Symphony No. 6 'At The End Of Day' (1997-99) for Orchestra by Per NørgÃ¥rd. Programme note: ”… with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day”  (New Testament 2 Peter 3:8)  My SYMPHONY NO. 6 was commissioned by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra to be premiered at the millenium 2000.  The subtitle AT THE END OF THE DAY can be understood literally or it can mean “when all is added up”. However in my opinion nothing ever quite adds up there is always “something” missing any ending will be provisional ...  This symphony appears to end only a few minutes into the first movement the first passage as the music fades away to almost-silence after a start of flying colours. But then there is still “something” a small motive (first heard in the initial sound-waves) which reappears hesitant but persistent and this embryo is what leads on the musical progression. An agitated section of many instrumental voices comes next until all the voices become obsessed with the same phrase a see-saw motive based on thirds. This section evolves into almost martial ferocity when broken off by a tutti descent into an extreme bass-world (a bass-world which actually permeates the whole symphony emplyoing instruments that I have never used before: double-bass tuba double-bass trombone double-bass clarinet and bass flute).  The second movement the second passage apparently takes off where the first passage ended but now the events are more ambiguous and the same music may be perceived as fast-moving one moment and slow-moving the next. This section is a kind of passacaglia the characteristic baroque bass-variation.  Without a break follows the third and last passage in a

Symphony In Yellow for Violin Cello and Piano by Britta Byström (2002). Programme Note Leggiero Dolce Energico Symphony in Yellow for Piano Trio is structured as a “miniature symphony” in three movements. The slow middle movement is surrounded by two faster ones. The title is taken from a poem by Oscar Wilde in which various images that are all characterized by something yellow float by: a yellow bus yellow hay yellow leaves… During the composition of the work I searched for a certain mood or color of sound something “yellow” that shouldremain unchanged while different musical events in the work’s structure took place. I perceived my challenge to be akin to an artist painting different subjects using only one color. Britta Byström Oscar Wilde: Symphony in Yellow An omnibus across the bridge Crawls like a yellow butterfly And here and there a passer-by Shows like a little restless midge. Bib barges full of yellow hay Are moored against the shadowy wharf And like yellow silken scarf The thick fog hangs along the quay. The yellow leaves begin to fade And flutter from the Temple elms And at my feet the pale green Thames Lies like a rod of rippled jade.    

Premiered by The New York Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall Lincoln Center New York City 10th June 2004. Orchestration 3 Flutes 3rd dbl. Piccolo2 Oboes1 English Horn in F3 Clarinets in Bb 3rd dbl. Bas Clarinet in Bb2 Bassoons1 Contra Bassoon4 Horns in F3 Trumpets in Bb3 Trombones1 Tuba1 (set of) Timpani2 Percussion (two players)1: Bass Drum (large) Chinese Cymbal Mark Tree2: TamTam (large) Vibraphone Antique Cymbal1 Harp1 Piano dbl. CelestaStringsAll non-octave transposing instruments are notated in their relevanttranspositions.Horns notated in bass clef sound a fourth above the notated pitch.All accidentals apply to each single note only except tied notes. Naturals for 'safety'. Programme Note This piece marks the conclusion of what could now be called 'The Nightshade Trilogy' three pieces which explore the contrasting worlds of Light and Darkness. As opposed to the earlier chamber work Nightshade which dealt with extremes of high and low pitches and the chamber orchestra composition Second Nightshade a two-fold piece contrasting darkness/anxiety and light/calm Final Nightshade for full symphony orchestra takes us on a journey in which the forces of dark and light struggle - and co-exist - in a predominantly polyphonic web with brooding undertones. The melodic point-of-departure is not surprisingly to be found in either of the two preceding pieces of the Trilogy but in an older piece Corpus Cum Figuris from 1985. Over the ensuing years I've dreamt on and off of 'doing something' with the opening measures of this older work perhaps even building a new composition on that very simple inward-looking time was ripe and there's a nice nostalgia angle to the idea: Corpus Cum Figuris was the first piece of mine to be

'Le Voyage Dans La Lune is a continuous orchestral score of approximately 14 minutes comprising two outer fast sections and a slower inner section of a dream-like character. The work is directly inspired by the film Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902) written and directed by the pioneering French film-maker Georges Méliès. Méliès was influenced by 19th century interests in science and discoveries as well as the science fiction of Jules Verne. At the same time his work seems fantastic surreal and satirical. Some critics point out an underlying critique of colonial adventuring. The plot centres on a group of astronomers who decide tolaunch a rocket to the moon containing a handful of their number. They reach the moon (famously landing on the moon?s face) and then encounter a strange race of aliens whom they battle and destroy. The return to earth involves a dramatic descent a plunge into the ocean and then celebratory dancing. The film inhabits a surreal and dream-like space and uses an idiosyncratic visual language which transforms reality. This inspired an active musical response in my own score which is by turns abrupt smooth lyrical and violent and expresses something of the strange shifting surfaces and multiple and layered tempos evident in the film. The canons in the horns in the first scene reflect the intense arguments of the astronomers as they consider the project. The slower inner section is inspired by the scenes of the industrial City viewed from its rooftops by the astronomers. It also expresses the wonder of the astronomers as they see the earth rise from the perspective of the moon after their arrival there. The music of the final section is in places conflicted reflecting the violent encounters with the moon?s inhabitants. It moves into a more harmonious phase at the close to match the celebrations upon the astronomers? return from their adventuring. The music could be considered to be a surreal mini-opera