Three Movements For A Solo Dancer

Without Jealousy-Per Nørgård's A Tortoise Tango (Without Jealousy) is a work for Piano Solo composed in 1984.Programme noteA Tortoise´s Tango(1984) ´Light of a Night - Paul with bird (1989) and ´Esperanza - Hermit Crab Tango´(1997) are (the first) three movements of a suite ´Animals in Concert´ for piano. 1. A Tortoise´s Tango - Skildpadde-tango (1984) - dur.: 4´ 2. Light of a Night - Paul meets bird (1989) - dur.: 6´ 3. Hermit Crab Tango Esperanza (1997) - dur.: 5´ The movements can be performed separately. 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. Esperanza and Tortoise Tango were later arranged for saxophone quartet (by Jesper Nordin) and for bandoneon and small ensemble (by Niels Rosing-Schow ) Per Nørgård

Dark Arteries was commissioned by Rambert Dance Company and first performed in May 2015 with the Tredegar Town Band sharing the stage with Rambert dancers. Dark Arteries is a personal and at times highly wrought response to the Miners’ Strike and its aftermath. It is in three movements the first and last are expansive with widely contrasting sound worlds from dark brooding melodies and the haunting sounds of solo flugel horn to wild syncopations on cornets suggestive of an imposing but often bleak mining landscape.In 2016 Higgins re-worked Dark Arteries into a virtuoso concert suite which captures the essence of the work in three connected movements.Dark Arteries Suite was premiered by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain conducted by Bramwell Tovey at the Barbican Centre London 22 April 2017.