1989 | DI VOLTA | vib , mar , pno 6’45’’
comment
Di volta came about as a study on certain compositional methods, in particular on the relation between rhythm and harmony, coincidence and determinism, and gradually became a concert piece with a certain dramatic development. It has been performed only once, at the UNM Festival in Helsinki 1990. At that occasion my programme notes enjoyed at least as much success as the piece: “Di volta was composed in the autumn of 1989. Its idea is a simple chain of notes which gives rise to a chain of chords which generate a chain of events which, if time were slightly more curved, could be made into a necklace for Mrs. Naught,hoping, I do hope she will forgive me for betraying her.
The title has many implications and is quite untranslatable. Read backwards however it says “atlovid”, which is utter nonsense”.
1992 | DUBBLETTER | cl , vc , pno 9’
comment
Dubbletter was composed by commission from Svenska Rikskonserterna in Stockholm for the Kaldalons Trio. The instruments explore diverse ways of playing together: distant and separate, distant but synchronous, close and synchronous, close and separate etc. All this happens on the surface while underneath there is a firm framework of vertical and horisontal pairs of notes that determines the function of all events.
main performances
Härnösand, Stockholm and Växjö, March 1992 (Ingolfsson, Kornblueh, Birgisson)
Njardvik, August 16, 1992 (same)
Reykjavík, October 4, 1992 (same)
Bergen, June, 2000 (Smith, Heim, Clapperton): The Music Factory Festival
Båstad, June 27, 2003
1992 | INVENTIONS IN B FLAT MAJOR AND C MINOR BY BACH | cl , vc , pno 1’
comment
This is simply an arrangement of the two part invention, done as a respectful analysis with exclamation marks here and there. I have prepared but not executed a couple of other such arrangements.
1992 | MUSUBI | tpt , vib (mar) , pno 9’30’’
comment
It is possible to tie a knot on a thread, a reed stalk or some other such material, that will trap a guardian imp and prevent him from leaving his master. If a musical composition is knit together in the right way, one can catch an imp which then forever kicks about in its web. Musubi is based on a net of tones in which many kinds of knots have been tied, in the hope that life will quicken in it. The title of the work alludes to ancient Japanese belief in the power of knots. The work was commissioned by Michio Nakajima of the Mirkk Art Forum in Tokyo
main performances
Reykjavík, February 7. 1993 (The Ymir Ensemble)
Amsterdam (same)
Tokyo (same)
1997 | DONEC VESPER | 3 percussionists
percussion
Player I: Large tambourine on table (ca. 35 cm), Suspended cabaza (or medium maraca), Medium tam-tam (ca. 60 cm) prepared with a bathtub chain or similar hanging from the support and rattling against the shield, Wood block, Tenor drum, Cowbell (e’’), Vibraphone (+bow)
Player II: snare drum, suspended large maraca (or goat-hoofs), hi-hat with tambourine frame (small) on top
temple block (b flat’), gong (b flat), marimba (from c to c’’’’), wrist rattlers on both wrists throughout the piece: choose very small and delicate bells.
Player III: medium tom-tom with tambourine on top, suspended small maraca, sizzle cymbal, brake drum, small log drum, vibraphone (+bow)
comment
While I was preparing my piece for Sisu, my friend Sigfus Dadason (1928-1996) passed away. Since I was planning a short piece which represented a passage from white noise through rhythm to harmony (from object through speech to meaning) I found it particularly appropriate as a homage to the memory of this singular poet. I beleive the circumstances did influence my writing - the piece took on some attributes of ritual music - although it need not be taken as an epitaph.
The title, 'Donec Vesper', comes from the sixth of Virgils eclogues. It literally means 'till Vesper' (the evening star), remembering how the heardsman keeps on singing till the evening star comes and stops him.
