Sunday the 17th of May I decided to visit Ystad, a small little town in Southern Sweden where people usually go for vacation. It's an old town and a very beautiful place, but because pictures tell more than words, here are 25 pictures I took in Ystad. (I recommend that you click on one of the pictures for seeing them on the whole screen instead of these small versions beneath.)
Last week’s
Sunday, on the 10th of May, we from Tongeneration,
the composers of Malmö Academy of Music, had a concert at Lund’s Museum of Public Art. The concert was part of the Lund Biennale, a two day event of music
in Lund, organized by Odeum.
7. Alfred Jimenez - Two excerpt teasers
from his opera Clownen Jac (world
premiere)
Musicians:
Albert Van
Pham - Piano (2)
Niklas
Sjölund - Piano (1)
Jonas
Helander - Tenor (7)
Elisabeth
Ekberg - soprano (7)
Jonatan
Sersam - Piano (1, 7)
Cecilia
Damström - Piano (4) Ismael Palacio, Francesco Del Nero and Jonatan Sersam are the "Non-Existing Trio" (Prepared piano and amplified harmonica) (7)
I had planned that my song cycle would have had its Swedish premiere, but all
my singer friends were too busy and my sister had a slight flu and couldn’t either
sing, so I decided instead to give my solo piano piece Piano Delirium(from 2010) a Swedish premiere, and played it my
self in the concert. I was very happy with how it went; I think I have maybe
never played it so well in a concert before!
The concert had two more piano pieces, two pieces for tape, a trio (Open space)
and two arias from Alfred Jimenez opera. There were about 30 people at the
concert, which is about an average for a contemporary music concert. Everyone
was happy with the concert, both we composers and musicians as well as
organizers, and even the sun was shining in Lund!
All composers and performers on stage! Tongeneration at the Lund Biennale, on Sunday the 10th of May in the Museum of Public Art and Sketches.
Tuesday 12th of May. Wrote yesterday about 1 minute of music for my brass ensemble piece "Sirens". Now feeling stuck, so I’m listening
to inspirational pieces, mainly brass music. Here is a list of what I’m listening to (recommendations by teachers and friends), hope you enjoy it as well!
Rautavaara: A Requiem in our time
Gunther Schuller: Symphony for Brass and Percussion Op.16
Hindemith: Music for Brass and Strings Op.50 Movements I & II
Hindemith: Music for Brass and Strings Op.50 Movements III & IV
Monday the
11th of May 2015 and at the moment I’m working on a commission for Blekinge International Brass Academy 2015, where I will be composer in residence
together with two other composers from Malmö Academy of Music. I’m writing for
an ensemble of 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 bass trombone, 1 French horn and 1
tuba.
Last week I
was in Würzburg in Germany, and outside the window where I lived the Red Cross
had a big station of ambulances. At one point several ambulances left the
station at the same time, and I must say that the quarters and small thirds at
different pitches ringing at the same time where very beautiful. So I decided
to write a piece integrating quarters and small thirds at different pitches as
a main element in my new piece. It’s a bit ironic I notice now, because the
festivals name is shortened BIBA and that is more or less the sound with which
people imitate ambulances and fire trucks, “bii-baaa-bii-baa”!
I also think the Doppler Effect is very fascinating, that is to say the
apparent change in the frequency of a wave cased by a relative motion between
the source of the wave and the observer, so I’m planning on integrating “faked”
Doppler Effects as well.
A third
thing I think is super cool with brass instruments are the very low notes, and
also so called pedal tones on trombones, French horn and tuba. They can sound
like loud foghorns, exciting!
I’m also planning on splitting up the trumpets and the trombones on each side
of the ensemble, so that the stereo effect and moving sensation of the Doppler
Effect will be a bit more prominent.
All of this
I’m writing without having written a note yet, so let’s see how I will succeed
with actually realizing all my ideas into music! Deadline 10.6, hey ho let's go!
