Arctic Pastorale and Dance

Arctic Pastorale and Dance is a duo for Euphonium and Tuba written for Tormod Flaten and Eirik Gjerdevik in 2016. The piece was first performed at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee (USA) the same year.

I have always been fond of the sound of low brass instruments. The richness in timbre and the great ambitus is really inspiring, still there is so much more to discover. In Arctic Pastorale and Dance I explore colours and combination of sounds by using the extreme span in register of the two instruments. The technique used could be described as something between a two voice countepoint and heterphony.

In many of my pieces I refer to nature. Arctic Pastorale and Dance is no exeption in that matter. I spent most of my childhood in the Lofot islands where nature is very present. So it is very natural for me to explore this in a creative way.

Pastorale is a form of music that originally is not connected the the arctic area at all. This pastorale has to be different than what one expect. During the summer when the sun never set and the light is spectacular twentyfour seven it brings life and energy beyound belief. This pastorale is hymn-like, like an adoration.

The dance is also not what it is expected to be. The triplets could suggest something like a tarantella, but it is not. This dance is not a human. It is the forces of nature whirling. So much energy, so much danger, so much joy.