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Om Seismograf

Marcela Lucatelli. © Caroline Bittencourt
kritik

Chaos reigns

Madness and humour coexisted on stage as Marcela Lucatelli completed her composition studies in Copenhagen with a special work for the occasion – and for the individuals of the world.

Af
  • Andrew Mellor
4. december 2019

‘Could you review Marcela Lucatelli’s debut concert? It’s likely to be absolute mayhem.’ Sure I can and yes it was.

We might as well start with the dogs. The first dog was the soft toy dog dragged on stage by the policeman in the latex bondage uniform.

The second dog was the stuffed fox on the skateboard (fair enough, not a dog but four legs, sharp teeth and a furry tail).

Læs videre
2019 festival poster graphics. © Angela Bulloch/SWR
kritik

Future on repeat

For a festival that prides itself on its all-premieres programming, the curatorial approach of the 2019 Donaueschinger Musiktage felt more than a little stale. This left a mark on even its greatest works.

Af
  • James Black
27. november 2019
The 2019 festival poster. © UNM Sweden
kritik

The impossible festival

The Young Nordic Music festival may be one of the most impossible festivals in the world, with management changing every year. But this year’s edition proved that it’s also one of the most enlightening ones.

Af
  • James Black
7. Oktober 2019

Peer

Out of Space. © Out of Space

Out of Space

In collaboration with the international journal Paragrana, we zoom in on sounds of places as different as a resort in Egypt, the metropolis of Hong Kong and an abandoned Soviet military base outside Berlin.

Collection

Marcela Lucatelli. © Marcela Lucatelli

Meet the composers

Some of them are just getting started. Others are well-established names on the international scene. But what are their thoughts on the music they create and the world they live in? Read a selection of our most interesting pieces on composers and composing.

‘Every time we listen to music or make music, we are at the same time creating social relations or socialities’

Gender and social relations in New Music: Tackling the octopus
A conversation with Georgina Born

Focus

Simon Steen-Andersen

All about Simon Steen-Andersen

He is one of the most celebrated composers of his generation, in Denmark and abroad. With this 2014 Focus we present and reflect, through interview and analysis, on the career of Simon Steen-Andersen.

About

Seismograf

Welcome to Seismograf

Seismograf is an independent Danish web magazine focusing on the newest developments within the arts of sound. On this page you will find our most recent English-language content as well as collections on selected topics. Want to know more about Seismograf? Then go on and scroll down to the bottom of this page.

‘When faced with the attacks of September 11, music’s normal modes of commemoration and memorial fractured’

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11
An essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson

Collection

Trond Reinholdtsen: ‘Ø – Episode 6’. © Grzegorz Mart

Around the world with Seismograf

Seismograf may be located in Denmark, but brilliant music is performed all over the world. Which means we often cover events in places far, far away, as illustrated by this selection of articles.

Focus

Louise Alenius. © Kasper Vang

Taking the stage

Why should the musicians get all the attention? In recent years a special trend has unfolded on the scenes for contemporary music: composers getting on stage to perform their own works. We dedicate this 2017 Focus to this exciting phenomenon.

Latest articles

Marcela Lucatelli. © Caroline Bittencourt
kritik

Chaos reigns

Madness and humour coexisted on stage as Marcela Lucatelli completed her composition studies in Copenhagen.

Af
  • Andrew Mellor
4. december 2019
2019 festival poster graphics. © Angela Bulloch/SWR
kritik

Future on repeat

For a festival that prides itself on its all-premieres programming, the 2019 Donaueschinger Musiktage felt more than a little stale.

Af
  • James Black
27. november 2019
The 2019 festival poster. © UNM Sweden
kritik

The impossible festival

The Young Nordic Music festival, one of the most impossible festivals in the world, is also one of the most enlightening ones.

Af
  • James Black
7. Oktober 2019
Daníel Bjarnason. © Saga Sig
interview

‘The hardest thing is to trust your material’

Daníel Bjarnason’s new piece requires no less than three conductors. A result of the omnipresent Reykjavik school?

Af
  • Andrew Mellor
16. september 2019
Peer-reviewed article

The audio paper

The current practice of the new format of the audio paper as well as its brief history.

Af
  • Sanne Krogh Groth,
  • Kristine Samson
28. Juni 2019
Field recording

The all-inclusive soundscape

On the sound in three resorts in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

Af
  • Anna Lerchbaumer,
  • Pia Prantl,
  • Andreas Zißler
28. Juni 2019
Sound collage

Voicing up

How women artists of colour working in electronic music in Berlin practice empowerment, survival and resistance.

