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Programme Note

AFTONLAND - for mixed choir (1954)

The four choral songs of AFTONLAND (sung to Swedish texts by Pär Lagerkvist) is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius by a 22 year old Danish composer, who send his first larger choral score to the old maestro of Nordic Music, then almost 90 years old. In return Sibelius send me a letter of thanks for the score and for the dedication.
In the 1950s my music was very much inspired by the ideas of Northern culture and of a Scandinavian sensibility, a continuation of expression and ideas formed by, especially, Sibelius. This is to be heard in the dark coloured, nightly landscapes of Aftonland.
Per Nørgård