Par LARSSON LARS-ERIK. Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått ('Norway in Red, White and Blue') was commissioned by the Oslo Fagott Choir (yes, that is indeed a gay men?s choir) for a concert with The Staff Band of the Armed Forces in 2015. I was given artistic licence to write a more modern and somewhat ?eclectic? arrangement for this originally Swedish melody written by Lars-Erik Larsson, which became something of a national liberation anthem when Nazi occupation ended in May 1945 ? then with new lyrics by Finn Bø, Bias Bernhoft and Arild Feldborg. After the premiere in Oslo, and a music video with Oslo Fagott Choir and The Staff Band, broadcasted by Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) on Constitution Day during coronavirus lockdown in 2020, I was approached by many to write an instrumental version of the arrangement for concert band. This version is now available through Norsk Noteservice. Reid Gilje has made this instrumentation for Brass Band. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Ensemble de Cuivres

When I was approached to compose a work for brassband and church organ I already envisioned the concept I would use. It would indeed literally become a work for brassband and organ. Without the traditional solos the organ would form an addition to the brassband orchestration as would the brassband provide an extra register for the organ. In short a homogeneous entity. The most important reason for doing this is quite simple. Since this work can only be performed in a church and because of the specific acoustics of the church the brassband would sound in al its tone colour like an organ. By using certain registers of the organ and combining these with the brassband a wonderfulsound palette can be created. The use of complementary or contrasting tone quality is also possible. The primary theme of this composition is based on these three methods of ?colouring?. As far as structure is concerned this work consists of two parts. slow ? fast. It is built on a number of motifs in which some behave like a consecutive canon. In the fast movement the primary motif develops into a fugue-like section. The canon and fugato are techniques frequently used in classical and contemporary organ literature. The liberal use of structure and motif has lead to the title. ?Fantasy for Brassband and Organ?.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) wrote the lyrics of 'There is a land of pure delight' and is known as the 'Father of English Hymnody'. Watts was for the English hymn as Ambrose was for the medieval Latin hymn and what Martin Luther was for the German chorale. He wrote about 750 songs and some of them survide the ravahes of time. (Joy To The World When I survey the wondrous cross I sing the Mighty Power of God) 'There is a Land of Pure Delight' is usually in English-speaking areas sung on Luther Orlando Emerson's melody ('Ascription'). Here is used a traditional English melody ('Mendip'). There is a land of pure delight Wheresaints immortal Reign. Infinite day excludes the night And pleasures banish pain.

There have been many arrangements of Beatles’ songs for various kinds of ensembles so rather than just producing a further medley of Beatles’ hits Peter Kleine Schaars has added a new twist to them with this excellent new work. All You Need Is Love and With a Little Help from my Friends pass by in a swing march  Michelle sounds like a newly composed ballad and When I’m Sixty Four is played in Dixie swing style. A Hard Day’s Night is transformed into a funk theme with a samba interlude  Let It Be into a slowmarch and Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da in a rock beat. Experience The Beatles as you have never heard them before.

Composed during the summer of 1988. Commissioned by The Norwegian Brass Band Club First performed in the Grieg Hall¬? at the 10th Anniversary Concert for the Norwegian Championship Bergen February 1989. EBML conducted by Michael Antrobus. The work is important for me because it was my first piece to be played outside Norway. Black Dyke/David King performed it and did a recording of it in 1991. The composer: In the original score I quote a Swedish bishop (Olaus Mangnus) who lived in the 15th century. He travelled around Scandinavia and drew maps - very important historic material. When he came to the north of Norway (where I come from) hedescribed the wind from the north as Ciricus: (something like) Worst of all winds is Circius that revolves(?= turn upside down) heaven and earth. (Well not a good translation I¬?m afraid). The fast sections reflects the mighty winds from the north. In the middle section I borrowed a folksong-like tune (by C. Elling a norwegian composer). The text (by Kristoffer Janson) tells about old times when the fishermen used open boats: they had to put their lives in the hands of God. De opening en het slot van dit werk beschrijven 'Circius' de wind die hemel en aarde verwoest. Het middendeel is een bewerking van het Noorse volkslied 'The fisherman's speech to his son'. De inhoud van het lied komt overeen met Circius. De vader verzoekt zijn zoon de krachten van de natuur te trotseren maar bovenal te respecteren. Een kort doch spectaculair concertwerk dat het gehele orkest in de greep heeft.

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)   

This piece was commissioned by Nordhordland Brass Seminar in 1990 and written for a youth band. The title referes to a story from norse mythology. ?The Binding of the Wolf? is not a programmatic piece of music but I felt that there was a kind of coherence between the music and the dramatic story: ?...The wolf Fenrir was one of the demonic offspring of Loki and as he grew up in Asgard among the gods he became so huge and fierce that only Tyr was willing to feed him. It was decided that he must be bound and Odin in his wisdom caused the cunning dwarfs to forge a chain which could not be broken. It was made from the invisible and yet potent powers ofthe world such as the roots of a mountain the noise of a moving cat the breath of a fish. When completed this chain seemed to be no more than a silken cord but the wolf refused to let it be laid upon him unless one of the gods would put a hand between his jaws as a pledge that it was harmless. Only Tyr was prepared to do this and when the wolf found that the chain was unbreakable the gods rejoiced but Tyr lost his hand. The binding of the wolf may be seen as a means of protecting the world of men as well as that of the gods from destruction. The story of the god losing his hand appears to be one of the fundamental myths of nothern Europe...?

Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Percussion-Landscapes is a work structured around two main ideas. On the one hand the music freely paints some of the superb landscapes I’ve seen during several of my trips around the world. Listeners should however not be influenced by this programmatic framework and are encouraged to build their own ‘mind pictures’.On the other hand Landscapes constitutes a test piece for each section of the brass band. Indeed each musical landscape highlights a particular register. A small group of soloists is given the opportunity to fully display its skills in dialogue with the rest of the band (the tutti) hence the name ‘concerto grosso’. Landscapes also relies on the band’s different soloistmusicians when it comes to express highly complex musically and technically challenging passages.

Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Percussion-Landscapes is a work structured around two main ideas. On the one hand the music freely paints some of the superb landscapes I’ve seen during several of my trips around the world. Listeners should however not be influenced by this programmatic framework and are encouraged to build their own ‘mind pictures’.On the other hand Landscapes constitutes a test piece for each section of the brass band. Indeed each musical landscape highlights a particular register. A small group of soloists is given the opportunity to fully display its skills in dialogue with the rest of the band (the tutti) hence the name ‘concerto grosso’. Landscapes also relies on the band’s different soloistmusicians when it comes to express highly complex musically and technically challenging passages.