in brief
16.12.2023

Orgel, ynde og bad ass-minimalisme

Organ Sound Art Festival: Hampus Lindwall, Matt Choboter, Ying-Hsueh Chen, Simon Mariegaard, Paulina Rewucka & Neža Kokalj, Ellen Arkbro, Hanne Lippard
© Daniel Oxenhandler
© Daniel Oxenhandler

Det er muligt, at julen er hjerternes fest, men det er bestemt også orglets. Mange støder i løbet af december på kirkeorglets mægtige klang i forbindelse med julens mange kirkekoncerter, men i Koncertkirken på Nørrebro er december blevet en helt særlig slags fest med orglet som hovedperson og med et efter fremmødet at dømme til andendagen af Organ Sound Art Festival ganske dedikeret publikum, fascineret af orglets klang, struktur og mangfoldige muligheder.

Aftenen åbnes af den svenske organist og komponist Hampus Lindwall, der også runder aftenens program af i et trioformat med organist Ellen Arkbro og vokalist Hanne Lippard. Solosættet indledes af værket Unmounted / Muted Noun af amerikanske Phill Niblock, som Lindwall præsenterer som en bad ass-minimalist. En form for bad ass-minimalisme, der egner sig godt til orglets rige væld af klange og overtoner, og med langstrakte droner får Niblocks værk da også hele kirken til at knirke og knage, mens Lindwalls eget Music for Organ & Electronics byder på et kvadrofonisk set-up, hvor publikum opfordres til at sætte sig i midten af kirken for at lade sig omslutte af både orglets klang og de elektroniske toner.

I det hele taget er det en aften, hvor publikum opfordres til at flytte sig meget efter, hvad det enkelte værk kræver. I det efterfølgende bestillingsværk, And Then There Were The Sounds of Birds, af den herboende canadiske komponist Matt Choboter, må publikum trække helt ud til siderne for at give plads til to ekspressive dansere, der sammen med to orgler, et præpareret flygel, percussion og elektroniske collager skaber et både melankolsk, legende og meget fysisk rum, der kredser om fugles stemmer og bevægelser. Orglet indtager her en mere tilbageholdende rolle, men værket synes samtidig at indkredse et paradoks ved netop orglet som et instrument, der med sin klang stræber mod det sfæriske, men som samtidig er ladet med en tyngde, som også kommer til udtryk i danserne, der snart nærmest svæver, snart falder klodsede til jorden, samtidig med at de indgår i symbioser med de instrumenter, der er fordelt ud i hele rummet. 

At udforske orglet er således også at udforske rum for musikken, både for komponist, performer og publikum, og på sin vis bliver det næsten en del af aftenens oplevelse, at vi, mens vi drikker ud og snakker om aftenens koncerter, er vidner til det franske ensemble Pancrace, der omdanner hele salen til en sand orgelbyggeplads for at gøre klar til deres koncert den efterfølgende dag. Nysgerrigheden bliver i hvert fald vakt på mere. 

in briefrelease
06.02

Small Snowflakes in a Brutal Snowstorm

Mads Emil Dreyer: »Miniatures«
© PR
© PR

As this review was being written, a snowstorm swept across Denmark, and even Østerbro was submerged in beautiful white snow. This turned out to be a remarkably fitting backdrop for the Danish composer Mads Emil Dreyer’s latest compositions, which are marked by melancholic, childlike phrases of glockenspiel and distant synths. The minimalist works are performed by the ensembles Scenatet, EKKI MINNA, and Athelas Sinfonietta, all of whom share a commitment to contemporary music, uncompromising experimentation, and a playful approach to acoustics and perspectives – qualities that are clearly audible in the works themselves.

Echoes of metallic sound surfaces blend with occasional floating pads, often tipping from the beautiful into the unsettling. The first half of the album is shaped by slightly brighter and more playful melodies, with »Miniature I–II« and »I–III« in particular delivering beautiful themes that frequently strike straight to the heart. A brief intermezzo opens the album’s second half, where abrasive keys and pads are introduced, and the ringing glockenspiels hover above the listener like eerie shadows or frightening ghosts.

The suites are short, simple, and effective, yet at the same time deeply atmospheric. In a short space of time, Miniatures has become a favored sonic space for this reviewer when there is a need to retreat into the chambers of the mind, where the blend of glockenspiel and principles of chance appears like small, glistening snowflakes in a long and brutal snowstorm.

in briefrelease
04.02

Poetic Nocturnal Rummaging

Bent Sørensen: »12 Nocturnes & Piano Concerto No. 3, La sera estatica«
Bent Sørensen. © Peter Christian Christensen
Bent Sørensen. © Peter Christian Christensen

Why is it that one can always recognize a lullaby? This musical archetype, circular and hushed, sung into us with mother’s milk. Composer Bent Sørensen’s solo piano cycle 12 Nocturnes is a tribute to the night’s musical cultural heritage. The nocturne – a nocturnal, lyrical composition – merges with, among other forms, lullabies and cantatas in a poetic narrative from sunset to sunrise about what is close at hand and yet unfathomable: that the sun rises, that children are born, that stars can be glimpsed through small windows on earth, that the piano can create worlds with twelve tones.

