Preambolo

Item details

• Description +

  • Duration: 15 min.
    
    Preambolo and preludio are both Italian terms for a piece of music, designed to be played as an introduction to another composition, such as a fugue or a suite. The convention dates from the baroque era. Later on composers used the word as a title for pieces in their own right, so-called character pieces, written in ternary form, suitable for the expression of two contrasting moods - a dramatic and a lyrical.
    
    Preambolo by Hans Magne Græsvold is one of very few pieces written for an ensemble of flutes by a Norwegian composer, and also a significant contribution to the existing standard repertoire for flute choir.
    
    In this work Græsvold explores the colours of the flute sound as the music moves through different characters and types of harmony. Dramatic passages are followed by lyrical and melodic lines that require beauty of sound as well as balance within the harmonic framework.
    
    In the middle section, Græsvold presents a fragment of the catholic hymn Praedicasti Dei care. A cadenza (first flute) connects the middle and last section, and adds variety to a piece that contains both musical depth and sheer beauty. The score is carefully arranged with eight equally interesting and important parts concerning rhythmical entries, and the leading of melodic lines.
    
    Preambolo was premiered at the Third International Flute Convention in Nice, France in 2010 by Agder University Flute Ensemble, directed by Jørn Eivind Schau (Norway).

    Jørn Eivind Schau
    Associate Professor of Flute
    University of Agder, Norway
    
    
    

    Dedication
    Preambolo is dedicated to Agder University
    Flute Ensemble and Jørn Eivind Schau

• Instrumentation +

  • Flute Ensemble

• About the composer +

  • Hans Magne Græsvold was born in Vennesla near Kristiansand, Norway in 1936. He started playing the flute at the age of 7 and received his education in composition and flute at the Oslo Conservatory of Music and the University of Oslo. He made his debut as a flautist in Kristiansand in 1958 and in Oslo in 1962. After completing his Master`s degree in Music he became Assistant Professor at the University of Trondheim in 1963 where he remained until 1973. His main subjects were music history, composition, harmony and flute. In 1973 he moved back to the south and took up a similar position at the Agder Conservatory of Music in Kristiansand (from 2007 Agder University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Music). In addition to his teaching Græsvold has contributed many articles to several scientific publications. In 1986 he was the editor of Edvard Grieg´s Vocal compositions with Orchestra, published by Peters in 1986, and in 1999 he co-edited with Terje Mathisen an edition of the songs of Sigurd Lie. Very little of this talented composer`s work has been published and Græsvold and Mathisen continue to edit and publish his compositions for choir, orchestra and ensembles.
    
    As a composer Græsvold was initially influenced by Norwegian folk music, but later took inspiration from European composers especially Bartok, Schoenberg and Messiaen. His music includes several orchestral works (amongst them a flute concerto and a clarinet concerto) and chamber music (3 piano duos, 2 string quartets, 1 quartet for flute & strings, 2 sonatas for flute and piano, a suite for violin & piano, 1 piano sonatina and 1 guitar sonatina). In addition to several single movements for piano, guitar, flute, violin, cello, accordion, organ and 30 romances, Græsvold has also made several contributions to church music with his 3 cantatas, 2 masses and 30 motets. In addition he has made a large number of arrangements for different ensembles. He is a member of the Norwegian Society of Composers.
    
    In 2007 Græsvold was awarded the Kings`s Order of Merit in gold as an acknowledgement for his work as a musician and composer.

• Credits +

  • Photo: Simon Hansen
    Front Cover graphics and layout: Ronni Kot Wenzell
    Engraving: Hans Magne Græsvold/Johan Svitzer
    Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
    Copyright © Edition SVITZER
    www.editionsvitzer.com

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