Par TORSKANGERPOLL IDAR. This piece for beginning band was written as a commission for Norsk Noteservice to the “Music for Beginners” serie. The piece is a feelgood item with limited range for all instruments, suitable for young players. The rhythmic structure is repetitive and polyphony is often in the “call and response” form. Hence it is an easy piece to read and play. The refrain is rhythmical…

Par LARSSON LARS-ERIK. Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått ('Norway in Red, White and Blue') was commissioned by the Oslo Fagott Choir (yes, that is indeed a gay men?s choir) for a concert with The Staff Band of the Armed Forces in 2015. I was given artistic licence to write a more modern and somewhat ?eclectic? arrangement for this originally Swedish melody written by Lars-Erik Larsson, which became som…

Par BRAKSTAD JOHN. 'Interlude for Band' is an arrangement based on the theme from 'Affinity and Fellowship'. 'Affinity and Fellowship' was commissioned by Nord-Odal Concert Band, and published by Warner/Chappell Music Norway (Noteservice). 'Interlude for Band' is a piece with elements of ensemble, including an important solo part. Independent of the chosen tempo, let the music flow forward, but gi…

Norwegian Festival Overture. Par HALVORSEN JOHAN. The Norwegian Festival Overture was written for the grand opening of the National Theatre on September 1st, 1899. In the opening bars, one can virtually imagine the stage curtain being drawn aside, and the stage is revealed to the audience. The trumpets openly quote Peer Gynts return from Grieg's music to the play Peer Gynt. The main part of the ov…

Par PIAZZOLLA ASTOR. La muerte del ángel was composed by Astor Piazzolla as incidental music for the 1962 play Tango del ángel by Alberto Rodriguez Muñoz. In the play an angel heals the spirits of the residents of a shabby Buenos Aires neighborhood, but is ultimately killed in a knife fight. This is one of the distinctive pieces with which Piazzolla shook the conservative world of tango. With …

Par HOLMSEN GEIR. 'Mitt hjerte er ditt' (“My Heart is Yours”) is primarily known with this Norwegian lyrics and melody from Maj Britt Andersen's recording of the song, first released in 1992. Andersen's husband, Geir Holmsen, composed the new music for this recording, a version that has since been performed by numerous other artists, including Anna of the North on 'Hver gang vi møtes' in 2022. Th…

Portia's Palace Orchestra. Par WIREN DAG. Dag Wirén (1905-1986) came to fame as a composer in 1937 with Serenade for string orchestra, Op. 11, which remains his most played work to date. His opus list is mainly instrumental music; five symphonies, five string quartets, several overtures and a lot of film and theatre music. He composed the stage music for William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Ven…