Violin concerto

3rd movement

By Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen

The other way

The theme of the 1st movement, "The Wild Bride" and the passacaglia structure in the 2nd movement may be seen as two different examples of the foreground/background problem. "The Wild Bride" was a theme played by the soloist and was open to a multiplicity of meaning, whereas the passacaglia structure was a multiplicity played by the orchestra, which the soloist could "expound" as an interweaving of themes.

Three melodies become one melody

The 3rd movement further expands the kernel idea that was exploited in "The Wild Bride". In contrast to the 2nd movement, it is now the orchestra that draws melody lines out of the soloist's strangely ethereal, cantabile melody. But the soloist's melody is no longer "just" an especially inspired theme that can be interpreted ad libitum; rather, it is an intricate interweaving of themes, and not "just" themes, either. What the soloist plays in the 3rd movement is an interweaving of three existing melodies in three different keys and belonging to three different styles! And they are interwoven in three different tempi, in such a way that each preserves its own original proportions! This can only be done by letting each of the three melodies be played at an extremely slow tempo, so that the total number of notes together form a rhythmically elegant Allegretto section.

The enchanting, long drawn-out sounds that can be heard on the orchestra's flutes, clarinets and glockenspiel are thus the notes from the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond" (D flat major), the Gregorian hymn "Te lucis ante terminum" (A flat-Lydian), and the typically Danish song "En yndig og frydefuld sommertid" (A lovely and joyful summertime) (G major). Listen to the beginning of the movement.

Mixed together

How is it done? - The technical details

As has been said, the three melodies are each played at their own tempo. That is, the interweaving is not carried out by letting the first eighth be from "Loch Lomond", the second from "Te lucis ...", the third from "En yndig ...", and so on. The most important reason for this is that at no point must the three melodies be allowed to coincide; the notes of the melodies must at all times fall in the interstices of the others - though without altering their rhythm. One way of ensuring this is to let them be played at three different tempi that all can subsumed under the same beat of the conductor's baton. The tempi chosen by Nørgård can be expressed in the proportions 8-5-3: eighth, quintuplet, triplet. In other words, this section of the music is polyrhythmic with three values. On the other hand, if they are not going to run into each other, they must be arranged in the following way: the eighths are always placed next to the beat; the second and fourth sixteenths, the triplets, must be minim triplets, just as the quintuplets must be crotchet quintuplets, as in both cases they only fall on the beat once in the bar. Moreover, by letting the triplets shift from three beats to a three-beat, and the quintuplets from one-beat to one beat, a structure arises in which none of the three parts ever meet. See the score sample.

When only one person is playing...

However, since these three parts are to be played by one person, Per Nørgård has written them into a single melody line. And in order to make it as readable and as precise as humanly possible, the values of the quintuplets and triplets have been shifted to the nearest 64th. Moreover, combining them in this way enables Per Nørgård to work on the stress patterns.

The fact is that each of these three melodies can have its melody notes in stressed time, depending on how the three parts are transcribed into 64ths:

Per Nørgård makes use of this at the end of the movement, when each of the three melodies is repeated three times with three different stresses, one for each melody.

The task of the soloist, then, is to lift the stressed melody out of the lyrical backdrop by stressing its notes, thereby turning the surrounding notes into supporting ornamentation.

The music sample presents the third of these phrases, and in it one can discern - "between the lines", as it were - the last half of the melody "En yndig og frydefuld sommertid".


		Violin concerto 3rd movement By Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen

		The other way The theme of the 1st movement, "The Wild Bride" and the passacaglia structure in the 2nd movement may be seen as two different examples of the foreground/background problem. "The Wild Bride" was a theme played by the soloist and was open to a multiplicity of meaning, whereas the passacaglia structure was a multiplicity played by the orchestra, which the soloist could "expound" as an interweaving of themes.
Three melodies become one melody		The 3rd movement further expands the kernel idea that was exploited in "The Wild Bride". In contrast to the 2nd movement, it is now the orchestra that draws melody lines out of the soloist's strangely ethereal, cantabile melody. But the soloist's melody is no longer "just" an especially inspired theme that can be interpreted ad libitum; rather, it is an intricate interweaving of themes, and not "just" themes, either. What the soloist plays in the 3rd movement is an interweaving of three existing melodies in three different keys and belonging to three different styles! And they are interwoven in three different tempi, in such a way that each preserves its own original proportions! This can only be done by letting each of the three melodies be played at an extremely slow tempo, so that the total number of notes together form a rhythmically elegant Allegretto section.
		The enchanting, long drawn-out sounds that can be heard on the orchestra's flutes, clarinets and glockenspiel are thus the notes from the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond" (D flat major), the Gregorian hymn "Te lucis ante terminum" (A flat-Lydian), and the typically Danish song "En yndig og frydefuld sommertid" (A lovely and joyful summertime) (G major). Listen to the beginning of the movement.

Mixed together		How is it done? - The technical details As has been said, the three melodies are each played at their own tempo. That is, the interweaving is not carried out by letting the first eighth be from "Loch Lomond", the second from "Te lucis ...", the third from "En yndig ...", and so on. The most important reason for this is that at no point must the three melodies be allowed to coincide; the notes of the melodies must at all times fall in the interstices of the others - though without altering their rhythm. One way of ensuring this is to let them be played at three different tempi that all can subsumed under the same beat of the conductor's baton. The tempi chosen by Nørgård can be expressed in the proportions 8-5-3: eighth, quintuplet, triplet. In other words, this section of the music is polyrhythmic with three values. On the other hand, if they are not going to run into each other, they must be arranged in the following way: the eighths are always placed next to the beat; the second and fourth sixteenths, the triplets, must be minim triplets, just as the quintuplets must be crotchet quintuplets, as in both cases they only fall on the beat once in the bar. Moreover, by letting the triplets shift from three beats to a three-beat, and the quintuplets from one-beat to one beat, a structure arises in which none of the three parts ever meet. See the score sample.


		When only one person is playing... However, since these three parts are to be played by one person, Per Nørgård has written them into a single melody line. And in order to make it as readable and as precise as humanly possible, the values of the quintuplets and triplets have been shifted to the nearest 64th. Moreover, combining them in this way enables Per Nørgård to work on the stress patterns. The fact is that each of these three melodies can have its melody notes in stressed time, depending on how the three parts are transcribed into 64ths:


		Per Nørgård makes use of this at the end of the movement, when each of the three melodies is repeated three times with three different stresses, one for each melody. The task of the soloist, then, is to lift the stressed melody out of the lyrical backdrop by stressing its notes, thereby turning the surrounding notes into supporting ornamentation. The music sample presents the third of these phrases, and in it one can discern - "between the lines", as it were - the last half of the melody "En yndig og frydefuld sommertid".
	Score samples © Edition WH