Per Nørgård

Pastoral for String Orchestra

My PASTORALE is melodically utterly simple, almost 'ear-catching'. The simplicity stems from my hymn-tune JERUSALEM, the theme of which permeates my ineideutal music for Oscarwinnin gfilm (Best Foreign Film 1987), BABETTE' S FEAST, by Danish director Gabriel AxeL. The film is based on a shortstory by another reknown Dane, Karen Blixen, it is the story of two sisters who are mernhers of a very Puritan congregation, but decide to have a hig feast of earthly (gastronomic) delights, the PASTORALE is heard during the sumptuous meal. Below the song-like surface of my PASTORALE the metrical implications are rather ambiguous, the changes between marked and un-marked beats forces the ear to perceive a phrase to be on the beat at one moment, and off the beat at the next moment. In this way, the simple lines of flyrical pastoral serenity conjure the listener to be lulled into an artificial Paradise, which is exactly the mood of the guests at the banquet, the feast, in the central scene of the movie. The original PASTORALE is scored for string trio, the present version for string orchestra camealong in 1988 and was premiered in New York City that year.
- Per Nørgård, 1999

Duration: ca. 6 min.