Per Nørgård

To H.C. Andersen Poesier

1. 'The Native Land of Light' (for mixed chorus, SATB)

2. 'Come lift me up' (for mixed chorus, SATB *)

*) the second movement may be performed by a children's chorus or by the female voices (SSA) from a mixed chorus

Programme Note

From my very first aquaintance with these Andersen poems, I was deeply moved by the simple, almost naive, yet evocative imagery, with which Andersen realized his visions, images like: 'The Melody of the Heart', 'The Poem of Beauty', 'A Spiritual Hindustan', 'Fly, Death, over the Sea of Time, fly to Eternal Summer'. Along with this 'childishness' Hans Christian Andersen's poetry encompasses enormous - almost Willim Blake-ish - cosmic visions, in the interpolations between e. g. 'reaching the Heaven' as opposed to 'you'll find it in a Rosebud', or the juxtaposition of 'Everyday Life' and 'Eternal Poetry' - which become one. Thus the music came to life in my immediate encounter with these words, which almost sang themselves into my Musical Furnace - if you will.

Per Norgard