In Memoriam was written in 2011, two years after my father’s passing. I wanted to compose a piece in his memory using musical sources that I knew were particularly dear to him. My father was a man of great knowledge, and he loved to read until the very end. His private library contained more than 10,000 books.
Two of his lifelong interests were the art and culture of the Far East and Ireland. When I was a child, he often sang two melodies that later became the inspiration for this piece: the Japanese song Sakura and the Irish folk song Down by the Salley Gardens. I used only fragments of these melodies, weaving them into my own musical language reflecting both his passions and the memory of his voice.
In Memoriam ble skrevet i 2011, to år etter at min far gikk bort. Jeg ønsket å komponere et stykke til hans minne, basert på musikalske kilder som jeg visste sto ham særlig nær. Min far var en svært kunnskapsrik mann, og helt til det siste elsket han å lese. Hans private bibliotek inneholdt mer enn 10 000 bøker.
To av hans livslange interesser var kunsten og kulturen i Det fjerne Østen og Irland. Da jeg var barn, sang han ofte to melodier som senere ble inspirasjon til dette stykket: den japanske sangen Sakura, og den irske folkesangen Down by the Salley Gardens.
Available versions with PDF-excerpt:
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Bassoon, Viola and Harp - PDF-excerpt
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Two Violas and Harp - PDF-excerpt
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Soprano Saxophone, Singing Violist and Harp - PDF-excerpt
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Soprano Saxophone, Viola and Harp - (Score excerpt forthcoming)
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Clarinet, Viola and Piano - PDF-excerpt
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Two Violas and Piano - PDF-excerpt