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Parallel Universes

Poul Ruders: Variations For Violin Solo

Ruders writes: This short piece 'Variations' for violin solo is composed of 57 bars, which you could call the theme. Each of the bars or musical units are then repeated, but in a reshuffled order, so to speak, and each of the original bars appears, not only in a different context, but in a slightly altered rhythmic guise.

Bo Holten: Tallis Variations (Score)

Score of this wordless work for SSATTB Choir and 4 Violins, 2 Violas, 2 Cellos and Double Bass. The theme is taken from Tallis, Lamentations of Jeremiah II, bars 29-43.

Star Prelude And Love Fugue

Poul Ruders ' two Piano pieces Star Prelude And Love Fugue from 1990, expertly arranged for Saxophone Quartet by Jesper Nordin. Programme note Star Prelude and Love Fugue is the fruit of “a wonderful stay in Tokyo in March 1988” (the composer’s words). The two pieces were composed in February 1990, and they are dedicated to Japanese pianist Aki Takahashi, who gave the premiere performance at the Lerchenborg Musikdage on 3 August 1990. The prelude is a fantasia on the prelude of Act Two of Poul Ruders’ opera Tycho (1986), about Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (which should explain the title). The theme of the  Love Fugueis taken from the opening bars of another earlier Ruders’ work, namely the a cappella motet Charitas Nunquam Excidit (which is Latin for “love never ceases”). The following fugue is purged of the genre’s traditional gravitas, as is already signalled by the expression mark 'Swinging'. Its initial eleven bars quote the motet, but there after everything is newly composed. Per Erland Rasmussen, 2001

Jean Sibelius: Humoresque V Op.89 No.3 (Violin/Piano)

Among the best of Jean Sibelius? oeuvre are his 1917 compositions The Humoresques. This fabulous and charming concerto was divided into two groups for publication, Opus 87 and Opus 89, and demonstrates his sublime skill with the Violin. He uses a considerably smaller Orchestra accompaniment to the Violin in the second group but maintains the subtlety of depth and texture. The opening bars of the Fifth Humoresque act as a continuation of the minor tonality that dominated the previous two pieces, but the music soon reverts into a warmer major mood. Op.89 No.3 is the highlight of this group, and one of Sibelius' most immediately compelling creations.

Per Nørgård Prelude To Breaking (Score) Vers. 2010

Ensemble1 Violin 11 Violin 21 Viola1 Violoncello1 Flute dbl. Alto Flute in G1 Clarinet in A dbl. Bass Clarinet in B1 HarpThe score is written in CThe above is the instrumentation of the 2010 version from 2010.This 2010 version (with Harp instead of Piano and without Percussion)was edited by harpist Tine Rehling in 2010, in collaboration withA Mezzo Soprano may (ad lib.) sing the following fragment of a text"Drunknande i dimman gryningens svindelfåglar: den glasklare drömmens punkter av glömska.""Drowning in the mist the birds of dizziness in the dawn: moments of forgetfullness in the crystal clear dream."by Gunnar Ekelöf in the Coda (bars 85 to 91):Ivan Hansen and the composer, based on the org. version from 1986.

Magnus Lindberg: Marea (Score)

The harmonic model for this piece is based on a subdivision of pitches in primary and secondary notes, in principle any chord can be viewed from it's structural qualities including interval content and symmetry, but it might also be conceived from a more acoustical point of view.The parallel basis for this work is a sequence of 12-tone chords repeated as a chaconne, every chord has it's Alter-Ego, an overtone series the fundamentals of which together form a bass line. By articulating the cycle differently, with always varied diagonal paths between two layers Lindberg has aimed to give the music some direction despite it's vague repetitive structure.Work for Orchestra premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, by the London Sinfonietta under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen, April 1990.

