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Knausgård’s Apocalypse as Opera

© Ilkka Saastamoinen

Sebastian Fagerlund’s »Morgonstjärnan« transforms the novel’s existential unease into a powerful, collective musical drama.

By Andrew Mellor

War Reverberations: Sound Stories From Kyiv

Air raid sirens, artillery, and everyday sounds have altered the city’s rhythm – and forced its residents to develop new ways of listening.

By Joanna Kwapień

The Anatomy of the Organ

It has become a cherished December tradition that Koncertkirken opens its doors to curious explorations of the nature of the organ when the Organ Sound Art Festival moves in. This year the festival could celebrate its 10th anniversary, and the fascination with the organ’s many paradoxes remains intact.

By Rasmus Steffensen

© Alicja Rzepa

Sacred, Profane, and Unsettlingly Alive

Sacrum Profanum in Kraków offered intense sonic experiences and musical battles – but also performances where the idea outweighed the music.

By Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

Matias Vestergård revisited

© PR

Revivals have moved onto the agenda among Danish composers, and this month two violent operas by Matias Vestergård benefited from the trend. What is it that makes him so good at writing precisely that kind of work?

By Sune Anderberg

PulseIn brief

Bent Sørensen’s »12 Nocturnes« unfold the night’s intimate piano poetry, while the piano concerto breaks the spell — Therese Wiwe Vilmar 04.02

Bent Sørensen. © Peter Christian Christensen

»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 — Kristoffer Møllegaard 30.01

© Søren Lynggaard

Some might have wished for a gentler entry into the musical year 2026 than a concert with Merzbow, but the concert underscored the ambitions Radar is currently pursuing — Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek 19.01

© Bjørn Giesenbauer

Nephew på Roskilde Festival. © Morten Rygaard

See Venice and Throw Up

Marie Koldkjær Højlund uses art, disgust, and everyday ruptures as resistance to habits, crises, and our urge to understand everything.

By Therese Wiwe Vilmar

Across America – a Grown-up Boyband’s Search for a Sound

Four Scandinavian musicians and a Canadian banjo amateur/karate instructor cross the American South to find out whether they can become a band – somewhere between Schubert, country, and doubt.

By Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

Latest

From Darkness to Magic: Warren Ellis and the Journey Toward the Light

After a brutal depression, Warren Ellis returns with renewed strength – and deep gratitude. The 60-year-old Australian multi-instrumentalist opens up about pain, love, animals, creativity, and Nina Simone’s sacred chewing gum.

By Peter Albrechtsen

PulsePlaylists

As Bertolt Brecht once wrote: »In dark times, will there also be singing? Yes · there will be singing, about the dark times.« — SLIM0 04.02

© Mishael Oladipo Fapohunda

For me, music is a rush in the chest – a way of understanding and expressing emotions — Cecilie Penney 04.02

© PR

For me, music is a journey through time; one song can send you back to a childhood summer, a packed dance floor, a breakup — Malu Pierini 06.02

© Julie Montauk

Writer profile Sune Anderberg

Sune Anderberg. © Alexander Banck-Petersen

Sune Anderberg was Seismograf’s editor-in-chief from 2019 to 2021. Today he works as an independent critic with a regular affiliation to Weekendavisen, but he remains deeply engaged with contemporary music, which he has covered for Seismograf since 2013. From time to time, he wonders whether the field has closed in too tightly on itself, and then he tries to pry it open again – with or without force.