Af
  • Shanti Suki Osman
28. Juni 2019
Field recording

Tuesday, 7 Feb. 2017, 11:12 p.m., Admiralty, Hong Kong Island

Field recordings from explorations of Hong Kong.

Af
  • Andrin Uetz
28. Juni 2019
audio paper

Only dogs walk as if they knew where they’re going

Retracing an audio walk to the empty city centre of Braunschweig, Germany.

Af
  • Ludwig Berger,
  • Florian Fischer
28. Juni 2019

Essays

© CC0

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11

Essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson on the musical responses to an incomprehensible historical event.
Tim Rutherford-Johnson4. september 2018
© Alexander Banck-Petersen

Lullabies and memory loss

Attending a concert – what’s it all about? In this essay Professor Holger Schulze takes us through his listening experience at Klang Festival in Copenhagen.
Holger Schulze11. Juli 2018
A sonic time capsule.

A sonic time capsule

'A Sonic Time Capsule – a small instruction manual explaining how to realize such a thing' by Andrea Zarza Canova.
Andrea Zarza Canova9. november 2017
Trond Reinholdtsen. © Kasper Vang

From demagogue, via narcissist, to the post-human condition

This article states that the Composer is no more a relevant element of Art.
Trond Reinholdtsen31. Maj 2017
© Kasper Vang

Just spoke: Composing with objects, performing with subjects

A private reflexion on the proces of grief and mourning in relation to composing.
Juliana Hodkinson31. Maj 2017
Niels Rønsholdt. © Kasper Vang

Method Composition

A composers method for eliminating the distance between himself and his music.
Niels Rønsholdt31. Maj 2017
Louise Alenius. © Kasper Vang

The composer in the bedroom

Reflections on a meeting with persona Louise Alenius in her performance 'Prequiem'.
Torben Sangild31. Maj 2017
Henrik Frisk. © Kasper Vang

Hell is full of musical amateurs, but so is heaven

An outline of the role the amateur musician plays in the western classical tradition.
Henrik Frisk31. Maj 2017
© Kasper Vang

Composers on stage

A broad discussion of the phenomenon followed by analyses of works by Juliana Hodkinson, Niels Rønsholdt and Simon Steen-Andersen.
Sanne Krogh Groth31. Maj 2017

Reviews

Marcela Lucatelli. © Caroline Bittencourt

Chaos reigns

Madness and humour coexisted on stage as Marcela Lucatelli completed her composition studies in Copenhagen.
Andrew Mellor4. december 2019
2019 festival poster graphics. © Angela Bulloch/SWR

Future on repeat

For a festival that prides itself on its all-premieres programming, the 2019 Donaueschinger Musiktage felt more than a little stale.
James Black27. november 2019
The 2019 festival poster. © UNM Sweden

The impossible festival

The Young Nordic Music festival, one of the most impossible festivals in the world, is also one of the most enlightening ones.
James Black7. Oktober 2019
© Malthe Folke Ivarsson

Gold fever and infernal machines

Simon Løffler’s personality shines through while Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard’s conceptual gold piece rings hollow at Gong Tomorrow.
James Black20. november 2018
Mona Alenius Kaniewski. © Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Copenhagen Opera Festival

»An opera you need to see twice«: Review of Louise Alenius’s ‘Silent Zone’

A generational cycle of sexual abuse paired with a clear and lucid score. Last year’s operatic talk of the town was back for one day.
Andrew Mellor3. august 2018
Scenatet. © Alexander Banck-Petersen

Nothing can be comfortable

Four performances of Salvatore Sciarrino’s mysterious ‘Aspern Suite’ wrapped up this year’s Klang Festival. Andrew Mellor reviews Scenatet’s solemn setting of the piece.
Andrew Mellor12. Juni 2018
© Alexander Banck-Petersen

The gradual growth of ice crystals

Thinking big suits Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Andrew Mellor on her works at Njord Biennale 2018.
Andrew Mellor31. Januar 2018
Copenhagen Piano Trio. Foto: Mette Sanggaard Dideriksen

Gong Tomorrow

Anmeldelse af Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart (3.11.17, Koncertkirken) & Copenhagen Piano Trio etcetera (8.11.17, Glyptoteket) under Gong Tomorrow Festival 2017
Andrew Mellor17. november 2017
Nicolai Worsaae: ‘Downfall’. © Søren Meisner