Poul Ruders: Event Horizon (Piano)

Programme NoteThe name Event Horizon was coined by the brilliant British physicist Stephen Hawking to describe the circumference of a so-called "black hole", the remains of a collapsed star with a gravity-pull so powerful, so that not even light can escape from it.This 5-minute study for piano has - needles to say - nothing to do with black holes, but the term "event horizon" fascinates med and strikes me as near-perfect description of virtually any stretch of organized sound evolving in time, e.g. a musical composition with a strong linear focus.So - "Event Horizon" it is, as seamless composition of high density, evolving in three parts: swingning-ricocheting-sweeping, a musical journey of speed, from fast to furiously fast, a study based on a high economical compositional material constantly renewing itself, the hands running parallel, separating, meeting again. The discreetest use of pedaling is advised ...Poul Ruders May 2001

Norgard Maya Dances

Per Nørgård's Maya Dances (-for her unborn son)  for mixed chorus SATB (1979/1992) - English version. Original Danish text by Ole Sarvig - from the opera Siddharta . English vocal version by Paula Hostrup-Jesse . The two melodies of MAYA DANCES was originally composed for children’s chorus and mixed choir with orchestra, respectively, as part of the opera SIDDHARTA (1974-79). The children’s song (bars 1-27) was later incorporated into the first movement of the choral work WIE EIN KIND for mixed chorus from 1979-80 (printed edition WH 29552).  The present choral version for SATB from 1992, edited by Ivan Hansen and the composer, is a combination of the two above mentioned songs from the opera.  In the opera the children’s singing game describes the sad Queen Maya’s longing for a child. She senses the coming of a new age and is enlivened by dancing a fertility dance for the unborn prince Siddharta. Two themes alternate: the straightforward song of the children, and the comment of Prajapati (Maya’s sister) on Queen Maya’s dance.   

Juliana Hodkinson: Angel View

Angel View by Juliana Hodkinson , scored for seven or more performers and electronics. 'Angel View is an assemblage of urban and musical debris, somewhere between a wordless live radio play, enacted film soundtrack and instrumental theatre. Chiseling cement, falling debris, scraping cutlery, breaking glass, criss-crossing cables, squealing tram-wheels, an upturned bicycle, a grid of cables, a travel souvenir, a shop window, a revolving carousel, a brace of monkeys, a wall under siege, a dining table laid for an ancestral dinner ? it is a sonic bazaar. Made up of over 20 parts, each designed to overlap, the work?s architecture is full of of non-sequiturs and arbitrary cross-relations between imagined streets intersecting and running parallel, reflecting the surrealism of everyday life described in Walter Benjamin?s Einbahnstrasse and still present in the contemporary dilemmas and opportunities of Berlin today. All this is heard as if from an aerial perspective, perhaps the Victory Column where angels sit in Wings of Desire, from where Berlin below is observed as a series of tragedies.' Juliana Hodkinson

Bent Sørensen: Shadows Of Silence (Piano)

Bent Sørensen THE SHADOWS OF SILENCE For pianoProgramme NoteThe Shadows of Silence (2003-2004)Quite some time ago I heard - through a conversation in a mobile phone - a wonderful concert of ringing church bells from an European capital. I found it very hard to concentrate about the conversation, because I was so engrossed by the chaotic world of bell sound. The night after, I dreamt that the sound of those low singing bells was rising up from a piano in a huge empty concert hall. That experience became the starting point for my piano piece, "The Shadows of Silence". But before the piece gets to the ringing bells it moves through a landscape of shadows - Shadows of the silence before the bells - Silence before the storm - Shadows of melodies which all the time leaves traces even in the short passages of storm. After the passage with the low ringing bells the shadows of silence returns melted in to a lament, which are sending two regards. One to two small beautiful - not very well known - bars by Mozart, and one to the sextet in my own opera, "Under the Sky"."The Shadows of Silence" was commissioned by The Carnegie Hall Corporation and is dedicated to Leif Ove Andsnes

Bent Sørensen: Schattenlinie (Score & parts)

