Piano Solo-Animals In Concert - Three pieces for Piano solo by Per Nørgård.Programme Note 1. A Tortoise´s Tango (1984) - dur.: 4´ 2. Light of a Night - Paul meets bird (1989) - dur.: 6´ 3. Hermit Crab Tango - Esperanza (1997) - dur.: 5´ The pieces can be performed together or one by one. In the1980s quite a few 'finds' turned up in Per Nørgård's music. The material could be say a number of song birds' equilibrist melodic lines the overtones of the ocean surf or waltzing themes by theschizophrenic artist Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930). Or again as heard here it can be the rhythms and motifs of the tango and a Beatles song (with bird) explored in three independent piano pieces that form the Animals in Concert suite about which the composer writes: 'A Tortoise´s Tango': The tortoise as tango dancer must presumably possess certain rhythmic peculiarities which I have chosen to express by letting the tune of the tortoise shuffle broadly tripartite through the strict four partite time of tango. Tortoise Tango was the original title of this piece 'written for Achilles' (the pianist Yvar Mikhashoff) for his so called tango project' including new tangos for piano by composers from all over the world. 'Light of a Night (Paul meets bird)' was commissioned by pianist Aki Takahashi. It is a 'reworked' arrangement for piano of the Beatles song 'Blackbird'. As some of us will recall the Beatles on 'The White Album' let the beautiful song to the blackbird be accompanied by an (apparently) live blackbird song. It is this authentic bird-motif world that in 'Light of a Night' weaves itself into the Beatles melody and in turn is gradually infected by it so that a completely new third entity ensues: a kind of Bird-rock ballad (or maybe it is a Beatle-bird ).
