Expanding Space by Per Nørgård

This release presents a major electronic work by the Danish composer Per Nørgård (b. 1932). The music was originally issued in 1987 on a double cassette tape by Fønix Musik. Here follows Per Nørgård’s own notes about the work:

EXPANDING SPACE (1985)
Electronic music in three parts,
for synthesizer (Roland Jupiter 8), piano and field recordings.

These electronic pieces touches the meditative element of music, but more in a non-rhythmic (or free rhythmic) than a pulsating, minimalistic way. The music is often ‘streaming’ and the association to water is obvious, especially in Najads. Sometimes a sound recording of water (from Santa Cruz by the Pacific Ocean) is integrated, but most of the time different kinds of ‘water music’ and ‘water sounds’ are composed and recorded by me, via different electronic and acoustic instruments in my own studio. The idea is a music that could give a meditative experience, but also a music that could be used as ‘ambient’ or ‘background music’, without the disturbing elements – like in muzak and elevator music – of small discreet themes calling for your attention, but doing nothing with it…

– Per Nørgård, 1985