About the whispering in movement No. IV(The movement ?Kirschgarten?)The word ?stemmer? is whispered by the musicians in movement IV, as marked in the parts (marked whisper inthe music). The word ?stemmer? is Danish for ?voices?. The Danish letter ?e? is here pronounced approximatelylike the ?e? in the English word ?stem?.The whisper should be ?airy? and barely audible, not as loud as to be mistaken for talking/singing.If you prefer the German word ?Stimmen? (same meaning and approximate same ?sound?) you may substitutethat word for ?stemmer? - at your discretion. If you make the substitution then all occurences must be changed.In bar 7 the clarinet player whispers ?stemmer? after the last forte note of the piano has died away enough tomake the whispering audible.In bar 12 the pianist initiates the whispering, and is immediately followed by the viola player, creating an ?echo?effect.In bar 19 follow the same procedure as in bars 7 and 12.Further whispering, two possibilities/options:1)) AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION(this option is preferred by the composer and was used at the premiere performance of this movement at RisørFestival 8 July 2008). The special circumstances surrounding this particular performance (see last paragraph)allowed a number of people (approx. 10) from the attending audience to be instructed in advance to participatein the whispering from their position amongst the audience in the hall.It is not necessary for the audience ?whisperers? to have a score at hand, they will whisper on cue from themusicians on stage.The first occurrence of this feature appears in bar 21-22 where the especially prepared members of the audiencebecome part of the whispering echo.When the clarinet player has whispered ?stemmer? the audience follows immediately, creating a multi-voicedecho effect. It is very important that the audience does not coordinate their whispers in rhythmic unison, theeffect should be one of random echos from various directions. In bar 27, 36 and 38 the audience should follow thesame procedure, on cue from the musician(s) on stage.2)) WITHOUT AUDIENCE PARTICIPATIONThis option leaves out audience participation, which might prove difficult to organize in advance in ordinaryperformance. The echo effect should then be created solely by the musicians on stage, also in bars 21+22, 27, 36and 38. The whispers among the musicians can ?bounce? back and forth, ?echo-like? between the musicians, attheir discretion.The movement ?Kirschgarten? is dedicated to the Risør Festival of Chamber Music, just like the other movementsof SCHATTENLINIE. However, this movement is in particular dedicated to the many enthusiastic volunteers, onwhom the Festival rely. Hopefully the volunteers have enjoyed the opportunity to be involved as ?musicians?,although only for a single night, a brief moment, where they can relax ? by whispering ?stemmer?.Bent Sørensen, april 2008 (rev. 2012)

Hans Amrahamsen: J.S. Bach: Befiehl Du Deine Wege

A Chorale arranged for 15 Instruments. Full Score for ensemble.Bach's Befichl du deine Wege is a chorale setting (BWV 272), which Hans Abrahamsen has arranged for fifteen instruments. In Hans Albrahamsen's adaptation Bachs chorale gradually ernerges from two melodic fragments, both borrowed from the Danish composer Poul Ruders' Four Dances in One Movernent'. In fact both fragments are taken from the last three bars of Ruders' composition. One of Ruders' small melodies is descending, the other is ascending. The metamorphosis from Ruders to Bach can be accomplished because both of Ruders' melodic fragments are in fact 'hidden' among the parts of this Bach chorale inasmuch as the composer has transposed it into B minor. In the first verse we hear only the descending Ruders melody. In the secend verse Ruders' second, ascending and chrornatically coloured melody is added. In the subsequent verses more and more melodies are added. Thus the piece begins with Poul Ruders' melodic fragment in the foreground. In the course of the next verse Ruders' material gradually recedes into the background, and permits Bachs face to ernerge with increasing clarty in the foreground. The piece is dedicated to Poul Ruders.             - Thomas MichelsenArrangement1 Flute1 Oboe1 Clarinet In Bb1 Bassoon1 Horn in F1 Trumpet in Bb1 Trombone (Tenor)1 Vibraphone (Motor Off)1 Harp1 Piano1 Violin I1 Violin II1 Viola1 Cello1 Double Bass

Poul Ruders: Paganini Variations- Guitar Concerto No.2

Ruders writes: There's a solid tradition in the history of Western music of turning the theme of Nicolo Paganini's "24th Caprice" for soloviolin into a set of variations endemic to the time and style of each individual composer; Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninov and Lutoslawsky being the most prominent names. When asked by David Starobin to write a concerto for him, I though "well, why not have a go at it?" - bearing in mind, that not only is Paganini the most celebrated violin-wizard of all times, but he was also a more than accomplished guitarist. There are 22 variations in all, numbers 1 to 16 all adhering strictly to the 16-bar pattern, laid down by Paganini himself. From variation 17 though, the writing becomes more symphonic and the rigid 16-bar regime is being lossendes up a bit. However, the last variation 'Finale Prestisimo' is a 6 x 16 bars "white-knuckle ride", in which the hitherto soloistic role of the guitar gives way to that of 'primus interpares', i.e. 'first among equals'. As with another set of variations of mine 'Concerto on Pieces' (based on a tune by Purcell), the nature and shape of the 'Pagannini-Variations' may be compared to a stroll through a hall of mirrors: the "portrait" - the theme is gradually being distorted out of all recognition - but it's still the same "original" walking by.

