The Royal Danish Orchestra is the oldest orchestra in the world, that still exists today. PARHELION is inspired by the sound of some of the very first instrumentalists represented in the orchestra when it was established in 1448: three trumpeters, a harpist and three lutenists who also played the forgotten medieval instrument "tromba marina".
“For practical reasons, I replaced the three trombae marinae with double basses, as they have many similarities to that instrument,” Matias Vestergård explains. “A tromba marina consists of a single bass string strung over an elongated wooden cone, but it was not a bass instrument; only the overtones of the string were used, which with the special soundbox created a trumpet-like sound. For this reason, the double basses in my piece play almost exclusively in their upper register," says Matias Vestergård.
The title of the piece PARHELION is the Greek word for an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. The title relates to the many quintal harmonies in the piece, a sound that Matias finds particularly sunny - especially in a gently glowing universe of muted trumpets and contrabass flageolets.
Matias Vestergård's PARHELION is premiered Sunday 19 November 15:00 at Takkelloftet Foyer at The Royal Opera House.
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