PROGRAMME NOTES

Lullaby From 'The Unicorns'

(1967/82/86)

The Lullaby from ‘The Unicorns’ comes from an abandonned opera in the late 1960s. In the story two unicorns are discovered in a remote part of Africa. Both the East and West want to obtain them for research so they send out rival expeditions. The Western technique is to lure the unicorn with a young girl singing a lullaby. Both East and West capture unicorns but the two mythical animals escape in the end.

I never completed the opera but I made a six-movement suite from it called The Unicorns. There is also an orchestral suite. Initially there were three songs and three instrumental numbers and the first performance was given with Elisabeth Söderström and Solna Brass under Lars-Gunnar Björklund at Ekensbergskyrkan, Solna, Sweden on 31 October 1982. there are many other versions and recordings. This is the premiere of the solo piano piece.

PD