Pastorale 1988

version for string orchestra(the original version from 1997 is for string trio)Duration: ca. 6 min.Parts are for hire: [email protected] l Programme N o teMy PASTORALE is melodicallyutterly simple, almost "ear-catching". The simplicity stems frommy hymn-tune JERUSALEM, the theme ofwhich permeates my ineideutal music for Oscarwinningfilm (Best F oreign Film.1987), BABETTE' S FEAST, by Danish director GabrielAxeLThe film is based on a shortstory by another reknown Dane, Karen Blixen, i t is the story o f twosisters who aremernhers o f a very Puritan congregation, but deeide to have a hig feast of earthly(gastronomic) delights, the PASTORALE is heard during the sumptuousmeal.Bel o w the song-like surface of my PASTORALE the metrical implications arerather ambiguous,the changes between marked and un-marked beats forces the ear to perceive a phrase to beo nthe beat at one moment, and offthe beat at the next moment. In this w a y, the simple lines o flyrical pastoral serenity conjure the listener to be lulled into an artificial Paradise, which is exactlythe mood ofthe guests at the banquet, the feast, in the central scene ofthe movie.The original PASTORALE is scored for string trio, the present version for string orchestra camealong in 1988 and was premieredin New York City that year.Per Nørgård, 1999