Der Nächtliche Zug, for solo accordion, by Víctor Estapé

Der nächtliche Zug, for solo accordion
Olga Morral, accordion
Teatre-Auditori de Granollers, 28th March 2025

“Der nächtliche Zug” is my first work for accordion, and I am very happy and deeply grateful to Olga Morral for giving me the opportunity to compose music for such a fascinating instrument. Just a few years ago, I didn't know much about the accordion, but since then I have learned to love its incredible sound resources, so unique and different from almost any other classical instrument, close to popular music and, at the same time, reminiscent of something like a surreal organ, and also suggesting the world of electronic music.

The title is borrowed from the poem “Faust” by the German Romantic poet Nikolaus Lenau. The passage “Der nächtliche Zug” (The Nocturnal Procession) was the inspiration for one of Franz Liszt's “Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust” (the second episode is better known for including Mephisto-Waltz). As the protagonist Fausto rides through a forest in the middle of the night, he hears the singing of a religious hymn performed by a nighttime procession. He watches and listens to the singing with deep emotion, and when he loses sight of the procession, he is moved to tears.Liszt used one of the most beautiful Gregorian hymns, “Pange lingua,” in his work, but I have chosen “Jesu dulcis memoria” (   • Jesu dulcis memoria | Canto Gregoriano | G...  , another wonderfully beautiful hymn, because of a personal experience: a few years ago, I visited Zagreb Cathedral (Croatia) during Sunday mass, and a choir was singing this hymn, with the organist improvising between strophes. This was one of the most powerful and moving musical experiences I have ever had, and so it seemed appropriate to quote “Jesu dulcis memoria,” using it as the melodic and harmonic basis for the first section of my “Der nächtliche Zug” and building a kind of stretto with its melody at a climax in the piece.

Olga Morral premiered "Der nächtliche Zug" in Granollers, a town near Barcelona, in March 2025, and I am very grateful to her for her work on my piece and for her intense, expressive, and lively performance. I couldn't have dreamed of a better one.