The score furthermore bears a quotation from one of Dadasons poems, which roughly translated goes: "Actually, there is no mention of this on the wall"
As concerns the general style of the piece, it is in line with my recent work on the interrelation between rhythm and harmony, although here, due to the duration and character of this piece, they are expressed in more straightforward terms than in most of my other pieces.
Main performances
Harstad, Norway, October 1997 (SISU Percussion Trio)
Reykjavík, May 2001 (Oosterhout, Gretarsson, Palsson)
2002 | TRUST ME | cl , vla , pno 10’
comment
Trust me was written on commission from Svenska Rikskonserter for the Obscura Trio. I seem to be moving away from the traditional conception of chamber music as a subtle formal- and contrapuntal construction, preferring to look at the form just as a sort of song. This means that my form tends to be more simple and the writing perhaps more rude or straightforward. This probably shows in Trust me. As many of my recent works it is built on a stable rhythmical background which is focused in different ways during the piece, and only occasionally is challenged. Likewise, the harmony is actually very foreseeable, but varying in density.
Main performances
Stockholm April 23, 2002
Halmstad May 3 2002
Ronneby May 5 2002
Göteorg August 1, 2002
Linköping August 15, 2002
Skinnskatteberg February 1 2003
Västerås February 2 2003
2006 | COMPOSITION sax , acc , cb 45'
comment
I have generally chosen to discard the problem of sincerity in art, or rather to confine it to a statement such as: "The work itself has a way of being sincere. The author cannot be totally sincere." This is quite a complex matter if we begin thinking of it, especially in regard to such a highly formalized genre as written music is, and especially today in the presence of a myriad of different idioms. I guess that somehow, for each work, we create an author, and that he in some bizarre way could claim to be sincere (if he were real...). But what happens when I put different works together and partly alter their original intentions, when I begin remixing, deviating or mocking the originals? Well, in my case it's a totally natural operation. Already as a child when I burst into tears I was capable of looking into the mirror and making a funny face. I guess I was composing myself, since the word composition simply refers to putting something together and I put a funny face on top of a crying one. However that might be, here we have a cycle by the name of Composition: three solo pieces that may be said to reflect my attitude towards the art of musical composition. We get form and its opposite, placed side by side, in a composition of compositions. Hopefully the totality breeds on the energy released by the friction between its components, and by the friction between them and supposed - , real - , make-believe- , impossible – or violent sincerity.
The Poing trio was a tremendous source of inspiration for the completion of this work. It is dedicated to the trio.
main performances
Oslo, Reykjavik, Huddersfield, Trondheim, autumn 2006
| FORGOTTEN STEP | 2008 6´
for recorder, violin and accordeon
comment
This piece was written on commission from the Gaman trio for their Nordic tour in 2008 and 2009.
Forgotten Step may be seen as the attempt to remember an imaginary dance step long forgotten. One may try different methods to approach it: will it be the rhythm, the melody or maybe the sound or the character which will finally enable you to recall the step? Once in a while you concentrate on one aspect, seeming you are just about to get it, but then you don't really get on. Finally it turns out that maybe it wasn't really the dance itself that haunted you but the context and you start concentrating as much on the colour as on the step. Exactly how all this ends is up to the listener to judge.
CHAMBER ENSEMBLE (6-20 players)
2001 | A SHAKESPEARE SONNET | fl , cl , guit , vib , vn , vc 4’
comment
This is an adaptation of the beginning of my piece Le pas, les pentes. It was prepared as part of the musical surrounding of an evening of Shakespeare readings organised by Giuseppe La Licata and given in Palermo in June 2001.
2003 | SULPHUR PULSE | (BMG Ricordi) for 6 percussionists, 17’
comment
This work was commissioned by Les Percussions de Strasbourg with support from the French Ministry of culture. It is dedicated to the memory of Gérard Grisey and is related in a particular way to my memory of him: during his visit to Iceland I took him for a day’s drive. One of the places we visited was a geothermal powerplant near Reykjavik where we took a look at Iceland’s most powerful borehole blowing vapour with immense force and noise. He was very impressed by the sound it made and asked me to record it when I could. I did not accomplish this before he so unexpectedly passed away. In the summer of 2001 I finally made a good recording of this sound and it became sort of the background to this piece, influencing it on different levels.
