Piano Quintet
by Pehr Henrik Nordgren
pianokvintetto
Description
I finished my Piano Quintet in September this year [1978]. I feel it very difficult to describe my work. I do not want to bother the listener with the same problems which occupied me while composing the music — that is, while I was trying to find the correct way of expressing my thoughts and feelings. Those problems are technical; they are connected with knowing and not knowing. My work is not an exploration of new — avantgarde — techniques, but of how to manage to give the emotional background a concrete shape. The music is perhaps a strange combination of different influences which I have felt touching me strongly. I have tried to testify that they can all be mixed together into a musical unity, since they have, in fact, been the experiences of one person.
The elements are simple: (1) ‘Europe’: both tonality, (some major and minor chords are used) and atonality (a twelve-tone row belongs to the main elements of the music); (2) ‘Japan’: an old ritual Buddhist song is used (it is an imitation only); (3) ‘Lapland’: I use melodic elements, which could be near to the joiku [yoik] music of the suppressed minority of the Saame population of northern Finland, Sweden and Norway. And the last element is of course the composer and what he reveals by his choice of those particular elements for expressing something in a one-movement composition.
© Pehr Henrik Nordgren, 1978
Instrumentation 2vln, vla, vlc, pno
Instrument codes
Abbreviation | Instrument |
Woodwind | |
acl | alto clarinet |
afl | alto flute |
arec | alto recorder |
asax | alto saxophone |
barsax | baritone saxophone |
barhn | baritone horn |
bcl | bass clarinet |
bfl | bass flute |
bob | bass oboe |
bsax | bass saxophone |
bsn | bassoon |
cbsn | contrabassoon |
cl | clarinet |
ehn | English horn |
fl | flute |
hn | French horn |
ob | oboe |
pic | piccolo |
rec | recorder |
sax | saxophone |
srec | soprano recorder |
ssax | soprano saxophone |
trec | tenor recorder |
tsax | tenor saxophone |
Brass | |
ahn | alto horn |
atrb | altotrombone |
barhn | baritone horn |
btrb | bass trombone |
cornet | cornet |
euph | euphonium |
fhn | flugelhorn |
hn | French horn |
tba | tuuba |
thn | tenor horn |
trb | trombone |
trp | trumpet |
Percussion | |
dr | drums |
glock | glockenspiel |
mar | marimba |
perc | percussion |
timp | timpani |
vibr | vibraphone |
xyl | xylophone |
Strings | |
db | double bass |
gamba | viola da gamba |
str | strings |
vla | viola |
vlc | cello |
vln | violin |
Other | |
acc | accordion |
cel | celesta |
cemb | harpsichord |
chords | chords |
elbas | electric bass |
elg | electric guitar |
elorg | electric organ |
elpno | electric piano |
guit | guitar |
harm | harmonium |
hca | harmonica |
hp | harp |
instr | instrument |
kantele | kantele |
keyb | keyboard |
live electr | live electronics |
mand | mandolin |
mel | melody |
org | organ |
pno | piano |
synth | synthesizer |
tape | tape |
Vocal | |
alto | alto |
baryt | baritone |
basso | bass voice |
ch | choir |
chc | childrens choir |
chf | female choir |
chm | male choir |
chx | mixed choir |
cten | countertenor |
mezzo | mezzo-soprano |
sopr | soprano |
speaker | speaker |
ten | tenor |
voc | vocal |
Coding for instrument ensembles and orchestras
Symphony orchestra | |
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings |
Wind band | |
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists |
Big band | |
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums |
Additional codes | |
+ | fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo |
/ | pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ |
lib | ad libitum |
obl | obligato |
str | str: 65432 = specified number of string players |
str min | str min: 65432 = at least 65432 |
str max | str max: 65432 = not more than 65432 |
solo | vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin |
Category Chamber Works
Opus no. op. 44
Premiere
Liisa Pohjola, piano, Voces Intimae Quartet (Jorma Rahkonen, I violin, Ari Angervo, II violin, Mauri Pietikäinen, viola, Veikko Höylä, cello), Edinburgh, October 17, 1978
Commisioned by / dedications Commissioned by the Scottish-Finnish Society
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Archive number MF3612
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