The princess's theme, for orchestra

The princess’s theme (1997) is the love theme from The castle of Arteaga suite, which features a princess, three knights, and an abandoned fortress. The princess’s theme describes the interaction between the princess from the top of a castle tower, represented by the woodwinds and their descending motifs, and the three knights who have just arrived on their horses at the lower gate of the fortress, represented by the brass and their ascending motifs. The strings, harp, celesta, and percussion represent the feelings of love that the youngest knight feels for the princess and that unite the woodwinds and brass throughout the work. In the field of classical music, The princess’s theme includes motivic and harmonic elements that are original to the composer and that are related to romantic and medieval classical music, whose aesthetics have been borrowed, for example, by Hollywood film music.

The princess’s theme is inspired by an actual visit I made to the castle of Arteaga in the mid 1990’s. At that time the fortress was closed and abandoned, but a friend, who was studying history together with me at the university, got the key and we both visited the castle together with a small group of friends. She was the first woman I fell in love with during my adolescence and, during the visit to the castle of Arteaga, my soul turned her into a princess, my friends and I into knights, and our cars into horses on which we rode through the fields of the Basque Country.

Dr. (PhD) Jan Emanuel Abras

(born 1 February 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden)

www.janemanuelabras.com