Main performances
Strasbourg, October 6, 2003 (Musica Festival)
1996 | L’ATLETA | (BMG Ricordi) solo trumpet and 6 perc. Players 12’
percussion
player I: 5 cencerros (with mute), 5 claves on support, dobachi (c’), marimba, set of 3 bongos and 2 congas, bell tree
player II: metal tube (30 cm x 50 mm), 2 cencerros, 4 claves, 1 wood block, snare drum, 4 tom-toms, marimba, tam-tam (70 cm)
player III: metal spring, 2 cencerros, dobachi (e flat’), 5 wood blocks, 5 boo bams, vibraphone
player IV: wa-wa bar I, 2 cencerros, 4 wood blocks, 1 mokubio, 2 bongos, 2 congas, timpano, 2 crotales
player V: wa-wa bar II, 2 cencerros, dobachi, 3 mokubios, 2 temple blocks, 4 roto toms, 1 timpano, 2 crotales
player VI: wa-wa bar III, 2 cencerros, 5 temple blocks, 4 tom toms, bass drum, 2 crotales
comment
L’Atleta was commissioned by the Kroumata Percussion Ensemble in Stockholm with support from NOMUS. The commision implied the employment of a soloist, Håkan Hardenberger. I decided to write a deciseively “athletic” piece, with an almost “Faustian” development: The trumpet generates rhythms and rules which are imprinted in what surrounds it, which at the end imprison it in an impossibly difficult set of restrictions. From a purely athletic point of view, for the soloist this piece is all but impossible to play, and contains great technical difficulties also. These were superbly overcome by Hardenberger at the premiere, but it became clear to me that to diminish the effort and improve the expressive balance an arrangement of this piece for 2 trumpets and percussion would be more reasonable.
main performances
Helsinki, October 1997 (Kroumata): The Helsinki Biennale
1988 | MILLISPIL | fl (picc) , cl , cl (Bcl) bn , hrn , tbn , pno 9’
comment
Millispil was begun in Milan in the spring of 1988 and finished in Paris in the autumn of that year. It was written for the Caput Ensemble, which premiered it in January 1989. It has a form characteristic of some of my pieces from this period: A series of panels, embedded in a general evolution, a sort of “variation in evolution”.
main performances
Reykjavík, January 4 1989 (Caput Ensemble)
Stockholm, October 28, 1989 (Mynt Ensemblen)
1991 | LE PAS, LES PENTES | fl (picc.) , cl , pno , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 9’
comment
Le pas les pentes is made of a series of “panels” which all re-elaborate the same basic material. The rhythmic approach is fundamental for the definition of each episode, making them sometimes directional and sometimes static. In fact, the title (“the step, the slopes” in English) refers to a certain rhytmic technique where a regular “step” of the rhythm is met with irregularities in the underlying terrain, and automatically varies according to the terrain. This piece was composed upon request from Nuove Sincronie in Milan for the Avanti Ensemble in Helsinki. It is dedicated to the Avanti Ensemble.
For performers: A rhythmically delicate piece!
main performances
Milan, December 16, 1991 (Avanti Ensemble)
Helsinki, January 1991 (Avanti Ensemble)
Reykjavík, March 21 1992 (Caput Ensemble)
Reykjavík, September 10, 1992 (Caput Ensemble)
Reykjavík, July 11, 1993 (Caput Ensemble)
Paris, February 1995 (Ensemble L’Itinéraire)
1990 | A NECKLACE FOR MRS. NAUGHT | picc (fl in C) , fl (fl in G) , percussion , harp , celesta (harmonium) , 2vn , vla , vc, 9’
percussion
one player: marimba (A-c’’’’), vibraphone, tubular bells (c’, e flat ‘, f’),tam-tam (small)
comment
This is a brief piece completed in Paris in January 1990. Perhaps I was not convinced of its quality, and have never proposed it for performance. On second thought there are however a couple of passages of certain interest.
