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Programme Note

LUNA – four phases for orchestra (1968)

On the moon as a symbol the Austrian Thomas Ring, author of “Astrological Psychology”, wrote: there is a state similar to the sleep that occurs between the thought and the deed, the withdrawal of the other sphere towards the inner sphere. The sleepwalker, who is always like the medium, - open to everything - adapts himself to each situation: he is deprived of his own strength and his own criteria for action, displaying a suppleness and sensitivity which are both complete and spontaneous.”

In recent years I see that titles means still more to me. Earlier my titles were found out during or after composing (fx. Constellations, Fragments), whereas titles like “Iris”, “Luna”, “The Enchanted Forest” the title was ready before a note or sound was composed, like a vision of the music to come. I had to accept that the titles are as important as the music.
While composing the orchestral work “Iris”(1967) I had the idea of a related sister work – of a more “matt and milkier” character.
The result, four short movements, was “Luna – four phases for orchestra”.

Per Nørgård (1968)