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- Per Nørgård
Nu dækker sne den hele jord - Vintersalmer (1976)
(Now all the earth is white with snow - Winter Hymns)- Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen (World)
The work exists both in Danish (original version:Nu dækker sne den hele jord - Vintersalmer) and in English (Now all the earth is white with snow - Winter Hymns), the latter based on Helen and Ole Sarvig´s translation.
Programme Note
NOW ALL THE EARTH IS WHITE WITH SNOW – WINTER HYMNS (1976/2005) for 8 part Tuba ensemble and mixed choir.
When in 1975 I had finished composing my 3rd Symphony (begun in 1973), I wrote three simple melodies for two psalm texts by Ole Sarvig “The Year” and “Choral Hymn”. One of these was later included in the Danish Hymnbook under the title “Året – Som året går” (The Year).
These three “Sarvig tunes” were derived from the same material as the second movement of the 3rd Symphony and could be harmonized together in several different tempo relationships at the same time - like fractals – which inspired me to write several choral and instrumental works in the following decade based on these melodies: “Frost Psalm”, “Winter Cantata”, “Cycles”, “Cantica”, the cello octet “And life´s sweet summer sleeps below”, and the tuba octet “Now all the earth is white with snow”, with a duration of 9-10 minutes.
In 1999 Ivan Hansen arranged choral sections (revised 2005) as described in the original score - from my choral works based on the Sarvig melodies - to make up a collected unity with the Tuba Octet, now called “Now all the earth is white with snow - Winter Hymns” (with a total duration of 18-19 minutes).
This means that the work can be performed by tuba octet or by choir/tuba octet (with choral movements between the instrumental sections), both versions coloured by the Nordic and mythic poem by Sarvig, the beginning of which goes:
The passing year will pass its deep
So shall our mind reach winter´s sleep.
And as the tree stands leafles, bare,
Is winter´s realms: our minds aware.
The work exists both in Danish (original version) and in English versions, the latter based on Helen and Ole Sarvig´s translation.
Per Nørgård
When in 1975 I had finished composing my 3rd Symphony (begun in 1973), I wrote three simple melodies for two psalm texts by Ole Sarvig “The Year” and “Choral Hymn”. One of these was later included in the Danish Hymnbook under the title “Året – Som året går” (The Year).
These three “Sarvig tunes” were derived from the same material as the second movement of the 3rd Symphony and could be harmonized together in several different tempo relationships at the same time - like fractals – which inspired me to write several choral and instrumental works in the following decade based on these melodies: “Frost Psalm”, “Winter Cantata”, “Cycles”, “Cantica”, the cello octet “And life´s sweet summer sleeps below”, and the tuba octet “Now all the earth is white with snow”, with a duration of 9-10 minutes.
In 1999 Ivan Hansen arranged choral sections (revised 2005) as described in the original score - from my choral works based on the Sarvig melodies - to make up a collected unity with the Tuba Octet, now called “Now all the earth is white with snow - Winter Hymns” (with a total duration of 18-19 minutes).
This means that the work can be performed by tuba octet or by choir/tuba octet (with choral movements between the instrumental sections), both versions coloured by the Nordic and mythic poem by Sarvig, the beginning of which goes:
The passing year will pass its deep
So shall our mind reach winter´s sleep.
And as the tree stands leafles, bare,
Is winter´s realms: our minds aware.
The work exists both in Danish (original version) and in English versions, the latter based on Helen and Ole Sarvig´s translation.
Per Nørgård