For performers: There has not been made any performance material for this piece, so a performance would require adequate notice.
1992 | RACE | fl , ob , cl , bn , hrn , tpt , tbn , 2vn , vla , vc, cb. 4’
comment
Race is a short piece written on commission from the Festival Musica ‘900 in Trento where it was premiered in December 1992.
1995 | LA MÉTRIQUE DU CRI | (BMG Ricordi) fl , ob , cl , bn , hrn , pno , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 11’
comment
La métrique du cri was composed in 1996 for Ensemble L’Itinéraire in Paris, with support from the Icelandic Radio Composers fund.
The piece is typical of my effort to dissolve counterpoint into timbre, musical figures into general behaviour and rhythm into a metrical character. For this dissolution to be perceived I had to insist on it in various passages, which take on an almost minimalistic character although they have nothing to do with the poetics of minimalism. The form thus became quite simple and outspoken, playing with the listeners expectation or eventually his impatience. The title (“the metrics of the shout”) exemplifies the contradiction between the rational and the irrational present in my compositional behaviour.
main performances
Paris, February 24, 1996 (Ensemble L’Itinéraire)
Reykjavík, March 1997 (Caput Ensemble)
Lisbon, 1997 (same)
Warsaw, October 1999, (same)
Stockholm, Norrköping, June, 2000 (KammarensembléN)
Stavanger, April 2001 (Ensemble of the Stavanger Conservatory)
1991 | O VERSA | solo piano , 2cl , Bcl , 2hrn , 2 perc , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 12’30’’
percusssion
perc I: marimba A - c’’’’, wood blocks, finger cymbals, 3 temple blocks, tubular bells, Glockenspiel
perc II: Vibraphone f - f’’’, Wood block, Claves, Triangle, Tam-tam (medium), 1 crotale (C sharp’ ),3 tom toms, timpano (…inch)
comment
While composing A verso for piano I envisaged the possibility to pronounce and enlargen its structure in a work for piano and instruments. The following year this led to O versa for piano and 12 instruments. The first part is basically a transcription and orchestration of the solo piece, but before it is over the work takes a new direction, more typical of a concertino, and adds a series of “perorazio” to the original development of the compositional idea. The idea itself may be described as a study on repetition, on various levels of the structure, from the articulation down to the cell structure that makes up the sequences in the piano part, or to the right out repetion of one or more notes. All this probably stems from my interest in literary metrics with the relative formulas of rhytmic repetition and alliteration. The brief cadence was added only after the first performance. It takes off at a point where the material has been distilled and only pure “vapour” remains in the form of octave figures.
main performances
Reykjavík, February 16, 1992 (Íslenska Hljómsveitin, soloist: A.G. Gudmundsdottir)
Stavanger, October 27, 1993 (NMH Samtidsensemble, soloist: J.F Heyerdahl)
Stockholm, October 6, 1994 (Uppsala Chamber Soloists, soloist: Per Lundberg)
Milan, November 8, 1998 (Ensemble Nuove Sincronie, soloist: Kumi Uchimoto)
1994 | CAPUT CANONIS | fl , ob , cl , bn , hrn , tpt , tbn , pno , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 6’
comment
Caput Canonis is a homage both to the canon as a compositional technique and to the group that premiered the piece. It might seem contradictory that neither of the two were brought to show their highest expressive qualities in this work: The canon (four voices in two couples of semicanons and two different couples of canons) is simply read in a few different ways and do not give rise to other primary material; and the role of the instruments does not contain the technical challenge usual for a modern work. The whole is rather an essay of quiet rigour imposed by the author on the two, and above all on himself, while tackling the difficult task of writing a slow movement.
