  The symphony progresses without pauses between movements often in several layers of tempo with mutual ´golden section´proportions. The listener´s experience of form in the work will therefore depend on the directions of his own attention. But so far as overall divisions are concerned four sections (perhaps five) - running into each other - can be traced: an expansive cascading introduction a kind of scherzo an chaconne-like adagio and a kind of finale again with the phenomenon of ´cascades´ as a main idea. However as the course is from time to time thrown into chaos by convulsive twitching and crises other experiences of form are opened out within a spectrum from wild to cautious from dramatic to contemplative in a universe of tempi which can suggest the title of a book of poems by the Danish Michael Strunge (1958-1986): ´Velocity of life.´  A listener described the symphony as “a walk with a fire-breathing dragon” and a reviewer described it with words like “a pacifist in times of war”. Anyway words and programme note are – as Carl Nielsen said about titles – only “road signs” for personal experiences in the area of music itself.  Per Nørgård

Musaic (1969) by Per Nørgård - for Brass Ensemble and Electronics. Instr.: 5 Cornets 3 Trombones and Electronics Progamme Note Among my compositions for brass band three (“Backlight” “Massifs” - crystals - cascades” “Musaic”) all belong to a three-dimensional space. Thus “Massifs - crystals - cascades” was proclaimed from a mountainside towards the audience in the Norwegian town Tromsø and “Backlight” to the special room of the new concert hall at The Music Conservatory of Jutland Denmark.  “Musaic” was composed in 1969 for the inauguration of Edition Wilhelm Hansen’s new branch in Århus Jutland. Short movements for brass were intermittently heard on the street. In the concert hall all the movements were however heard - also the ones already played; by means of a continuous tape individual fragments of the ´street music´ were gradually collected into one concluding uninterrupted piece lasting all in all 10 minutes a mus(a)ic/muza(i)k…  A synthesis can be heard on a CD from 2007 (by the Brass Ensemble of The Royal Danish Conservatory Jutland) with the note that the work might be much longer when performed live.  Per Nørgård (2007)  Parts available: KP01903A

Listen closely and you will hear melodies from fourteen different carols cascading through the air! This stunning concert opener will captivate your audience and really get them into the mood. The many carols are presented in brief segments as the work moves brightly long at a nice concert march tempo. The arrangement is exceptionally playable by students at the Medium Easy level.

Shortcut Home is a rousing fanfare that features each selection of the ensemble. With an exciting drive and jazz-based interludes the piece cascades towards its 'home' of C-major. Under three minutes long  Shortcut Home is a perfect attention-grabber for the beginningor end of a concert.

The title First Light refers to the arrival of dawn – specifically the composer's experience of dawn in the mountains surrounding Lake Garda in northern Italy. There the light of the sun arrives in distinct stages:the night sky begins to brighten quite early though the sun remains hidden behind the mountains for several hours. Abruptly the first direct ray of sunlight crests the mountaintop bringing with it intense palpable heat. Thetown below nestled in the narrow space between the water's edge and the steep mountain slope remains in darkness for a while longer until the sun ultimately sends light cascading down the mountainside illuminating everything.(Grade 5) Dur: 8:30

Originally a composition for chorus by Kevin A. Memley this adaptation by Preston Hazzard makes expert use of the various tone colors available for band. Cascading waterfall effects are represented in the mallet percussion andwoodwinds while an underlying rhythmic texture provides a flowing background for the lyric melody. The piece builds nicely to a full band climax before returning to a quiet and delicate mood for the close. Dur: 4:10

This well-known rock ballad from the Foo Fighters features soaring melodies and lush chords. Michaels setting for the field has the melody in the horns backed by cascading accompaniment lines and a medium rock foundation.