Poul Ruders: Gong (Score)

The word GONG is saturated with associations: the splendour of the Orient, mysticism, drama, loud metallic clangour, violent impact, etc. The present piece draws upon all those connotations, but it is primarily a symphonic drama about the life and behaviour of the sun, our closest star and prime source of life on Earth. Describing the sun in music is not a new idea, of course; during a visit to Greece, Carl Nielsen was inspired by the orbit of the sun and its very un-Danish ferocity and thus wrote the "Helios Overture". GONG is a "Helios Overture" too, of sorts, albeit more abstract. Recent astronomical research shows, that the surface of the sun reverberates like a gong, in four different, simultaneous tempi (not directly depicted in the score, though); the sun looks like a GONG, - the O in the written work looks like the sun; there is even a solar research group called GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group). Formally the composition follows the life and fate of the sun, from the initial explotional birth through the hyper-activity as energy source as we know it today to the final, predicted flaring up and collapse into a so-called "white dwarf". But - being a musical composition, not an astrophysical thesis - GONG is brought to its compositional conclusion by a "real concert-ending", a chord taken from the middle of the piece and sustained over several bars, from virtual nothingness to full force.

Michael Axen: Contemporary Drum Compositions Rhythmic Studies Hands & Feet

"This book is designed for the intermediate/advanced drummer to improve musical, technical control and reading ability, and presents several rhythmic styles, such as funk, jazz and Latin. I'm not trying to educate you on the 'correct' Cuban or Brazilian grooves, but have used this music as an inspiration for different phrashings and concepts. In the notes you can find book recommendations to explore the styles fully.Please feel free to use the material creatively, like repeating bars when you feel like it. You can also use the pieces for advanced sight reading, but I suggest that you take time to look carefully at the dynamics and stickings. All the stickings are based on a right handed player (please reverse them if you are left handed).The basic concept is to have rhythmic compositions with basic classical notation and technique, that you can play on a drumset or on a practice pad with your feet stompin' at the floor. The first part is snare and bassdrum with hi-hat foot suggestions. Later in the book hi-hat (with stick) and snarerim are added.The advantage of these concepts is that playing through these etudes is very closely related to what is going on in modern music. Especially important for players in Jazz, Rock and Latin, but also very useful for a classical percussionist who needs solid music training.The last part of this book is a few pages of technique studies and rhythmic concepts that is related to the compositions. The purpose is not to include all basic strokes and principles (there are already many great books for that) but to show you some concepts that I have found useful and special through my years of playing and teaching."                            Michael Axen

Poul Ruders: Paganini Variations - Piano Concerto No.3 (Piano Solo)

Piano solo part for Paganini Variations - Piano Concerto No.3 by Poul Ruders (2014). Score available: WH32201 Programme note: In 1999 my friend, American guitar virtuoso David Starobin, wanted me to write a concerto for guitar and orchestra. It quickly dawned on me, that this commission presented a golden opportunity to contribute to the time-honoured tradition of composing a series of variations on Nicolo Paganini´s famous 24th Caprice for violin solo, a work which itself is a set of variations. The 16 bar (with the first 4 bars repeated) theme is not particularly sophisticated or intricate, but its inherent simplicity and logic just grow on you, almost to the point of distraction - and the secret behind it being hauled through "the wringer" by composers as disparate as Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski is perhaps found in its - what I´ll call, with a quick nervous look over my shoulder: brilliant banality. You can do anything with that tune, it´ll always be recognizable and just there, however much you maul it. The piece (subtitled Guitar Concerto no 2) was written pretty quickly, premiered and subsequently recorded for Bridge Records with David and the Odense Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jan Wagner, and everybody was happy. But the story didn´t end there, and it must be the ultimate proof of the durability of the theme, not to mention the flexibility and far-sightedness of David Starobin , when he 14 years later suggested "why not transcribe the solo part for piano?". The idea appealed to me immediately. One thing was clear from the beginning: the new version could in no way sound like a transcription. My aim was to end up with a solo-part sounding like were it "the one-and-only", the "real thing", if you like. The orchestral score remains exactly the same in both cases. Both versions, the two Paganini Variations, are comparable to a set of twins, not quite identical, but almost. And both each others´s equal. Poul Ruders  

Poul Ruders: Paganini Variations - Piano Concerto No.3 (Score)