Downfall – A journey to the underworld and back again

Andrew Mellor anmelder operaen 'Nedstigning: underverdenen tur-retur', Takkeloftet, 26.9.17 - Musik af Nicolai Worsaae, libretto af Julie Maj Jakobsen.
Andrew Mellor6. Oktober 2017

Interviews

Daníel Bjarnason. © Saga Sig

‘The hardest thing is to trust your material’

Daníel Bjarnason’s new piece requires no less than three conductors. A result of the omnipresent Reykjavik school?
Andrew Mellor16. september 2019
Marta Śniady. © Marta Śniady

‘I really wanted to write a pop love song’

Polish composer Marta Śniady is set to finish her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Recently, her works have embraced video and pop music.
James Black3. Juni 2019
Ragnhild May. © Hajime Kato

‘I need to believe it myself’

Ragnhild May works in a chameleon-like way. James Black takes her to yoga class in this final interview with young ‘composer/performers’.
James Black3. april 2019
Bára Gísladóttir. © Gabrielle Motola

So, this is where it all ends

In Bára Gísladóttir’s view, the apocalypse is a given. James Black goes bowling with the captivatingly introvert, yet apocalyptic, Icelandic composer/performer.
James Black25. Februar 2019
Marcela Lucatelli. © Marcela Lucatelli

‘It’s almost like I can feel the whole world’

James Black goes climbing with Marcela Lucatelli in this first of three interviews with young composer/performers.
James Black9. Januar 2019
Kaj Duncan David. © Anders Bigum

Man among the machines

Kaj Duncan David’s music has always been intimately linked with software and machines. His next major work deals with artificial intelligence.
Andrew Mellor28. november 2018
Bent Sørensen. © Lars Skaaning

New optimism in a universe of beautiful decay

Bent Sørensen’s music may be pointing in a new, less fatalistic direction, he tells Andrew Mellor a few weeks before receiving the 2018 Grawemeyer Award.
Andrew Mellor19. Marts 2018
James Black. © Niklas Ottander

Shouting, naked. James Black, the composer

His debut concert only a few weeks away – both a blessing and a ‘fucking nightmare’ – Copenhagen-based composer James Black talks to Andrew Mellor.
Andrew Mellor7. Februar 2018
© Unknown.

Gender and social relations in New Music: Tackling the octopus

Juliana Hodkinson interviews anthropologist / cultural theorist Georgina Born on gender and other social relations in contemporary music.
Juliana Hodkinson27. september 2017

About

Seismograf is an editorially independent web journal focusing on the newest developments within the arts of sound, their works and makers.

In 2011 Seismograf merged with Dansk Musik Tidsskrift (Danish Music Journal, 1925-2010) and Autograf, becoming the only Danish magazine completely dedicated to contemporary music, sound art and all things related to these fields.

All content is published online, free for everyone to browse through. We provide a critical and enlightening coverage of current events; additionally, we act as a platform for more timeless genres of music journalism such as essays, debates, podcasts, theme-based Focus editions, peer-reviewed articles and audio papers.

No reflection without art – no art without reflection, as we say.

The editors

Sune Anderberg (editor-in-chief, Seismograf)
Sune works as a freelance journalist with a master’s degree in Musicology from the University of Copenhagen. During his studies he was the editor-in-chief at the University Radio and the music magazine Omlyd. In the past he has worked at the record label Dacapo Records and the music publisher Edition S.

Sanne Krogh Groth (editor-in-chief, Seismograf Peer)
Sanne holds a PhD in Musicology from the University of Copenhagen (2010) and is the author of Politics and Aesthetics in Electronic Music (Kehrer 2014). Her additional fields of research include performative aspects of sound art and contemporary music. She currently works as an associate professor in Musicology at Lund University.

Jens Voigt-Lund (design and programming)
Co-founder and editor of Seismograf until September 2012.

The board

Seismograf’s board consists of: Bjarke Svedsen (director, Snyk), Morten Riis (composer and researcher, Danish Composers’ Society), Rune Søchting (composer), Eva Havshøj Ohrt (head deputy, Edition S), Ditte Laursen (head of department, The Royal Library), Torben Sangild (freelance critic), Karl Petersen (composer, NUT) and Chair Jens Voigt-Lund (composer and web developer).

Logoer af støttegivere

Seismograf is supported by
The Danish Arts Foundation, The Danish Composers’ Society/Koda Culture and The Independent Research Fund Denmark.