For performers: There are two extant versions of this piece, and probably other orchestrations can easily be made.
main performances
Reykjavík, July 11, 1992 (Caput Ensemble)
Milan, December 1994 (same)
1994 | A FLIGHT OF FOURTEEN VOWELS | fl , ob , cl , bn , hrn , tpt ,tbn , perc , pno , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 10’
percussion
vib., mar., tub.bells, glock., medium tam-tam, 3 tom-toms
comment
A Flight of Fourteen Vowels is a sort of tapestry with fourteen images. In each one the melodic and rhythmic aspects tempt to dissolve into a certain general colour, so the memory will retain principally the general effect of the image rather than the threads it is woven with. Some of the images are closely related, share the same background or texture, some are the reverse side of the former image and some are a sort of reflection on the preceding images. The work was commissioned by the Hafnarfjördur Chamber Ensemble for its concerts in Hafnarfjördur and Bucarest in 1994.
main performances
Hafnarfjordur, London, Bucarest, March 1994 (Kammersveit Hafnarfjardar)
2000 | OBJECT OF TERROR | (BMG Ricordi) fl , ob , cl , bn , hrn , tpt , tbn , perc , pno , 2 vn , vla. vc. cb. 15’30’’
percussion
1 performer
suggested setup: two sets
set A: triangle (medium-big) prepared with a set of rings, brake drum, metal spring, tubular bells (c’, e’, g sharp’)
3 cymbals (small, medium sizzle cymbal, big) bass drum.
Set B: vibraphone (with 2 bows), 6 cencerros, deep gong (deep f sharp) (or medium-big tam tam)
comment
Object of Terror was written on commission from the Caput Ensemble and Reykjavík 2000.
The idea of musical material has gradually been dissolving in my works. At present we may say that the harmonic and rhythmic basis which generate the events lay deep under the surface, mostly unpronounced, but a distorted, elusive or compressed image of them permeats the surface. The most important thing is the evolution itself, how the foreground changes without anytime reaching a secure affirmation of themes, chords or rhytmical ideas. The form is quite foreseeable, unavoidable, and from that point of view this is among my most simple pieces. This is done so as the form will not bear any message in itself but point all the attention to the metamorphoses itself, to the colour and fragrance of time that passes, to the relation of creation and distruction which has long interested me.
main performances
Reykjavík, September 2000, (The Caput Ensemble)
Reykjavík, November 2000, (same)
Bologna, November, 2000: (same) Mappe musicali
Prague, November, 2000 : (same) Music Marathon
Amsterdam, June 2001: (same) The Holland Festival
Bologna, October 2002, (FontanaMIX) Bologna Festival
Berlin, December 2002 (The Caput Ensemble)
1995 | ENVOI, FOR MIDIPIANO AND 19 INSTRUMENTS | solo Midipiano , fl , ob , cl , Bcl , bn , hrn , 2tpt , tbn , tba , 2 perc , harp , cel , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 14’
percussion
percussion I: marimba, 3 cencerros (g sharp, a, d’), temple block (g sharp), tubular bells, 3 tom-toms (high, medium, deep), snare drum, 2 gongs (A, c), 2 chinese cymbals (medium, large)
percussion II:, vibraphone, 2 tam-tams (small, large). 2 bell plates, timpano, gong (g sharp)
comment
Envoi was written on commission from IRCAM and Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. The Midipiano is a normal grand piano with a Midi-out device which captures the note pitches and intensities of what the pianist plays and provokes with that information various reactions of the computer. Much of the time the reactions of the computer are based on normal piano sounds which are in strict rhythmic and harmonic/contrapuntal relation to the real piano, in an attempt to create a sort of extended piano, which is mid-way between an expressive and mechanical instrument.
