• vc, cl, pf
  • 9 min

Programme Note

THE NERVOUS SAURIAN

The Nervous Saurian (1989-92) is a 3-parted composition in one movement, for clarinet, cello and piano. The title as well as the music refers to 'Øglernes Frise' (The Frieze of the Reptiles), a /science fiction) novel by DAnish author Bo Green Jensen, beautifully illustrated by Knud Steffen Jensen.

It is the story of a (dream-)travel back to the Land of the Lizards, to the Archean, the accession, the afternoon, the death and the inheritance of the reptiles. Here however, in the climax of the reptiles the conception of time changes: thousands of years - mankind - pass like seconds. Even the most violent pain connected with birth and death, the rush of fear and joy, the swiftness of reflective actions and most dramatic changes are caught and disappear in a slow blurred time - although the experience is paradoxically near.

And the main character of the story, the eccentric Dr. Green states: "There will be a time, when the desires of Man can be fulfilled only in the Land of the Lizards"

Anders Nordentoft

Discography