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Programme Note

The characteristic associations or different moods of the four types of playing cards - Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds - was the inspiration for the four guitar suites of “Tales From a Hand” (1. In the Mood of Spades. 2. The Queen of Hearts. 3. Clubs among Jokers. 4. Jack of Diamonds).

Suite I, In the Mood of Spades:
I. The King of Spades
II. The Queen of Spades
III. The Ace of Spades
The soloist encounters the challenge of expressing three states of being sinister, as the color of spades indisputably suggests:
"The King" is a severe King (with a touch of French Ouverture) - while
"The Queen" does not feel home in a traditionally "male" element with the austerity of spades - so there is a touch of "Elegy" over her and the music.
In the "Ace of Space" a synthesis is established. The Ace is the last and most exalted card in the series. But it also expresses innocence and a pure new beginning, a mixture that unite in a sort of “sensual hymn” (or perhaps a “sacred waltz”).


Per Nørgård 2008