main performances
Paris, January (twice) and April (twice) 1995, Ensemble Intercontemporain, soloist: Dimitri Vassilakis
piano:
| O VERSA | 1991 solo piano , 2cl , Bcl , 2hrn , 2 perc , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 12’30’’
percusssion
perc I: marimba A - c’’’’, wood blocks, finger cymbals, 3 temple blocks, tubular bells, Glockenspiel
perc II: Vibraphone f - f’’’, Wood block, Claves, Triangle, Tam-tam (medium), 1 crotale (C sharp’ ),3 tom toms, timpano (…inch)
comment
While composing A verso for piano I envisaged the possibility to pronounce and enlargen its structure in a work for piano and instruments. The following year this led to O versa for piano and 12 instruments. The first part is basically a transcription and orchestration of the solo piece, but before it is over the work takes a new direction, more typical of a concertino, and adds a series of “perorazio” to the original development of the compositional idea. The idea itself may be described as a study on repetition, on various levels of the structure, from the articulation down to the cell structure that makes up the sequences in the piano part, or to the right out repetion of one or more notes. All this probably stems from my interest in literary metrics with the relative formulas of rhytmic repetition and alliteration. The brief cadence was added only after the first performance. It takes off at a point where the material has been distilled and only pure “vapour” remains in the form of octave figures.
main performances
Reykjavík, February 16, 1992 (Íslenska Hljómsveitin, soloist: A.G. Gudmundsdottir)
Stavanger, October 27, 1993 (NMH Samtidsensemble, soloist: J.F Heyerdahl)
Stockholm, October 6, 1994 (Uppsala Chamber Soloists, soloist: Per Lundberg)
Milan, November 8, 1998 (Ensemble Nuove Sincronie, soloist: Kumi Uchimoto)
| ENVOI, FOR MIDIPIANO AND 19 INSTRUMENTS | 1995 solo Midipiano , fl , ob , cl , Bcl , bn , hrn , 2tpt , tbn , tba , 2 perc , harp , cel , 2vn , vla , vc , cb 14’
percussion
percussion I: marimba, 3 cencerros (g sharp, a, d’), temple block (g sharp), tubular bells, 3 tom-toms (high, medium, deep), snare drum, 2 gongs (A, c), 2 chinese cymbals (medium, large)
percussion II:, vibraphone, 2 tam-tams (small, large). 2 bell plates, timpano, gong (g sharp)
comment
Envoi was written on commission from IRCAM and Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. The Midipiano is a normal grand piano with a Midi-out device which captures the note pitches and intensities of what the pianist plays and provokes with that information various reactions of the computer. Much of the time the reactions of the computer are based on normal piano sounds which are in strict rhythmic and harmonic/contrapuntal relation to the real piano, in an attempt to create a sort of extended piano, which is mid-way between an expressive and mechanical instrument.
main performances
Paris, January (twice) and April (twice) 1995, Ensemble Intercontemporain, soloist: Dimitri Vassilakis
clarinet:
| DUE BAGATTELLE II | 1997 solo cl + 3 or more background instruments 7’
comment
Due Bagattelle for clarinet were composed in 1987. Each of them is based on a spectre of pitches which remains immobile through the whole movement, but moves around these pitches in a certain way. They have been performed in various places in the original version, but in 1997 I thought of adding slight external resonances to the solo part to mark the underlying pitch structure, also introducing some repetitions in the solo part.
