09.10.2015

Sonic Ark - Lyden af Aarhus 2017

I 2017 er Aarhus som bekendt europæisk kulturhovedstad og sådan en skal naturligvis have lydkunst! Derfor blev der sidste år udskrevet en konkurrence, Lyden af Aarhus 2017. Blandt de 31 indsendte projekter fra hele verden har en fagjury udvalgt schweizeren Andres Bosshard med projektet Sonic Ark. Seismograf/DMT talte med Bosshard umiddelbart efter offentliggørelsen.

”Sonic Ark er et dramaturgisk koncept, der består at en række installationer, som flytter sig igennem det offentlige rum, og som helt bogstaveligt tager udgangspunkt i lyden af Aarhus”, fortæller Bosshard.

”Lydmæssigt sover Aarhus, men den er en sovende skønhed og jeg kan høre et stort potentiale i byens lyde, som bare trænger til at blive vækket. Jeg er ikke pessimist i forhold til byens støjende miljø. Med mine værker er jeg mere interesseret i at give bedre betingelser for kvaliteten i lytningen, for derigennem at kunne arbejde mod et bedre lydmiljø. Og her har Aarhus meget at byde på. Jeg har allerede været her to gange og gennem det næste år vil jeg i tæt samarbejde med byens borgere undersøge og lytte til forskellige steder i byen for at indsamle de lyde, som kommer til at indgå i værkerne. For eksempel arbejder et af værkerne med en kombination af mikroskopiske plantelyde, lyden af det århusianske sprog og den makroskopiske arkitektur i Botanisk Have. Her er borgerne vigtige det talte århusianske sprog er helt centralt.”

Der er klare lydøkologiske undertoner i projektet, men Bosshard mener ikke, at verden er ved at blive oversvømmet af dårlig lyd. Derimod mener han, at kan vi blive bedre til at lytte til de lyde, der allerede er her, og projekttitlens bibelske reference skal derfor heller ikke tages helt bogstaveligt.

”Jeg ser nærmere Arken som en metafor for at kunne lære at sætte pris på at sejle rundt, flyde ind og ud af eller drive gennem byens akustiske landskab. Det handler ikke så meget om, at vi skal beskyttes mod støjen, men jeg kunne godt tænke mig at folk kommer til at kende byen bedre, får lyst til at udforske dens lyde og måske endda kan lære at spille på den som et instrument,” forklarer han.

I sit arbejde sammenligner han også sig selv med en sømand, der er afhængig af vind og bølger for at kunne få skibet til at sejle – en tilgang der præger hans måde at interagere med lydmiljøet på.

”Hele byens lydbillede er på en måde med i værket og især lyden af menneskene i byen. På den måde handler det økologiske ikke kun om natur, men også om det sociale, om interaktion og kommunikation. Gennem øret kan vi opnå en betydelig større livskvalitet, og jeg håber at folk i Aarhus efter 2017 vil ’tro’ mere på deres egen lyd. Jeg er mest interesseret i at ændre bevidstheden om og stoltheden over hvilken lydkvalitet Aarhus har som by. Og jeg tror ikke der skal så meget til, for at vække den sovende skønhed”, slutter Andres Bosshard.

Det er Europæisk Kulturhovedstad Aarhus 2017 og de tre komponistforeninger Danske Jazz, Beat og Folkemusik Autorer (DJBFA), Dansk Komponist Forening (DKF) og Danske Populære Autorer (DPA), der har stået bag konkurrencen Lyden af Aarhus 2017. Foruden værkbestillingen, mortager Andres Bosshard en pris på 200.000 kr.

Andres Bosshard, f. 1955, bor og arbejder i Zürich i Schweiz. Han er uddannet kunstmaler, og begyndte tidligt at arbejde med eksperimenterende musik og teater. Han har udviklet roterende lydobjekter, interaktiv computermusik, programmer og lydinstallationer. Blandt andre “Sound Tower” ved Expo.02 ved Bieler-søen i Schweiz.

playlist

30.08

My name is Simon Cummings – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music is inseparable from listening: a close, attentive act. It’s not about beauty, truth or even intelligibility, but connection. This intense, focused intimacy is where meaning and everything else begins.«

