Music for harp and computer Ejnar Kanding (b. 1965) holds a degree in music composition and theory from the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where his...
Music for harp and computer
Ejnar Kanding (b. 1965) holds a degree in music composition and theory
from the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where his official debut concert
was presented in October 1996. He has also studied composition at IRCAM in Paris
and with Dr. Lev Koblyakov in Jerusalem. Kanding's music has been performed
in Europe, Japan and South America. His production conssits of 45 compositions
including three orchestral works and six elegies inspired by the poetry of Rainer
Maria Rilke. In 1998 Kanding was awarded a three-year grant in composition from
the Danish State Arts Foundation. He is co-founder, artistic director and sound
engineer of the Copenhagen-based ensemble Contemporánea.
Entbergen began as an abstract conception of sound texture and movement.
Later, the composer came across the word 'entbergen' in Martin Heidegger's The
Origin of the Work of Art, a word which came to encapsulate the musical
expression of this composition. Entbergen might be translated as "unburying",
which in relation to Kanding's composition refers to an unveiling of that which
is hidden. Entbergen was commissioned with support from The Danish State
Arts Foundation and dedicated to Sofia Asunción Claro.
Lars Graugaard (b. 1957) received no formal training in composition.
He actively pursues a double career as a composer and flautist. In the latter
regard he was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He
has wolked extensively with computers in the preparation of his compositions,
but improvisation and pure intuition have come to play increasingly important
roles in his works in recent years. He was appointed composer-in-residence of
the Odense Symphony Orchestra in 1997. He also teaches "The Performer and
the Digital Media" at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense. Lars
Graugaard served as artistic director of the ISCM World Music Days in Copenhagen
in 1996.
Incrustations (1993-1994, revised 1995) was originally conceived as
an interactive piece for harp and computer using software developed in the MAX
programming environment to control a KORG Wavestation. The recording on this
CD is an adapted version for harp and tape. The title of the work refers to
a relief technique used in carpentry, where various types of wood of contrasting
color are inlaid. The composition was conceived on the gestural level as an
attempt to directly access the musical expression of a conceived musical idea
rather than to systematically generate each individual note. Performed musical
gestures are used by the computer to generate musical gestures, but they also
influence timbre. This is done through the use of an ever-developing controlled
randomness which places the harp in relief (hence the title). The piece was
commissioned by and dedicated to Sofia Asunción Claro.
Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) grew up in the Faroe Islands. He studied
composition with Ib Nørholm and Ivar Frounberg at The Royal Danish Academy
of Music in Copenhagen. He has written orchestral works, chamber music, solo
pieces, electroacoustic works for tape and for live electronics as well as a
great deal of choral music. In 1992 he received grants from the Leonnie Sonning
Foundation as well as the Danish Composer's Society. In 1997 he was awarded
a three-year grant from Danish State Arts Foundation.
The Song of a Child was commissioned by and dedicated to Sofia Asunción
Claro. The work was inspired by the sixth part of the American poet Walt Whitman's
poem in 52 parts Song of Myself. This section deals with the innocent
curiosity of the child. The piece should not be considered program music, however.
The composer has simply attempted to create a playful and naive work: a musical
fairy-tale land.
Ivar Frounberg (b. 1950) has written orchestral works, works for large
and small chamber ensembles as well as works utilizing interactive computer
programs. In his compositions of recent years one finds a consistent musical
concentration intended to heighten the listeners level of attention. Ivar Frounberg
is assistant professor in electroacoustic music and computer music at The Royal
Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He served as music coordinator of the International
Computer Music Conference in Århus in 1994 and as chairman of the ISCM
World Music Days in Copenhagen in 1996. In 1995 he received the Danish State
Arts Foundation's three-year grant for the second time in his career as well
as the prestigous Carl Nielsen Prize.
Worlds Apart consists of five contrasting sections which might be considered
five dramatic scenes. These sections are intertwined by formal symmetries: even
numbered sections being non-metric while odd numbered sections are metric in
varying degrees, ranging from the distorted polyrhythms of the first section
to the claissical repetitions of the fifth. These five different worlds are
mirrored in the inner worlds of the piece, the sonic material of which includes
a French-speaking John Cage, a summer morning in the composer's home town of
AIlerød as well as computer processed sounds held up against the acoustic
harp with its biblical connotations Worlds Apart was commissioned
by Sofia Asunción Claro and composed using the composer's own software
L'oracle.
Fuzzy (b. 1939) studied composition with Per Nørgård, Vagn
Holmboe, Finn Høfding, Jan Bark, Gyorgy Ligeti and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
He taught at the Royal Academy of Music in Århus during the seventies.
In 1982 he decided to pursue a full time career as a composer, his production
falling into four main categories: instrumental music, electroacoustic music,
theater music and film music. He was a Danish pioneer in the area of electroacoustic
music, working today mainly in his private studio in Copenhagen. He has also
been active as a performer in the Swedish group New Culture Quartet.
B-Movies for harp and electronics places the harp in roles alternating
between spectator and main protagonist in a sound universe reminiscent of the
cliché-ridden world of the well-known B-movies The composition falls
into seven uninterrupted sections with the illustrative titles: Cemetery with
Bats, Suspence, Sofia Meets the Giant Frog, Escape in the House of Mirrors,
Point of No Return and Cartoon. The composition is dedicated to and commissioned
by Sofia Asunción Claro.
Sofia Asunción Claro was born in Chile but lives in Denmark.
She received her music education at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música
in Santiago, Hochschule für Musik in Munich and Conservatoire Nationale
Supérieur de Musique in Paris with post-graduate work at The Royal Academy
in Copenhagen. She has given world premieres of several harp concertos, chamber
works with harp and solo pieces which were written especially for her Ms. Claro
performs regularly in Europe and the Americas and is featured on several recordings
of classical and contemporary works for harp.
DIEM is Denmark's national center of electroacoustic music, funded by
the Danish Ministry of Culture and situated in the beautiful Concert Hall in
Århus, Denmark. DIEM is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated
to supporting production, education, research and performance of electroacoustic
music in Denmark.
Since its opening in 1987, DIEM's artistic base has been broadly defined. Its
doors have been open to composers of all genres of electroacoustic music, from
computer-jazz to tape music composition, from interactive installations to avant
garde rock. Studio time is made available to composers and there is no charge
for working in the studio. A professional sound engineer is provided for most
projects. DIEM also organizes concerts and festivals with electroacoustic music,
often working in close cooperation with other Danish institutions.
www.diem.dk