For performers: There are various ways of realising the background parts, which are divided in three voices: vla. Vc. Pno. or vn. Vc. Vib (or guitar or harp or cymbalom) etc. A couple of instruments with sustained notes (strings) and at least one with plucked or stricken notes, and also with more than one instrument per voice.
main performances
Amsterdam, May 30, 1998 (Gino Sgroi/Zephyr Ensemble)
Montepulciano, July 1998 (Gaspare Tirincanti/Ensemble MusicAttuale)
Palermo, December 14 1998 (Gino Sgroi/Zephyr Ensemble): The Musica su più dimensioni Festival
Reggio Emilia: The Di Nuovo Musica Festival
Rome, June 17, 2000 (Gino Sgroi/Zephyr Ensemble)
| IS ANYBODY THERE? | 2004
Solo clarinet (bassett-clar. in A) and 15 strings (5 first violins, 4 second violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, 1 bass) 12’
comment
Is Anybody There was commissioned by NOMUS for Staffan Mårtensson and premiered by him with the Musica Vitae ensemble from Växjö, Sweden. In this piece I tried to let the soloist tread a very narrow path between being individual and impersonal. He is indeed in a main role, but sometimes has a very mechanical part to interpret. Although the role is quite difficult, it is not “heroic”. I guess the main concept of this piece has to do with individuality and absence and as part of this the five first violins play most of the time with metal mutes, being alienated from their usual leading role.
Main performances
Växjö, Gothemburg, Helsingborg, November 2004,
Épinal, September 2009
percussion
one player: marimba (A-c), vibraphone, tubular bells (c, e flat, f),tam-tam (small)
violin:
| MESSAGGIO DAL VETRAIO | 2018 solo vn, fl, cl, perc, vla, vc, cb 10'
comment
Messaggio dal vetraio is scored for solo violin, two woodwinds, percussion and string trio. It is based on a pre-existing violin solo, Etching. This piece presents a very firm metric structure, it is almost constantly in 11/8 metre. The rhythm constantly plays around the same formula, which also generates the pitch material. The role of the flute and clarinet is mostly to create an echo of the solo part, the string trio plays out the harmonic consequences of the solo part and the percussion unifies all parts by underlining the metric structure.
main performances
Skálholt, July 7 and 8 2018 (Marco Fusi, Caput Ensemble)
DI VOLTA | 1989 vib , mar , pno 6’45’’
comment
Di volta came about as a study on certain compositional methods, in particular on the relation between rhythm and harmony, coincidence and determinism, and gradually became a concert piece with a certain dramatic development. It has been performed only once, at the UNM Festival in Helsinki 1990. At that occasion my programme notes enjoyed at least as much success as the piece: “Di volta was composed in the autumn of 1989. Its idea is a simple chain of notes which gives rise to a chain of chords which generate a chain of events which, if time were slightly more curved, could be made into a necklace for Mrs. Naught,hoping, I do hope she will forgive me for betraying her.
The title has many implications and is quite untranslatable. Read backwards however it says “atlovid”, which is utter nonsense”.
| OPNA | 1991 Bass clarinet and marimba 7’
comment
The two pages of an open book are called opna in Icelandic, but opna also means “to open”. The work was composed beginning with the central part, which constitutes a sort of symmetrical point. After the central part I proceeded to realising the sections towards the beginning and towards the end using the structural potential of the centre.
Despite the almost structuralist appearance of this approach the outer sections hide their relation to the centre, which for the listener seems to be only another part of the form.
Opna was written on request of Nuove Sincronie in Milan for Harry Sparnaay and Johan Faber.
For performers: A willingly virtuosistic piece for both performers.
main performances
Varese, July 28, 1991 (Harry Sparnaay, cl, Johan Faber, mar)
Paris, January 11, 1992 (Didier Pernoit, cl, Pascal Zavaro, mar)
Tel-Aviv, 1993
Båstad, June 27, 2003, Gudni Franzson, Markus Leoson
DONEC VESPER | 1997 3 percussionists
percussion
Player I: Large tambourine on table (ca. 35 cm), Suspended cabaza (or medium maraca), Medium tam-tam (ca. 60 cm) prepared with a bathtub chain or similar hanging from the support and rattling against the shield, Wood block, Tenor drum, Cowbell (e’’), Vibraphone (+bow)
Player II: snare drum, suspended large maraca (or goat-hoofs), hi-hat with tambourine frame (small) on top
temple block (b flat’), gong (b flat), marimba (from c to c’’’’), wrist rattlers on both wrists throughout the piece: choose very small and delicate bells.