Paganini Variations - Piano Concerto No.3 (The original guitar-part arranged for piano and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott by the composer, 2014). Programme note: In 1999 my friend, American guitar virtuoso David Starobin, wanted me to write a concerto for guitar and orchestra. It quickly dawned on me, that this commission presented a golden opportunity to contribute to the time-honoured tradition of composing a series of variations on Nicolo Paganini´s famous 24th Caprice for violin solo, a work which itself is a set of variations. The 16 bar (with the first 4 bars repeated) theme is not particularly sophisticated or intricate, but its inherent simplicity and logic just grow on you, almost to the point of distraction - and the secret behind it being hauled through "the wringer" by composers as disparate as Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski is perhaps found in its - what I´ll call, with a quick nervous look over my shoulder: brilliant banality. You can do anything with that tune, it´ll always be recognizable and just there, however much you maul it. The piece (subtitled Guitar Concerto no 2) was written pretty quickly, premiered and subsequently recorded for Bridge Records with David and the Odense Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jan Wagner, and everybody was happy. But the story didn´t end there, and it must be the ultimate proof of the durability of the theme, not to mention the flexibility and far-sightedness of David Starobin , when he 14 years later suggested "why not transcribe the solo part for piano?". The idea appealed to me immediately. One thing was clear from the beginning: the new version could in no way sound like a transcription. My aim was to end up with a solo-part sounding like were it "the one-and-only", the "real thing", if you like. The orchestral score remains exactly the same in both cases. Both versions, the two Paganini Variations, are comparable to a set of twins, not quite identical, but almost. And both each others´s equal. Poul Ruders  

Poul Ruders: Final Nightshade - An Adagio Of The Night (Score)

Premiered by The New York Philharmonic, conducted by Lorin Maazel, at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City, 10th June 2004.Orchestration3 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 relevant transpositions.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 NoteThis 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 performed by the New YOrk Philharmonic, at the Horizons Festival, conducted by Oliver Knussen, in 1986. Final Nightshade based on the few opening bars of Corpus Cum Figuris offers a new world of intertwining melodies played mostly in Violins and Flutes - along with the darker, at times even menacing forces of the rest of the Orchestra. The world itself, nightshade, is wonderfully evocative: pale moonlight, elusive shadows, dark, silent forests in the dead of night. Which is why I've given the new work of sub-title, 'An Adagio of the Night' - it's a slow-paced Nocturne, with 'Lightness and Hope' prevailing towards the end. Or do they? Poul Ruders, September 2003

Diferencias, Kopi

Poul Ruders DIFERENCIASDIFERENCIAS was an old Spanish naming of musical compositions dealing with various techniques involving theme and variation. In modern Spanish it simply means differences. It?s a nice title, however, and as to the present piece, a very fitting one indeed, because I wrote it especially to The Elsinore Players for their South America-tour in 1981.Actually nothing happens to the clipping of wellknown Bach (the first four bars of the chorale: "jesu, Joy of Man?s Desiring", cantata No. 147), apart from the continuous changing of the succession-pattern of the 11 triplets and one duplet, the latter of which creates the recognizable 8/8 pattern amidst the flow of 9/8 "spinnrad-rolling". To put it popularly, I haven?t included anything that Bach does not have in the book himself.In addition to that, the unpredictable accents and various instrumental colours are the only means of "differences". There are no modulations, no tricky polyphony, nothing but a long, thoughtful tasting the beautiful piece of tune. Well, of course, the chorale itself enters the picture in the very last section, but that is merely for me to have the pleasure of tossing it away again before it comes to a proper end.Finally, I really do think, that the Cage/Morgan poem quoted below, is the most suitable prologue to DIFERENCIAS:14 variations on 14 wordsI have nothing to say and I am saying it and that is poetry. John CageI have to say poetry and is that nothing and I am saying itI am and I have poetry to say and is that nothing saying itI am nothing and I have poetry to say and that is saying itI that am saying poetry have nothing and it is I and to sayAnd I say that I am to have poetry and saying it is nothingI am poetry and nothing and saying it is to say that I haveTo have nothing is poetry and I am saying that and I say itPoetry is saying I have nothing and I am to say that and itSaying nothing I am poetry and I have to say that and it isIt is and I am and I have poetry saying say that to nothingIt is saying poetry to nothing and I say I have and am that Poetry is saying I have it and I am nothing and to say that And that nothing is poetry I am saying and I have to say itSaying poetry is nothing and to that I say I am and have itEdwin MorganPoul Ruders