Waterways Piano Book

Waterways (Vandveje) - Three Pieces for Piano by Per Nørgård (2008-09).

Written for Anne Marie Fjord Abildskov.

Preface / Programme Note
The three small piano pieces collectively called WATERWAYS was composed in 2008-2009 for Anne Marie Fjord Abildskov and they are dedicated to her.
You will hear traces of earlier piano works of mine – GROOVING from 1968 and ACHILLEUS AND THE TORTOISE from 1983 – in these new pieces.

The first movement is characterized by echo-like sounds, which also appear in GROOVING. Semitones are overlayered and soundsimultaniously, and then they are muted one by one to give a reminiscence of the initial sound. In this new movement an extra echo is added, like an extra skim of the stone
across the water surface – three skims, actually.

In the second movement you may hear traces of ACHILLEUS AND THE TORTOISE. The left and right hand both play arpeggio-like scale patterns. The music is shimmering, like a moiré on a water surface, with constantly changing, very short durations.
In the third movement the pattern of irregular durations is maintained and expanded, but only in fragments – and you may catch a glimpse of a new melody emerging.

Per Nørgård