Player III: medium tom-tom with tambourine on top, suspended small maraca, sizzle cymbal, brake drum, small log drum, vibraphone (+bow)
comment
While I was preparing my piece for Sisu, my friend Sigfus Dadason (1928-1996) passed away. Since I was planning a short piece which represented a passage from white noise through rhythm to harmony (from object through speech to meaning) I found it particularly appropriate as a homage to the memory of this singular poet. I beleive the circumstances did influence my writing - the piece took on some attributes of ritual music - although it need not be taken as an epitaph.
The title, 'Donec Vesper', comes from the sixth of Virgils eclogues. It literally means 'till Vesper' (the evening star), remembering how the heardsman keeps on singing till the evening star comes and stops him.
The score furthermore bears a quotation from one of Dadasons poems, which roughly translated goes: "Actually, there is no mention of this on the wall"
As concerns the general style of the piece, it is in line with my recent work on the interrelation between rhythm and harmony, although here, due to the duration and character of this piece, they are expressed in more straightforward terms than in most of my other pieces.
main performances
Harstad, Norway, October 1997 (SISU Percussion Trio)
Reykjavík, May 2001 (Oosterhout, Gretarsson, Palsson)
L’ATLETA | 1996 (BMG Ricordi) solo trumpet and 6 perc. Players 12’
percussion
player I: 5 cencerros (with mute), 5 claves on support, dobachi (c’), marimba, set of 3 bongos and 2 congas, bell tree
player II: metal tube (30 cm x 50 mm), 2 cencerros, 4 claves, 1 wood block, snare drum, 4 tom-toms, marimba, tam-tam (70 cm)
player III: metal spring, 2 cencerros, dobachi (e flat’), 5 wood blocks, 5 boo bams, vibraphone
player IV: wa-wa bar I, 2 cencerros, 4 wood blocks, 1 mokubio, 2 bongos, 2 congas, timpano, 2 crotales
player V: wa-wa bar II, 2 cencerros, dobachi, 3 mokubios, 2 temple blocks, 4 roto toms, 1 timpano, 2 crotales
player VI: wa-wa bar III, 2 cencerros, 5 temple blocks, 4 tom toms, bass drum, 2 crotales
comment
L’Atleta was commissioned by the Kroumata Percussion Ensemble in Stockholm with support from NOMUS. The commision implied the employment of a soloist, Håkan Hardenberger. I decided to write a deciseively “athletic” piece, with an almost “Faustian” development: The trumpet generates rhythms and rules which are imprinted in what surrounds it, which at the end imprison it in an impossibly difficult set of restrictions. From a purely athletic point of view, for the soloist this piece is all but impossible to play, and contains great technical difficulties also. These were superbly overcome by Hardenberger at the premiere, but it became clear to me that to diminish the effort and improve the expressive balance an arrangement of this piece for 2 trumpets and percussion would be more reasonable.
main performances
Helsinki, October 1997 (Kroumata): The Helsinki Biennale
SULPHUR PULSE | 2003 (BMG Ricordi) for 6 percussionists, 17’
comment
This work was commissioned by Les Percussions de Strasbourg with support from the French Ministry of culture. It is dedicated to the memory of Gérard Grisey and is related in a particular way to my memory of him: during his visit to Iceland I took him for a day’s drive. One of the places we visited was a geothermal powerplant near Reykjavik where we took a look at Iceland’s most powerful borehole blowing vapour with immense force and noise. He was very impressed by the sound it made and asked me to record it when I could. I did not accomplish this before he so unexpectedly passed away. In the summer of 2001 I finally made a good recording of this sound and it became sort of the background to this piece, influencing it on different levels.
main performances
Strasbourg, October 6, 2003 (Musica Festival)