Bent Sørensen wrote the twelve short nocturnes between 2000 and 2014 for pianist (and wife) Katrine Gislinge. They have previously been released digitally. Now they appear as a studio recording paired with Piano Concerto No. 3, La sera estatica. The premiere of this “ecstatic evening” stands in contrast to the nocturnes’ simple, balanced forms. With a dramatic opening, multiple orchestral groups, and crackling storminess in the soundscapes, the dreamy nocturnal universe is ruptured by a surging ardor that unfolds in two parts, where purer melodic lines gradually take over the second – complete with a distinct (night?) bell.

Yet the piano concerto’s sovereign quality does not quite come into its own when presented as a postscript to the nocturnes’ rounded narrative. The two elements work best separately, so that the ecstatic evening for full orchestra does not puncture the magic of stars scattered blinking across the piano’s staccato attacks, or Sigrid’s nocturnal dances and lullabies. There is ample drama in the beautifully conveyed single night – for even the child Sigrid will one day no longer be sung to sleep.

© PR

»For me, music is a rush in the chest – a way of understanding and expressing emotions.«

Cecilie Penney (b. 1990, Denmark) will be presenting the exhibition Rest and Routine – Duet for Sanatorium and Modern Hospital at Nikolaj Kunsthal from February. She is a visual artist and electronic composer working across sound, installation, video, and text. Her practice explores how infrastructure and cultural norms shape human behaviour, and how emotions and empathy unfold within structural, linguistic, and technological systems.

In recent years, Penney has focused in particular on the Scandinavian healthcare system and on how patients navigate institutions that can be difficult to access and understand. Through a conceptual approach, she examines how patients are often expected to conform to rigid frameworks that fail to accommodate individual needs. By creating imagined or alternative worlds, Penney explores new possibilities for healing and transformation within bureaucratic systems, while inviting reflection on how systemic change might emerge from emotional insight and collective rethinking.

Penney holds an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and a BFA in Fine Art Photography from HDK-Valand in Gothenburg.

© Mishael Oladipo Fapohunda

»As Bertolt Brecht once wrote: 'In dark times, will there also be singing? Yes · there will be singing, about the dark times'.«

SLIM0 is a Copenhagen based doom/grunge/punk trio consisting of Mija Milovic (guitar), Lena Milovic (guitar) and Simin Stine Ramezanali (drums). The vocals of all three members can be heard throughout, the voice being a central element to the band's practice. SLIM0 uses minimal, albeit feisty arrangements to convey a strong sense of ominousness. Through crashed cymbals, distorted guitars and voices in unison, they present a full body of work hailing from personal takes on classic punk/rock tropes with SLIM0 as the omniscient narrator. Their debut album FORGIVENESS was released in October 2024 via 15 love. 

© Søren Lynggaard
© Søren Lynggaard

It is difficult not to read a great deal into trumpeter, composer and all-round musical visionary Palle Mikkelborg’s new solo album Light. He has long since passed retirement age, withdrew from touring in 2024, and with this release has presented something that very much feels like a kind of farewell.

The opening track, Per Nørgård’s »At tænde lys« (»To Light a Candle«), is pure Mikkelborg: his lyrical, elevated and elegiac solo trumpet, in both form and expression, speaks directly to the listener’s heart. Elsewhere, he draws on old soundscape recordings, combining them with piano and trumpet. The interplay between the old and the new creates a compelling mystique and casts a subtle, unsettling shadow over the music.

»Capricorn« perhaps stands out most strongly: a tender and romantic reimagining for solo piano of one of his own pieces, like a loving glance back at bygone times and former triumphs. And then, of course, the closing track, Thomas Laub’s »Stille, hjerte, sol går ned« (»Be Still, Heart, the Sun is Setting«), where Mikkelborg’s melancholic trumpet is joined by Jakob Bro’s guitar, Helen Davies’ harp and Thomas Lis’s choral soundscape. Together they create a piece of music that truly feels like a farewell, marked by both uncertainty and sorrow, but also acceptance and gratitude.

All in all, Light is the perfect distillation of Mikkelborg’s musical life – a cavalcade of the qualities that have always defined him as a musician: light, colour, life, mysticism, love. Whether this will be the final release from Mikkelborg’s hand, I do not know, but if it should prove to be the case, few swan songs have ever sounded so beautiful.