Simon Cummings is a composer, writer, and researcher based in England. His music centres on two areas, both of which blur abstract and emotional impulses. The first, explored in instrumental work, involves highly intricate algorithmic processes rooted in carefully-defined behaviours, in a bespoke approach that combines stochastic and intuitive methods to realise large-scale behavioural transformations. His electronic music typically begins with visual stimuli, used to sculpt time-frequency structures investigating the boundary between noise and pitch, reappraising what defines each and their boundaries. He is currently working on a song cycle for voice and electronics for Icelandic soprano Heiða Árnadóttir, to be premièred in 2026. His research is primarily long-form critical writing on contemporary music, published on his website 5:4, as well as in assorted online and print publications.

in briefrelease

16.08

The Symphonic Statement of the Year

Søs Gunver Ryberg: »Coexistence«

Platoon, 09.08

Sune Anderberg

My experience of Coexistence, Søs Gunver Ryberg’s ten-minute work for orchestra and electronics, unfolds in two stages.

At first, I am stunned. By the natural ease with which she handles the symphonic material, turning the orchestra into a potent hybrid of acoustics and synthesis. Such bite in the sound, such a sandstorm of granular texture churning on behind the instruments.

Here, I think enthusiastically, the sonic potential of the twenty-first-century orchestra is realised. But then doubt sets in during the second stage. For does something essentially similar happen here as in Swedish composer Jesper Nordin’s hour-long Emerging from Currents and Waves (2018): a technological quantum leap in symphonic sound that nevertheless freezes compositionally into a stop-and-go between thunder and silence?

The supply of drama in Coexistence is almost vulgar: unstable Icelandic dark drones, harsh brass blasts, trembling strings, thunderous timpani, abrupt brakes like those in Hollywood action trailers – and much more besides. It is a heavenly chaos. The contrast: muted alarms of bowed metal, collected noise and extended tones, like a fragile iron framework still shuddering after the storm.

The two temperaments alternate, and it sounds phenomenal under Dalia Stasevska’s direction of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The work’s core is catastrophe – collapse and aftermath – and seen in that light, the black-and-white extremes make sense. The music is brutal, relentless. But could it have been more: more in colour, beyond the duel? Perhaps. Judge for yourself – Coexistence is without doubt the most striking symphonic statement of the year.

in briefrelease

11.08

Voices From a Bygone Era

Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka: »Hiraeth«

Unsound, 18.07

Kristoffer Møllegaard

While Sofie Birch and Antonina Nowacka’s joint debut album Languoria, with its synth-laden sound, felt like a dream of another world, their second album comes across more as a window into a bygone time. The electronic elements have stepped into the background in favour of acoustic timbres from sitar, guitar and harp, lending the music a warmer, more grounded character. A fine example is the title track, where a gently trickling stream forms a backdrop for a relaxed dialogue between sitar, guitar and voices that shift between singing and humming. There’s a clear connection to the simple melodies of folk music and those little fragments one might find oneself humming in the kitchen while the kettle boils. It is precisely this personal and inviting tone that makes the composition so effective. The track »Nøkken« likewise testifies to the strength of Birch and Nowacka’s songwriting. With its sparse instrumentation, gentle melody and carefully balanced reverb, the piece brings out the best in their voices and appears almost weightless – transparent and ephemeral.

Together, the Danish-Polish duo create music for those who dream of another time and place – not because they necessarily wish to escape their present reality, but because the quiet moments of daydreaming are full of calm, comfort and enchantment. At times, however, the sense of security takes over slightly, and one misses something to challenge the stillness – like the more prominent synths did on their debut. But for those in the mood for unpretentious beauty and quiet reverie, Hiraeth remains a strong release from two continually compelling voices in the ambient genre.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

playlist

29.07

My name is Seb Doubinsky – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music is the infinite sound of humanity, in all of its manifestations. It is the essence of who we are, what we fear and what we hope for. Nobody owns music, and yet it is absolutely who you are, the very DNA of your soul.«

Seb Doubinsky is a bilingual French dystopian fiction author and academic. His »city-states cycle« has put him on the map of notable authors of the genre. He has been long-listed for an Arthur C Clarke award, won the Foreword Reviews bronze award for Missing Signal and his latest novel is short-listed for the 2025 Foreword Reviews award. He lives in Aarhus, Denmark, where he teaches French history, literature and culture at the university.

playlist

11.07

My name is Jacob Eriksen – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is a particular engine for diversity, identity, individuality, and community. Music has an immediate ability both to create and strengthen safe spaces and to expand and tear apart the boundaries of existence.«

Artist, curator, and educator Jacob Eriksen works between Struer and Berlin. He is head of Sound Art Lab, festival director of Struer Tracks, director of studies at 89 Sound Art School, and teaches Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at UdK Berlin.